Ottoman fashion communicated through two sets of sartorial standards. The first traced out official attitudes encapsulated in the laws and regulations put forward by the state. Though some of this thinking was ‘Islamic’, insofar as it sought to promote norms and values prescribed by Islamic law, it really represented an ‘imperial’ mentality that thought in hierarchical terms and aimed at policing clothing in the name of social order. The second set of standards paid little heed to this official perspective. It spoke on behalf of regional styles, which were most pronounced among the poor in both town and village. These more mundane fashions reflected the immense cultural diversity of the empire, of which clothing was merely one of the most obvious artefacts. Measured against this local customary landscape spanning three continents, from the Balkans to the Middle East and North Africa, one can hardly talk about a single ‘Ottoman’ fashion at all.