What it means
مانتو (mânto) comes from the French word manteau, meaning cloak or coat. In Iran, the word has taken on a specific and culturally distinct meaning: it refers to the loose, coat-like over-garment that women are required to wear in public under Iran’s hijab regulations. A mânto typically reaches from the shoulders down to at least mid-thigh and is worn over ordinary clothes. It comes in countless styles, fabrics, and colours, ranging from plain and functional to elegantly tailored, and Iranian fashion designers have made the mânto into a significant category of women’s fashion.
How to use it
- مانتوی جدیدم رو پوشیدم. (Mânto-ye jadid-am ro pushidam.) “I wore my new manteau.”
- این مانتو خیلی بهت میاد. (In mânto kheyli behet miyâd.) “This manteau suits you very well.”
- مانتوم رو باید بدم خشکشویی. (Mânto-m ro bâyad bedam khoshkshuyi.) “I need to take my manteau to the dry cleaner.”
- کجا این مانتو رو خریدی؟ (Kojâ in mânto ro kharidi?) “Where did you buy this manteau?”
Cultural note
The mânto is one of the most visible items of Iranian women’s dress and occupies a unique place in both fashion and social politics. Since the 1980s, wearing a mânto and head-covering in public has been legally required for women in Iran. Rather than erasing fashion, this created a thriving domestic design industry around the garment. Young Iranian women often use the cut, colour, and fabric of the mânto as a form of personal expression within the constraints of public dress codes. The garment is so specific to the Iranian context that English-language media often keep the Persian word mânto rather than translating it.