The old dress code consisted of baggy trousers that fit over a loose flowing robe. (Heller, 137) The most important part of the old dress code was the fez. The fez was a scarlet-purple felt cylinder cap, ornamented with a long black tassel. It symbolized a traditionalist and religious spirit in Turkey. (Yayynevi)

Kemal, against this old dress code, decided to take action. Kemal wished to ban the fez, but before he did, he wanted to test the reaction of the people. In the army, he replaced the fez with a brimmed hat saying that it would block out the sun. (Heller, 139) No one really protested these new hats so Kemal and the National Assembly banned the old dress code including the fez. (Heller, 138)

Kemal thought that the old dress code was inferior because it represented all of the old Islamic traditions. He wanted a mo

dern dress code instead. He took the new code from western civilizations, and it consisted of shoes, trousers, a waistcoat, a shirt, a tie, a jacket, and finally peaked or brimmed headgear. (Heller, 137).

At first the people were scared of this new dress code because they thought their God, Allah, would kill their beloved leader Kemal. (Heller, 137) The people were scared because the fez was a religious object, and since it was being banned, people feared that they were being sacrilegious. After the initial shock, many people began to wear the brimmed panama hat. These people were called shapkali. (Heller, 139 & 137)

Kemal also had to enforce this new dress code to ensure that the people stay united. There were some protestors, and they were made examples of by being hanged at the doors of mosques. (Yayynevi) Another, more peaceful way of enforcing this was to cut the seat of the pants of someone who was wearing the old clothes. It was necessary for this enforcement because if some people strayed away from the dress code there could have been many fights among the people, which would not result in the nationalism that Kemal wished to achieve.

It was, however, difficult to enact the new dress code because people were not ready for such a quick

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