Thread Talk | All That Glitters – Gold in Fashion

1 – Welcome to #ThreadTalk

Get ready for #fashionhistory – it’s been a while, but I’m back. Today’s topic is All That Glitters – we’re talking about fashioning fabric with gold and metal, but especially real gold. Below, 1610-1620 – Dress of Electress Magdalena Syblla of Saxony.

From State Art Collection - Dresden - The golden yellow and salmon-red ceremonial dress with gold and silver lace follows the shape, nuanced colors and sophisticated decorative details of Italian women's fashion around 1590-1620.
The tight-fitting, slightly protruding, pointed bodice is trimmed in dense rows with narrow gold and silver lace. It is closed at the front with concealed hooks and eyes. The skirt is buttoned to the bodice using numerous gold and silver trimming buttons. The slightly stiffened bodice embodies an early form of the so-called snail waist, which was to be a defining feature of women's fashion in the 17th century.
The skirt - an overskirt - is open at the front and is effectively trimmed in several circumferential panels with wide and medium-wide gold and silver lace, into which drop-shaped silver sequins are worked. A second, representative skirt was effectively visible through the front slit and the long skirt slits, which were held together with ribbon roses (not known).
The graceful star-shaped shoulder decoration is borrowed from the bridal and formal wear of noble Venetian women. The jagged tips flash with bright red silk pompoms. The tight-fitting salmon-red sleeves are fastened at the wrist with buttons. They are completely embroidered with scales and stars. The golden yellow wing sleeves above are decorated with lace and many small trimmings made of gold and silver thread.
The accessories of the dress can be imagined as a high, fine white lace collar, lace cuffs of the same kind, and rich gold and pearl jewelry.
The queens and princesses of the English and Danish royal families, as well as Maria de' Medici, Duchess of Florence and Queen of France, were particularly pioneers of the fashion represented by the dress shown. No other original examples have survived in this completeness and condition.

2 – To understand how we make fabric out of gold, let’s chat about my favorite element: Au. Gold isn’t just shiny & beautiful, it also resists corrosion & is extremely malleable. Also? Gold is alien. Scientists posit it came to earth via massive moon and meteor collisions billions of years ago.

A artificially grown gold piece that looks like growing tendrils of crystal, on a white background. From Wikipedia: By Alchemist-hp (talk) www.pse-mendelejew.de - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

3 – I am a geology nerd, so I could go on at length. But all you need to know for today is that you can hammer gold down to .5mm & made into foil. That foil is made into delicate wire & wrapped around silk, linen, or cotton–called lamellation. Then: embroider as desired. (Below: Spain C 1300)

An ornate piece of cloth with roundels in blue and gold against a deep red background. There are also flower-like and cross-like motifs in the background.

4 – It’s a manual process, and goldwork–the art of embroidery with gold thread–dates to China’s Shang Dynasty (1570-1045 BCE) but went global. Gold was used to designate social, religious, & economic status. Which means people have done horrible things to attain it. (Nasij from China, 13th C)

Gold fabric with frond-like pattern on a background of slight red (typical of Chinese cloth of gold) -- some areas are missing due to age.

5 – In fact! There may be no more destructive force on earth than the pursuit of gold. Every imaginable atrocity from war to genocide to total environmental devastation. It was particularly nasty during European colonization, but it’s a story as old as time. (Muisca raft, 13-16th C)

A golden raft with gold wire figures standing on it, elaborately dressed with headdresses, clothing, and staves. It is bright yellow gold against a black background.

By Pedro Szekely from Los Angeles, USA - Pedro Szekely, Gold Museum, Bogota, from flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74528973

6 – Gold shows up in pre-history, unrefined &“native” as it’s called. But it’s not until around 4200 BCE we find actual artefacts of worked metal in Bulgaria. We have evidence of mining as early as 1320 BCE in Egypt. Goldwork follows. (Women’s Robe, Liao Dynasty, 10th century)

7 – You also can find gold threads in brocade, which is woven patterned fabric. This look is most recognizable in the Renaissance, but it was a great way to add shimmer to any outfit. This is one of my favorites, Princess Magdalena Sibylla’s dress c 1630-36, Italy (who also wore the first gown)

The women's outer garment is made of a magnificent gold-brocaded violet silk damask, the pattern of which, with large and small flower branches arranged in a diamond shape, is borrowed from Persian silk. Gold braids and gold trimmings emphasize the style of the dress, which dates back to the 1630s. In terms of its size and quality, the dress belonged to a small, girlish person of princely status. The dress, which was open at the front, formed the top part of a full-length women's dress. It consists of a bodice that ends below the breast and a wide skirt with folds. The outer garment was worn over a wide skirt that was lavishly decorated at the front. The breast was covered by a triangular bib with a protruding sash. The bib was laced on at the side, either hidden or visibly crossed. The half-length, wide sleeves of the outer garment encircle the elbow. The sleeve slit with many trimming buttons can be opened. The sleeve width is designed for the long, puffed sleeves that are pulled separately underneath. The dress was also worn with a shirt or shirt insert, lace collar and lace cuffs made of fine, white linen, colorful ribbon roses and precious jewelry. Electoral Princess Magdalena Sibylla of Saxony is considered to be the original owner of the dress. According to the one-sided back padding on the dress, the wearer suffered from a curvature of the spine. Evidence of such a disability can be found in various portraits of Magdalena Sibylla.

