Today, what does hunting gear bring to mind? Khakis, camouflage print coats, maybe a vest with a thousand pockets - not exactly what we'd call classy or refined. But in the past, hunting was quite different, and included dress that we'd never imagine wearing into the woods today.
Though hunting may be a fringe activity nowadays, it was an elite past time for thousands of years. From the lion hunts of Ancient Babylon to the hunting parties of Victorian Britain, hunting was an elaborate spectacle for the upper classes. And indeed, this elaborate spectacle most include the proper clothes.
One of the origin stories for high heels, for example, is not "a male invention designed to make women's butts look smaller . . . and to make it harder for them to run away," (thank you Amanda Bynes), but actually as a practical feature for men's hunting shoes. Chopins and other elevated shoes were often worn by women, but the first heeled shoes that more closely resemble today's models actually descend from a practical solution to men's footwear: a heeled shoe designed for horseback riding. The small heel would help the foot to stay in the stirrup and make for more nimble movement while hunting and riding. The heeled shoe later became popular in Europe, worn by the likes of Louis XIV, but was still exclusively a men's shoe. It wasn't until a new fashion started by man-like ladies who imitated men's clothing that women started to partake of the heel trend.
Now back to hunting gear, as we can see in the 1850's plate of men's hunting garb, it was common for men to wear a long, flared coat while hunting in European society. The Mughals had a similar fashion for long hunting coats that could be extremely elaborate. My favourite specimen is a beautiful chain-stitch embroidered coat from the time of Jahangir. It is labelled as originating in Gujarat, and due to the extreme detail I imagine it would have been made for royal use. During Jahangir's reign, his son, who would become the emperor Shahjahan, had a textile factory in Ahmedabad. We may never know, but I like to imagine that this coat was made in that exact factory.
Jahangir, and other Mughal emperors, had a peculiar past time of hunting large cats such as lions and cheetahs. This was a far cry from a hunter-gatherer looking for his dinner. Rather, big cats and other animals would be loaded into corrals for the emperors to hunt while under the supervision of dozens of courtiers. Nevertheless, this was likely a much more dangerous sport than extreme gaming.
There are a myriad of examples of beautiful clothes designed for hunting. And even if they may seem impractical today, all of these were designed to fulfill a particular purpose at the time. I can't say that I have any interest in going hunting myself, but if I did I would hope to be as well-dressed as Jahangir hunting tigers.
Further reading:
Bata Shoe Museum Exhibit "Standing Tall - The Curious History of Men in Heels" http://www.batashoemuseum.ca/standing-tall/
"Lions, Cheetahs, and Others in the Mughal Landscape" Divyabhanusinh from Shifting Ground : People, Animals, and Mobility in India's Environmental History
"Persistence rewarded: the V&A's Mughal Coat" https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/projects/persistence-rewarded-the-vas-mughal-coat
Survey of Historic Costume, Third Edition by Phyllis Tortora and Keith Eubank
"Textile Industries During the Mughals" by Fatima Zahra Bilgrami from A Study Of Mughal Emperial Costumes And Designs During 16th And 17th Century
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