A collection of Soviet textiles. More here.
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Friday, 16 November 2012
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Crisis? What Crisis?
Crisis? What Crisis?:
Courtesy of Sigrid M. Van Roode
Jewelry as investment
In the Middle East jewelry has more value than just being ornamental. In addition to being beautifully crafted pieces of personal adornment, jewelry also carries economic, social and magical values. The financial aspect of jewelry during this period of global crisis is of extreme importance as proven by a succinct Arabic expression, “Bracelets are for difficult times.”
The basis for any woman’s jewelry collection is her marriage. The items she receives are her own personal possessions; they are hers to keep and do with as she pleases. On her wedding day, the glint of jewelry will impress onlookers and send out a clear message of her value as wife and family member. In addition, the dowry serves as insurance in case her husband should leave her. Thus the size of the dowry is heavily negotiated by the two families before the engagement is announced. How important this jewelry was becomes apparent in the names of some items. A necklace from Yemen is called lazim, which means as much as “a must” in Arabic. This piece was simply non-negotiable and had to be there. During the course of a woman’s lifetime, more jewelry is acquired after the birth of each child or when there is money to spare.
To show off both wealth and status, coins are often incorporated into jewelry, face veils and other personal adornments. The monetary value of the coin is annulled by the fact that it has been soldered, pierced, cut and embellished with colored stones. Yet the use of coins predates the introduction of hallmarking. By using coins, the wearer could indicate silver content and connected value in an era where there was no other method of establishing guaranteed silver content in jewelry. One of the most famous coins used was the Austrian Maria Theresia Thaler, the first coin to have a constant and reliable high silver content. In addition to famous coins like the Maria Theresia Thaler, many local coins or other coins that were circulated in a certain country were worked into jewelry and costumes. A comparative study into the use of coins illustrates economical landscapes and the contact range of the wearer. For example, on the Arab Peninsula many Indian rupees are used, jewelry from Central Asia features Russian coins, and jewelry from the Maghreb makes use of many European coins. Around the beginning of the 20th century, most countries around the Mediterranean introduced their own hallmarking systems. Hallmarks and silver stamps were often used on the outside of a jewelry item, which indicated wealth and status.
When a woman becomes the head of her own household she becomes also responsible for the family’s finances. Her husband earns an income and the wife is responsible for organizing the household efficiently: food, clothing, school uniforms and building up savings for unforeseen circumstances. Although a husband’s income is often not enough to cover daily expenses, the woman has to find practical ways to save for major and future expenditures. These savings often take the form of jewelry. Throughout the Middle East, women work in what is known as the shadow economy: assisting in bath houses, working as midwives, or creating handcrafted items for touristic purposes. The extra income created by these jobs is often invested in jewelry, sometimes with the help of an informal cooperation network. Using the extra cash to buy jewelry is always preferred rather than depositing money in a bank account because jewelry is regarded as a solid investment—a hard asset.
In countries where not everyone has access to insurance, where economic crises are common and where there’s inflation, it is still deemed preferable to invest in objects that can be sold at the market rate when needed, rather than hoard money that may lose its value over time. In the current global economic crisis, the women of the Middle East may have acted wisely. It is interesting to note that the value jewelry is directly related to the weight of a piece’s silver content and seen simply as a commodity. And because of this, a large part of the Middle East’s economy does not revolve around official banks, but rather dances around the wrists of its women.
Sigrid van Roode is a heritage consultant. She has been collecting and researching traditional silver jewelry from the Middle East and North Africa for almost two decades. Her study into this jewelry is presented in lectures, articles, the full-color book Desert Silver and an informative website www.bedouinsilver.com.
Courtesy of Sigrid M. Van Roode
Jewelry as investment
In the Middle East jewelry has more value than just being ornamental. In addition to being beautifully crafted pieces of personal adornment, jewelry also carries economic, social and magical values. The financial aspect of jewelry during this period of global crisis is of extreme importance as proven by a succinct Arabic expression, “Bracelets are for difficult times.”
