Name of Object:

Keswa kabbous (wedding outfit)

Location:

Tunis, Tunisia

Holding Institution:

Office de l’Artisanat de Tunis

 About Higher Institute for the Study of Contemporary History of Tunisia, University of Manouba, Tunis

Date of Object:

19th–20th century

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Emroidered satin

Provenance:

Nabeul

Description:

Worn by the bride during the wedding ceremony, the keswa kabous el-Jaraq weighs more than ten kilograms. It consists of a large, billowing pair of trousers secured at the waist by a tekka (similar to a ribbon), with a matching top, short enough to leave the waist uncovered, both made of silk taffeta. Its air of great wealth and elegance comes particularly from the contrast between the floral motifs, embroidered with a flat silver thread, and the sequins, also sewn on with a gold and silver thread. When worn by a seated bride, the trousers resemble a large hoop-skirt, connected to a low-necked bodice, which together give the impression of being a robe de cour (grand habit). The upper section of these trousers, hemmed at the waist but open at the front, consists of almost four metres of fabric, and the legs alone have a circumference of one and a half metres and are a metre long. The end of the legs is hemmed with some robust percale fabric, which contains the hemming and rises up the leg to create an even larger swell around the ankle.

[sh_db_typeof_object]

Textiles; dress

Citation of this web page:

Saloua Khadhar Zangar "Keswa kabbous (wedding outfit) " in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;tn;20;en

Prepared by: Saloua Khadhar Zangar
Translation by: Flaminia Baldwin

MWNF Working Number: TN 020