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10 May, 19 tweets, 11 min read
1 - It's Monday! That means it's #threadtalk time. But today we're doing a bit of a retrospective.

Somehow, I've done 16 of these already!

So get your bookmarks ready, we're about to do a #ThreadofThreadtalk.
2 - First up is #chintz. You might think of it as your grandmother's cushions, but it's really a remarkable history that takes us to India and the history of print cotton.

We also get our first glimpse into sumptuary laws and MURDER.

3 - The Lure of Timeless #taffeta teaches us about "scroop" (the sound it makes) & brings a bit more insight past 80s prom gowns. I was surprised at how old taffeta is!

I adore the look & feel of taffeta, personally. And moiré is a personal obsession.

4 - #Jacquard takes a tour of technology, as well as the history of brocade... and stop offs in computer science.

Some of the designs are to die for. And though we've fully computerized jacquard looms now, they're still built on the same principles.

5 - I am a total sucker for #tartan and #plaid, even if no one agrees on what to call it. Some of the Victorian examples here just make me drool. The key image might be the most perfect use of plaid I've ever seen.

Of course, we also go to Scotland.

6 - #damask is my personal favorite, and a subject I pursued JUST FOR ME.

That said, there is a mermaid dress within you do NOT want to miss. 🧜‍♀️

7 - In terms of sexy factor, you can't get better than #lace. But we also encounter horrible labor practices, insane money-grabbing nobles, and more!

If you love mid 19th century gowns, there are a LOT of layercake dresses.

8 - This one never hit like I hoped (yay algorithms?), but if you follow me you know I adore green #velvet like no one's business.

I had no idea how expensive silk velvet was until I did this research, and I need to get my hands on some soon.

9 - #Embroidery! It was nice to take a break from overt appropriation... oh wait, just kidding.

Yes, almost every culture in the world has embroidery of some kind. But it's meaningful, and culturally specific. And Westerners in history generally DGAF.
10 - How did fabrics get their colors? Well, here's a look at #dyes of history, from urine to beetles (they will show up again) to blood and bone.

And of course arsenic.

11 - This one broke the internet. #muslin has long been a mainstay of Regency romance, but it's a tradition steeped in cultural erasure, genocide, and violence.

A particular focus on the tradition of Dhaka muslin.
12 - You know I cannot ignore a good pun, so the Venerable #Bead WENT THERE.

So much beadwork, including lots of indigenous and Native/First Nation work (my personal favorite), as well as a visit to the Victorians, because of course.

13 - One of my all-time favorite patterns is #paisley or boteh -- which is ANCIENT. Another one inspired by my own love of Regency fashion, this ancient ended up in some curious places. Like Scotland. Hence the name.

14 - Ever wonder what people wore *under there*? Well, sometimes it was a LOT--and other times it was NOTHING. Yup, #underwear!

Featuring special porcelain portable potties & some pedantic mutterings about stays vs. corsets.

15 - Elizabeth I was an icon, so she was the first in my #ThreadTalkIcons series.

Come for her progressively ornate gowns, stay for the prison embroideries of Mary Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick.

16 - I loooove #stripes. Not surprising, I know, I already mentioned how much I love a good plaid.

But there's quite a history behind stripes--when they were worn, for what reasons, and by whom. Also, sewing with stripes is like X Games Mode.

17 - And finally, last week's #kaftan craze! These garments have been loved and obsessed over for centuries. Millennia, maybe.

All I know is that I've been looking at listings for vintage kaftans all week.

18 - That's *16 weeks* of #threadtalk in one thread! Topics I'm hoping to cover soon: satin, linen, hats, wigs, stockings, and more! Stay tuned, and thanks for tuning in. <3
19 - Also, feel free to #AMA tonight about #threadtalk, my books, my favorite cheeses... or whatever.

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More from @NataniaBarron

Natania Barron Profile picture
10 May
My almost 9 year old daughter has finally finished the Avengers films.

Her resounding fury: "WHY DO THEY THROW ALL THE WOMEN OFF CLIFFS!?"
I'm proud of her, but doubly disappointed. When Black Widow died, she was already reeling from Gamora.

She sobbed in my arms for like 15 minutes because she was PISSED OFF.

We have got to do better. We have got to demand better.
It was bad storytelling. Along with the "fat Thor" and many other missteps.

Endgame has some great moments, but it's a boy's story. All the big emotional moments are for men, & the women are used as emotional punctuation.

Scarlet Witch & Captain Marvel, even, get sidelined.
Read 6 tweets
Natania Barron Profile picture
3 May
1 - It's time for #ThreadTalk & today we're swathing ourselves in the history of the kaftan!

Don't know your kaftan from your muumuu, dashiki, or Banyan? That's okay. We'll get there.