The basis for any woman’s jewelry collection is her marriage. The items she receives are her own personal possessions; they are hers to keep and do with as she pleases. On her wedding day, the glint of jewelry will impress onlookers and send out a clear message of her value as wife and family member. In addition, the dowry serves as insurance in case her husband should leave her. Thus the size of the dowry is heavily negotiated by the two families before the engagement is announced. How important this jewelry was becomes apparent in the names of some items. A necklace from Yemen is called lazim, which means as much as “a must” in Arabic. This piece was simply non-negotiable and had to be there. During the course of a woman’s lifetime, more jewelry is acquired after the birth of each child or when there is money to spare.
To show off both wealth and status, coins are often incorporated into jewelry, face veils and other personal adornments. The monetary value of the coin is annulled by the fact that it has been soldered, pierced, cut and embellished with colored stones. Yet the use of coins predates the introduction of hallmarking. By using coins, the wearer could indicate silver content and connected value in an era where there was no other method of establishing guaranteed silver content in jewelry. One of the most famous coins used was the Austrian Maria Theresia Thaler, the first coin to have a constant and reliable high silver content. In addition to famous coins like the Maria Theresia Thaler, many local coins or other coins that were circulated in a certain country were worked into jewelry and costumes. A comparative study into the use of coins illustrates economical landscapes and the contact range of the wearer. For example, on the Arab Peninsula many Indian rupees are used, jewelry from Central Asia features Russian coins, and jewelry from the Maghreb makes use of many European coins. Around the beginning of the 20th century, most countries around the Mediterranean introduced their own hallmarking systems. Hallmarks and silver stamps were often used on the outside of a jewelry item, which indicated wealth and status.
When a woman becomes the head of her own household she becomes also responsible for the family’s finances. Her husband earns an income and the wife is responsible for organizing the household efficiently: food, clothing, school uniforms and building up savings for unforeseen circumstances. Although a husband’s income is often not enough to cover daily expenses, the woman has to find practical ways to save for major and future expenditures. These savings often take the form of jewelry. Throughout the Middle East, women work in what is known as the shadow economy: assisting in bath houses, working as midwives, or creating handcrafted items for touristic purposes. The extra income created by these jobs is often invested in jewelry, sometimes with the help of an informal cooperation network. Using the extra cash to buy jewelry is always preferred rather than depositing money in a bank account because jewelry is regarded as a solid investment—a hard asset.
In countries where not everyone has access to insurance, where economic crises are common and where there’s inflation, it is still deemed preferable to invest in objects that can be sold at the market rate when needed, rather than hoard money that may lose its value over time. In the current global economic crisis, the women of the Middle East may have acted wisely. It is interesting to note that the value jewelry is directly related to the weight of a piece’s silver content and seen simply as a commodity. And because of this, a large part of the Middle East’s economy does not revolve around official banks, but rather dances around the wrists of its women.
Sigrid van Roode is a heritage consultant. She has been collecting and researching traditional silver jewelry from the Middle East and North Africa for almost two decades. Her study into this jewelry is presented in lectures, articles, the full-color book Desert Silver and an informative website www.bedouinsilver.com.
Friday, 16 September 2011
Chin Up
Chin Up:
>> Disneyrollergirl has already made the unsurprising connection between 90s Helmut Lang collections and A/W 11-12. From the comparison between the high white polonecks that pepper Celine's A/W 11-12 and the ones seen in Helmut Lang's A/W 98 collection, I then found myself on a much MUCH older tangent...
Photos from Celine and Vogue.com
Celine's tight white high-cut polonecks seem to raise the stance of the models - like a much more refined neck brace. Me with my slouchy mc slouch posture can only peer up and admire the 'hauteur' instilled by what is basically a well-fitting poloneck. Then I did my catch up of BBC4 (I say BBC4 needs to be on 24/7...) and found myself watching the part-irritating, part-endearing Lucy Worsley presenting a series about the Regency period (loosely defined as between 1795 to 1837). As she touched on the subject of Regency Dandyism, she delved into the strict and elegant attire of Beau Brummel, the man credited with introducing the man's modern suit.
