Gelenekçi bir yapıya sahip olan Osmanlı Devleti, yıllarca kadınların ne giyecekleri ve sokakta nasıl davranacakları konusunda fermanlar yayınlamıştır. Yürürlüğe giren bu fermanların sonrasında kadınlar uzun yıllar toplumsal sahadan soyutlanmıştır. Uzun yıllar boyunca bu süreci yaşayan kadınlar Tanzimat dönemi sonrası kamusal alanda aktif rol almaya başlamıştır. Bilhassa II. Meşrutiyet dönemiyle birlikte Türk kadını toplumun birçok alanında görünür olmaya başlamıştır. II. Meşrutiyet dönemi içinde Türk kadınının yaşadığı toplumsal, siyasal ve özellikle giyim kuşam üzerindeki değişim ve dönüşüm Cumhuriyet döneminde de devam etmiştir. Aynı zamanda bu süreçte Türk kadını Cumhuriyetin modernleşme projesinin temel unsurlarından biri olarak da değerlendirilmeye başlanmıştır. Kadınların Batılılaşma/modernleşme süreciyle birlikte kendilerini bu modernleşme akımına adapte etmeleri giyiminden kuşamına yeni bir kadın kimliğinin oluşmasını sağlamıştır. Öyle ki bu yeni kadın kimliğin oluşmasında ülkenin batı modası etkisi altında kalması önemli bir etken olmuştur. Zaman içinde görülmüştür ki Türk kadını geleneksel ve tek tipleştirici çarşaf ve peçeden Tanzimat dönemi ile birlikte uzaklaşarak ve aynı zamanda Cumhuriyet dönemiyle birlikte daha modern bir giyim tarzını benimseniştir. Bütün bu gelişmelerin yanı sıra Türk kadını kıyafet konusunda Batı modasına uygun bir çağdaşlaşma süreci yaşayarak millî bir modanın oluşturulması fikrini gerçekleştirirken taklitçilikten ziyade kendi kültürüne uygun elbiselerle üretkenliğini ve çalışkanlığını da ortaya koyabilecek bir ortam yaratmaya çalışmıştır. "Meşrutiyet'ten Cumhuriyet'e Kadın Kıyafetinin Dönüşümü" isimli çalışmanın amacı: Osmanlı Devleti'nde yaşayan ve uzun yıllar toplumdan soyutlanan Türk kadınlarının, Tanzimat fermanıyla birlikte oluşan özgür ortamda özellikle giyimlerine yönelik değişimlerinin değerlendirildiği ve buna bağlı olarak Meşrutiyet'ten Cumhuriyet'e Türk kadınının giyimkuşam değişimi ele alınarak Türk kadınının bu alanda nasıl ön plana çıktığı toplumsal alanda ne tür yeni roller edindiği ve bunun giyim kuşamları konusunda nasıl etkili olduğu açıklanmaya bilhassa Tanzimat sonrası Türk kadınının geleneksel giyim sürecinin daha modern ve Avrupalı giyim sürecine geçişi açıklanarak bu modernleşme sürecinin Türk kültürüne uygun milli bir moda oluşturulmuştur. "Meşrutiyet'ten Cumhuriyet'e Kadın Kıyafetinin Dönüşümü" isimli çalışmanın, Osmanlı döneminde kadın kıyafetleri ve Tanzimat döneminde batılılaşma hareketinin hız kazanması böylece Türk kadınında yaşanan değişim ve dönüşüm incelenirken ikinci bölüm, kadın kıyafetlerinde yaşanan bu dönüşüm ve değişimin Cumhuriyet Dönemi'nde ivme kazanıp yaşanan değişimleri Kıyafetinin Dönüşümü" isimli çalışmanın I. bölümünde Osmanlı dönemi kadın kıyafetlerinde yaşanan değişim açıklandıktan sonra, Cumhuriyet Dönemi kadın kıyafetlerinde yaşanan gelişmeler açıklanmış ve sonuç kısmının yazılmasıyla çalışma tamamlanmıştır. incelemektedir. Meşrutiyet'ten Cumhuriyet'e Kadın Kıyafetinin Dönüşümü" isimli çalışmanın I. bölümünde Osmanlı dönemi kadın kıyafetlerinde yaşanan değişim açıklandıktan sonra, Cumhuriyet Dönemi kadın kıyafetlerinde yaşanan gelişmeler açıklanmış ve sonuç kısmının yazılmasıyla çalışma tamamlanmıştır.