8 – Lampas is another of weaving technique that produces cloth of gold. The production of lampas employs a weft of taffeta with a supplemental weft on top of it. It dates to 1000 CE in terms of first production. The Mongols really loved it, and this kaftan is amazing. 13th or 14th C

Of silk woven with a very fine design of writhing dragons on a ground of dense floral designs, with long pleated flaring skirt, long tapering sleeves with applied bands of similar but contrasting silks forming the cuffs, similar panels of similar silks forming the collar bands, lilac silk ties, with original light blue silk lining, occasional very slight splitting along crease lines, overall very good condition

9 – The Mongols also loved cloth of gold, which is 100% just woven gold lamellated threads. Ghengis Khan, known for his brutality and murderous rampages, spared artisans like weavers. These weavers used various kinds of gold thread to produce three-dimensional designs which still amaze today.

A long piece of very famous cloth of gold from said Mongol period. There are lions twisted and facing each other in roundels on an ornate background.

10 – Khan was known to have tents adorned with two-toned gold on campaign. You can imagine what that might look like. You know who else did? Henry VIII. In fact, Henry has the corner on the market for cloth of gold searches because of his Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520.

A slightly later depiction of the Field of Cloth of Gold, with a dizzying assortment of attendees, Henry VIII decked in gold, and the gold tents in the distance of a French countryside.

11 – Henry VIII was another horrible, murderous human, and also a narcissist. The 18 day event, co-sponsored by Francis I of France, cost the equivalent of $19M. Both monarchs also wore cloth of gold as they rode out to meet one another. For all the peacocking, it had no real political impact.

Henry VII wearing a cloth of gold doublet and a fur cape, as well as a jaunty hat, holding a piece of paper with writing on it. He is looking askance and is encrusted in jewels and pearls.

12 – Edward III was the first to enact sumptuary laws in England against the wearing of cloth of gold, and this continued. Elizabeth I was very, very concerned with what people of her court were wearing. Of course, her coronation gown was cloth of gold. It must have been insanely heavy.

A famous portrait of Queen Elizabeth I on her coronation day wearing a dress and cape of cloth of gold. Her hair is also down, and it matches the color of the vestments. She is holding a globe and staff and wearing an elaborate crown.

13 – Of course, in a post-medieval world, such excess was also important for the royals, flashing the same fabric used for centuries by the Roman Catholic Church. Cloth of gold appears in garments from all over Europe in the Middle Ages. This cloth of gold VELVET one slaps.

A chasubule, which a priest would wear, of cloth of gold, featuring a crucifix and Mary below it. The velvet behind it is deep indigo in color.

14 – Now, there are other ways to make gold thread, & the Mongols popularized an approach which included an animal or other organic substrate (like paper). You can also pull metal to make super thin wire, & embroider thusly. Modern gold lame uses synthetic fabric, like polyester. (Panel, 1840s.)

A panel of cloth of gold with a crest in the middle crowned, a lion and a unicorn on either side. The gold background is a bit worn, but you can see the individual threads.

15 – So, to the fashion. Given its inherent value, it’s hard to find extant gowns of cloth of gold, but I’m including brocades & embroidery. I can’t guarantee everything is 100% gold. Museum descriptions are fickle. First off: HELLO, NURSE. State dress, 1697, coronation of Augustus the Strong.

Augustus the Strong wore the golden dress to the coronation banquet on September 5th/15th, 1697 in Krakow, in the royal castle on the Wawel. On the day of the coronation, the ceremonial dress was adorned with the star of the Royal Danish Order of the Elephant and a button set with diamond roses. The dress is completely based on the latest French court fashion of the time. It consists of a skirt, waistcoat, knee breeches and stockings. The preciousness of the dress surpasses all the dresses previously owned by the Saxon electors. The much-quoted royal splendor can be sensed with the gold fabric of the dress, woven as "glacé". The embroidery in silver represents the color white, which was binding for the Polish coronation ceremony as a Christian act of consecration.

16 – Deep breath, it looks like this isn’t threading like I hoped, so… I will put the rest here. This cape is of European make, but from the second half of the 16th Century made out of Ming Dynasty cloth. The cut of it is absolutely stunning, and could frankly stun on the red carpet today.