This ancient garment became a Regency staple🎩, a 1960s essential ☮️ & a modern must-have.🧥 A striped and heavily embroidered kaftan style robe. The str
2 - The word itself is Persian: خفتان khaftān. In simple terms, it's a tunic or a robe, often open down the front & tied with a sash.

This kind of garment goes back as far as Mesopotamia, but rose to prominence during the Abbasid Caliphate. This bowl dates from the 10thC. A man possibly holding a weapon and wearing a helmet. Abbasi
3 - That said, the garment itself emerged all over antiquity, & adapted through history. How kaftans are used, and the materials they're made from -- that's where things get sticky.

More on that later. Here's another pretty one, an entari from Turkey. Ucetek Entari from Turkey, a kaftan with floral stripes in g
Read 35 tweets
Natania Barron Profile picture
27 Apr
23 - I could do a whole thread on caftans, and maybe I should?

This caftan is from Turkey and dates from the 19th century, and y'all know I love gold and red. The stripes contain the floral pattern, and draw the eye up and around.

10/10 would wear right now. d A gold and red caftan with stripes at the edges and down the
24 - So much happening here, and normally would avoid this period -- but I am such a sucker for green velvet accents that I had to share this one. It's also a lovely closeup. 1861-1863, England. And it's moiré silk. So um. Just gaze. ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London - Evening dress of moir
25 - By the 1870s things get real wild. New advances in dressmaking mean shapes get out of the box. Multiple textures going on here, multiple stripes, and a serious nod to the sailor suits we talked about earlier. ALSO POCKETS EVERYWHERE. Just darling. ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London - The dress is inspired
Read 12 tweets
Natania Barron Profile picture
26 Apr
1 - Welcome to #ThreadTalk! This week we're talking stripes. And let me say, y'all have *opinions.*

Which is totally on brand for this pattern.

From the high seas🏴‍☠️ to the school yard🧑‍🎓, the red light district 🚨to the palace at Versailles🏰: Let's dive into the striped past. Visiting dress, 1867 - French. A silk striped dress in pale
2 - Stripes may be humankind's first fabric pattern, simply woven in as the yarn color shifted from one to another. The word "stripe" is from "a line in cloth."

And stripes show up everywhere: fabric, pottery, and jewelry. Like this Neolithic (2650 BC) pot from China. Gorgeous! A Neolithic pot from what is now China, about 4500 years old
3 - 'Cause you know what? Stripes are POWERFUL. Just like we naturally turn our gaze to the horizon, stripes grab attention. Contrast, y'all.

Unsurprisingly, the great pharaohs of Ancient Egypt chose stripes for their Nemes (headcloths) like head-turning Thuthmose III below. This fine indurated limestone torso and head was uncovered i
Read 23 tweets
Natania Barron Profile picture
19 Apr
1 - Welcome to #threadtalk, the first in my icon series.

Yup. It's gonna be ruff.

It's fitting that begin with the very monarch who signed the East India Company into being: Queen Elizabeth I.

Join me as we travel back to the 16thC to one truly warped family. 👑🧵🪡 Queen Elizabeth I with an immense, ornately decorated ruff,
2 - No one expected the daughter of Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn would ascend the throne--but she did. Her coronation (1558) portrait shows her swathed in cloth of gold--the very same her deceased sister Mary had worn (bit creepy).

Oh, that cloth of gold? £2170 a yard in today's $$. Elizabeth is wearing a dress decorated with Tudor roses and
3 - Every line of her dress is a message: the cloth of gold was a favorite of her father's; the fleur-de-lis represented the ongoing claim of France; the Tudor roses: legitimacy. Her long hair and serene expression? The beginnings of the Virgin Queen. And all that ermine. A portrait miniature of Elizabeth I's coronation gown, simil
Read 35 tweets
Natania Barron Profile picture
12 Apr
1 - Welcome to #ThreadTalk & gird your loins! We're talking skivvies, undies, unmentionables, lingerie🩲-- that's right: underwear.

Tonight we'll part the veil & to find what lies beneath. We've got witchcraft, weird myths & plenty of spice. 🔥 🔥 🔥

But first, mummies! Magenta silk satin brocaded in yellow and green. Woman's cor
2 - Tradition says Adam & Eve used fig leaves, but the most likely first "underwear" was woven of plant materials or leather. Hence, it's hard to find extant remains.

Ötzi the Iceman, though, who's about 3500 years old, had a very well preserved one. So did the Aztecs, pictured. A descriptive cartoon of the Aztec people goin about daily l
3 - Loincloths were kind of a global sensation for a while. Got a belt and some felt? Strap it together, vavoom!
Unsurprisingly, the ancient Egyptians used linen for their flappy bits. Indeed, King Tut had a staggering 145 loincloths starched and pressed for the afterlife. From the tomb of King Tut, four figures preparing a mummy. T
Read 34 tweets

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