For this blog post, we were tasked to find an object during our visit at the Victoria & Albert museum that we could connect to one of the plays we've seen, either through concept or aesthetic similarity. There were many incredible and intriguing objects on display at the museum, ranging from objects seen in Asia and Europe to those found during the Renaissance and beyond. The object that I decided reminded me most of a play we'd seen was this Turkish garb, presumably worn by someone of high-class or a very wealthy merchant; hence, it reminded me of something that either Antonio or Shylock would wear in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice."
The very ornate patterns of the robe, as well as the color scheme and materials utilized very much remind me of the costumes that were worn by Shylock and Antonio during the Globe Theatre's production of the play. Seeing as the museum is primarily an exhibition of the evolution of fashion throughout the years, it's fitting to see an outfit as stunning in appearance and symbolic of Turkish culture as the one pictured, and it can be determined that much influence was taken from these types of clothes when designing the costumes for Shakespeare's productions. I'm not sure exactly who (or what) this set of robes belonged to, but it can be determined that they definitely did NOT belong to anyone poor during that time period, as it was made with very fine materials that would sell for a ridiculous amount of money back then, as well as today. However, it seems very fitting for a merchant like Antonio or a moneylender like Shylock, who spend their lives dealing with money. Naturally they'd want to look professional, confident and wealthy in order to get the most business, so this garb would be more than fitting for that purpose.
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