A gold cape with a high neck. The pattern has the typical reddish hue to it amidst the gold, and it would fall past someone's hands most likely. From the Met Museum.

17 – I am always here for absolutely STUNNING menswear, and purple and gold make my brain shiver happily. This whole suit is British and is ca. 1760. It’s got all the flair of court fashion, and somehow has miraculously survived the test of time. Also, I would 100% wear this.

This magnificent suit remarkably survives complete with all of its components. Because elements of menswear were often retailored to accommodate changes in the wearer's size or in fashion, this ensemble in essentially unaltered condition is an exceedingly rare example. Characteristic of the fashion of this date, skintight breeches that buckle below the knee and a fitted waistcoat are almost entirely covered by a coat with collarless, narrow chest and stiffly flaring skirt that concentrates emphasis on the lower torso and thighs. The placement of the opulent applied decoration bolsters this effect. Although the coat retains stiffness reminiscent of the 1750s styles, the buttons do not meet below the upper chest and the angular opening anticipates the pronounced front curve and diminishing skirt of late decades. The color coordination of all three parts and the utilization of wool, both decidedly English elements that anticipate modern attire, were generally reserved for informal wear. Here, however, the suit is resplendent with an abundance of gold buttons and braid more closely associated with high-style occasions.

18 – We need to talk more about gold lamé, and this 1930s jacket is everything and then some. I feel like, somehow, Henry VIII would also wear it. It definitely feels extra like him. This is by C.G. Gunther Son’s, via the Met Museum.

19 – This Ottoman woman’s garment, known as an enteri, is just lovely in design and composition. I love the scalloped edges. It dates from the late 19th century, and would have been part of a more elaborate outfit.

This garment is an Ottoman women’s robe, or entari, which would have been worn over a gömlek, or undershirt, and şalvar, or baggy trousers. The entari has a small stand-up collar, long straight sleeves open to the elbow, and long triangular pieces (peş in Turkish) added to each side of the front and back skirts for added fullness. Twelve buttons and loops at the bodice would have closed the garment. The skirt is open to the hip with pockets in the side seams above the slit. The fabric of the entari is a soft salmon-colored silk and cotton blend, with a gold pattern of undulating bands with floral bouquets between the bands, executed with extra weft metal-wrapped silk threads. The original lining of the garment is a coarsely woven fabric that has been treated with a heavy sizing or starch. At some point, the lower part of the garment and the sleeves were relined with a salmon twill, added on top of the original lining. The pocket lining is a striped floral savai, a silk brocade with alternating vertical bands of floral motifs composed of extra weft silk thread and a herringbone design executed in gold metal-wrapped thread. Most likely the lining was left over from another garment made in the same shop. All of the edges of the entari have been finished in a neat, scalloped design and narrow gold-wrapped braid, with extra loops and flourishes at the bodice and sleeve edges. The sleeve ends are further ornamented with an interlaced design carried out in a heavy gold thread.

20 – Noh theatre costumes from Japan never fail to delight, and this gorgeous robe ticks all the boxes. I love the dizzying array of floral sprays here, and the gold interlaced inside would have caught the lantern light so beautifully on stage. Edo era, 18th century.

Dark brown silk Noh theater robe with overall design of peonies on cypress fence in green, blue, light brown, purple, orange, white, pink and gold supplemental weft patterning with some later embroidery. There is a reddish-orange plain-weave silk lining.

21 – Can’t have #ThreadTalk

without a bit of Worth. So here’s a lovely use of gold thread and gold beadwork that ensures the wearer really makes an entrance. This dates from 1915, and I just adore that peek-a-boo netting!

An evening dress of green satin brocaded with pink, green, yellow, and blue silks, and gold metal thread in all-over design of serpentine stems bearing a variety of carnation blossoms; low cut neck with surplice line both front and back of bodice, hooked down back of bodice, short straight sleeves, skirt without much fullness, longer in back forming train,open down entire length of left side to show gold fish net over pink taffeta, this opening caught at center by butterfly of rhinestones, left side of bodice and both sleeves made of gold fish net with rhinestones at intersections of netting.

22 – Billionaires and robber barons of course love to exert their power over people, and what better than to reuse a gorgeous Indian sari in your gown? That’s precisely what Mrs. Rockefeller did for this one… Just keeping the spirit of Imperialism alive. (For real, all credit to the sari maker)

Made in part from an Indian sari of blue and gold; straight cut; blue satin slip; front of bodice and back, including short train, of sari; skirt of dress and underarm panels of gold lace; worn by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

23 – And lastly, because this is SO VERY EXTRA. I present this amazing robe. Covered in fruit. Because why not? Dating from the 1920s.

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