The Ottoman Empire which had a traditional structure, had passed commandments on the topics of what women should be wearing and how they should be behaving outside on the streets. After these commandments, had been put into administration, women had become isolated from society for many years. The women who had experienced this over the course of these years began taking on more active roles in the public domain after the Reformation Period (Tanzimat). Following the Second Constitutionalism (Meshruiyet), Turkish women had begun getting noticed a lot more in several aspects of society. During the Second Constitutionalism, the societal and political changes and transformations of Turkish women as well as the changes and transformations to their dress-code continued throughout the Republican era. At the same time, during this process Turkish women started to become subjects of evaluation as they represented one of the fundamental elements of the Republic’s modernisation project. With women westernization/modernization process, women's adapting themselves to this modernization movement has made a new female identity to emerge from its clothing. So much so that the formation of this new female identity has been an important factor for the country to remain under Western influence. It has been seen over time that the Turkish woman has adopted a more modern style of clothing along with the traditional and monotheistic sheets and at the same time, Women adopted a more modern style of clothing with the Republican era. Besides all these developments, Turkish women have realized the idea of creating a national fashion by experiencing a modernization process suitable for Western fashion in clothes. Women have tried to create an environment in which they can reveal their fertility and hard work with copycat rather than imitation Life style in the Ottoman Empire was quite important and this was closely related with the social mentality. Mentality comprises of beliefs that shape life style. In the Ottoman Empire, daily attire had to strictly reflect the social status of the subject wearing it. The outfit’s components, color, material quality also mattered because they showed the wearer’s level in the society. The Ottoman state used to issue “ferman”s (edicts) targeting women, about how to dress and how to behave in the community. These strict rules caused women to live an isolated life from public. Women had to go along with oppression until after “Tanzimat Fermanı” (the Imperial Edict of Reorganization) allowed them some active roles in the society. This is mostly caused by the social, political and economic advancements. “II. Meşrutiyet” (Second Constitutional Monarchy) period brought an important deal of political and social betterment, especially for women. The progress during the mentioned period made women visible in many aspects of social life. Women, along with men, seized new opportunities within the transforming social, administrative and economic structure. They struggled for modernization of their looks and attire as well as their view of the world. This effort for change inspired new print media outlets in the empire. Sources show us about 18 odd magazine titles, some of which had titles like “Demet”, “Hanımlar Alemi”, “Kadın”, “İnci”. These publications, which employed literary articles on issues like the social status of women, actual politics, style, were aiming to illuminate women and exchange information about not only fashion but also many different subjects. This way, women became increasingly aware and conscious of political and social issues as well as closely following style and fashion news from Europe. There were intellectual men too in Ottoman community, who supported the new movement of women and who saw this as great progress for the better institutionalization of the Ottoman state towards modern civilization. The change and transformation on the social, political and especially the style and attire of the Turkish women in the period of the Second Constitutional Monarchy continued in the Republican period as well. With the war of independence, Turkish society has taken a big new step. After the success of this struggle, the foundation of a new state was laid. After discarding Monarchy and proclaiming the Republic, the founder elite started taking consecutive steps in order to transform the society into modern standards. The social changes that started in this period have also become state polices. As a result of this process the Turkish women began to be regarded as one of the basic elements of the modernization project of the Republic. Modernization, in the last years of the Ottoman Empire has been very important socially and politically. Women, adapting themselves to this modernization / westernization movement, made it possible for a new female identity to be formed, starting from style and clothing. It would not be unfair to claim that the western fashion effect helped the formation of the new Turkish Woman identity in a great way. It has been observed that, starting with Constitutional Monarchy Turkish women refused the traditional and standardizing burka and veil, trading it for modern style and outfits within the Republic period. It has also been observed that, instead of blindly following or imitating the western fashion, Turkish women preferred to produce their own version of it, a national fashion, more compatible to their culture, living and working environment, better enabling the hard work and productivity that is expected from them. The article study “The Transformation of Women Attire from Constitutionalism to Republic” aims to describe how the Ottoman subject women, who lived in isolation from the society for a long time, changed their style and attire motivated by the liberal winds of the Imperial Edict of Reorganization (1838), how this change of style and attire affected their role and involvement in the community, and how this new style formed a base for their style in the years to come. The conceptual frame of the article is; the effects of the Imperial Edict of Reorganization, and the Second Constitutional Monarchy, which is a turning point for the Ottoman Empire, on the social, political and style progresses that Turkish women enjoyed. The conclusion part of the study tells that the change and transformation on the social, political and especially the style - fashion, which started with the Imperial Edict of Reorganization, led to more active roles for women in the community, that the women of that period leveraged this opportunity to claim their position as basic component of the new community in the modernization project of the young Republic, and that they paved the step stones to a bright future and to new adventures of fashion and style. The article study “The Transformation of Women Attire from Constitutionalism to Republic” analyzes the change of women attire from Constitutional Monarchy to the Republic. The strict traditions of early Ottoman and post-constitutional westernization movements had serious impacts on women’s social, political and cultural life as well as their outfits. These developments enabled an active role for women in the community. Given this context, the article comprises two parts. The first part explains the changes and transformations that women have experienced in the social, political and cultural arena with the women's attire of the Ottoman Empire period and westernization movements that took place during the Reorganization period. The second part completes the study, defining how the above mentioned advancements acted as a base, a foundation for the modernization project of the new Republic and the following adventure of fashion and style.