… continued well into the 16th century. It was of the Murex shellfish, obtained by Phoenician sailors who trolled the coastlines for royalty. First used on wool, its reds, blues, purples, and violets were available to those who could afford it. Purpurea, a plant root, was discovered as a fine …
Category: Fashion History Blog
Weld, a yellow dye was discovered..
.. as well as Brazilwood which gave coral, red, pinks, and purples – all cheap! As in this 16th century tapestry, individual fibers were dyed using different plant sources, and then woven to great effect. This includes Woad (blue), Weld (yellow) – blended together for greens, and Walnut (to temper …
In the 1200’s, lichens from…
… Asia Minor were used to make purple, and then the Italians discovered Woad. Depending on its application, Woad could make a very deep blue, almost purple, to a lighter blue/green. (This will also be discussed in detail in future posts). (Portrait: Italian woman 1530 in gown presumed to be …
Red became the new Purple..
.. as early as the 4th century AD, roots from the Madder plant were used in many ways and situations to make reds to purple. (We will come back to discuss Madder when we get to the 18th and 19th centuries). (photo: the Madder plant, Rubia tinctorum)
The Bible also refers to Scarlet…
.. in Exodus in a reference to “Scarlet Linen”, and red fabrics were found in King Tut’s tomb in Egypt. Historians believe both were dyed from the Madder plant. (Photo: King Tut’s red sash on display in museum in Cairo)
The Bible refers to purple dye…
.. in Acts referring to “Lydia seller of purple”. Sources of purple in Biblical times in addition to Murex were “Trumpet Shells” or “Purple Fish”. These were shellfish, whose shells would be cracked to dig out a vein that held purple mucus that could be spread on silk. It took …
Because “Purpurea” was hard to get and costly…
… methods other than the use of the Murex Mollusk were explored to find purple. There was found a recipe from the 3rd Century for a “Stockholm Papyrus” that made a purplish color. The problem was in the Byzantium Empire, anyone but the royals were forbidden to wear purple under …
Purple was rare and hard to process…
… coming in ancient times from murex, a molllusk which yielded “purpurea”. Purple was in high demand by emperors like Rome’s. No one else could afford it: 1 lb of cloth dyed with murex in the time of the ancient Romans was worth $20,000 today. (image: Etruscan fresco showing high …
Now we will study dye…
Because that is another of the things that marked the change from early Victorian to Mid Victorian. We’ll focus on natural dyes – those made by nature and not in the chemistry lab like synthetic ones. This will take a bit, so we’ll find some dogs and cats to break …
We have been studying Worth, the crinoline,
.. and the sewing machine as we discuss the factors that made the Early Victorian Era change into the Mid Victorian Era. There are many other design houses worthy of note, but extensive discussion of these are already on the website, so we will move ahead to the 4th and …