Nathalie asked... Why was lace white from the beginning? Why was the white colour dominant through the centuries and even nowadays?
Hi Nathalie, Lace wasn't, necessarily, white. Flax does produce a white/cream fiber so that's the starting base. It's the color that could be made in quantity, sold to the dealers, and used on any garment-- taken off and used on another. However, colored lace was very popular and found in many countries. The color could be applied to the piece of lace after it was completed and prepared for the garment. The basic stock of the dealer was white/cream. Colored thread has to be dyed. Dye tends to weaken fibers. Colored laces tend to disintegrate long before the white or natural laces. It's the natural ones that have lasted through the centuries to be still available for us to see and study. At one time in history when colored lace was all the rage, the color was applied with the starch. When washed, it washed out and could be changed to another color. The base piece of lace was natural color, and that's the piece we see in a museum. This is my viewpoint of the colored lace question. Historians...do you agree or disagree? Alice in Oregon... facing a day of blue sky and sunshine, for a change. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
