Women in Turkey have been returning to 2,500-year-old fashions, as bracelets, earrings and other accessories styled after pieces in the Iron Age section of the Antalya Archeology Museum grow more popular by the day. Sales of imitation combs, bracelets and pinky rings based on pieces found in Kinet, a port city founded in sixth or fifth century BCE, have been soaring in the city of Dörtyol in the southeastern province of Hatay, local shopkeepers say.
     The Iron Age accessories, carved from ivory and bone, have been copied with designs made out of wood. The lice comb, which is very popular among older women, is a popular but rare item that can be found in the historical Uzun Bazaar in Hatay. Accessories made of blue, yellow and white beads believed to provide protection from the evil eye are also popular in the city's shops and jewelry stores. Local shopkeepers say even modern customers believe the pieces protect them from the evil eye.
     Corc Bozkurt, who has been a jewelry designer for 55 years, says most of the orders he has been getting recently have been for imitations of Iron Age accessories. There is strong demand for bracelets and rings in particular, he adds. "There has been a return to the fashions of antiquity. The new styles in jewelry design actually date back thousands of years. I always take older jewelry as examples for my new designs."
     
Source: Today's Zaman (23 August 2008)