As the twinkly-eyed Worsley jibes about Brummel's daily routine of taking FIVE hours (he also polished his boots with champagne...) to get dressed, the dandy historian Ian Kelly demonstrates how to tie the perfect Brummel cravat, termed so because Brummel was so meticulous about tying this rectangular linen cloth around the neck so that you get a taut unrumpled cylinder around the neck with a neat tie at the front. The Celine A/W 11-12 polo neck seems to me a modern convenienced version of this more arduous predecessor.
The self-importance of the cravat meant that even in its day, it was made fun of, most famously by this illustration here. On the other hand, some people took it DEATHLY seriously and there's even a penned book published in 1828 entitled 'The Art of Tying the Cravat'. According to its reasoning for the importance of the cravat...
"When a man of rank makes his entree into a circle distinguished for taste and elegance, he will discover that his coat will attract only a slight degree of attention, but that the most critical and scrutinising examination will be made on the set of his Cravat. Should this unfortunately, not be correctly and elegantly put on - no further notice will be taken of him."
Gotta love the way men get bitchy in the 19th century...
Worsley spoke of 'hauteur' when talking about the cravat how it forced her to raise her neck and lift it up with deliberate haughtiness. I had to then reference these Cecil Beaton images taken in the 1920s (Beaton himself is in them too...) where a group of Bright Young Things have taken to interpreting Regency dress in their own foppish way. I've been looking at the incredibly dilligent set up of these photos a lot, thinking how they were bothered to go to these lengths to stage these photos...
My cravat Google search led me to a period clothing website that is a little bit on the shonky side but here is a page of collars that are all incredibly tempting to buy as neck layering devices that nod to Celine's pop of white at the neck in a more interesting way. At £10-20 a pop, even though they're sized for men's necks, I've bought a few to see how they will sit on top of shirts and jumpers. I have Worsley to thank for this historic tangent that has bought me to an unlikely shop source. A report on whether they're A/W 11-12 neckbrace material will come as soon as they arrive...
from stylebubble
Photos from Celine and Vogue.com
Celine's tight white high-cut polonecks seem to raise the stance of the models - like a much more refined neck brace. Me with my slouchy mc slouch posture can only peer up and admire the 'hauteur' instilled by what is basically a well-fitting poloneck. Then I did my catch up of BBC4 (I say BBC4 needs to be on 24/7...) and found myself watching the part-irritating, part-endearing Lucy Worsley presenting a series about the Regency period (loosely defined as between 1795 to 1837). As she touched on the subject of Regency Dandyism, she delved into the strict and elegant attire of Beau Brummel, the man credited with introducing the man's modern suit.
As the twinkly-eyed Worsley jibes about Brummel's daily routine of taking FIVE hours (he also polished his boots with champagne...) to get dressed, the dandy historian Ian Kelly demonstrates how to tie the perfect Brummel cravat, termed so because Brummel was so meticulous about tying this rectangular linen cloth around the neck so that you get a taut unrumpled cylinder around the neck with a neat tie at the front. The Celine A/W 11-12 polo neck seems to me a modern convenienced version of this more arduous predecessor.
The self-importance of the cravat meant that even in its day, it was made fun of, most famously by this illustration here. On the other hand, some people took it DEATHLY seriously and there's even a penned book published in 1828 entitled 'The Art of Tying the Cravat'. According to its reasoning for the importance of the cravat...
"When a man of rank makes his entree into a circle distinguished for taste and elegance, he will discover that his coat will attract only a slight degree of attention, but that the most critical and scrutinising examination will be made on the set of his Cravat. Should this unfortunately, not be correctly and elegantly put on - no further notice will be taken of him."
Gotta love the way men get bitchy in the 19th century...
Worsley spoke of 'hauteur' when talking about the cravat how it forced her to raise her neck and lift it up with deliberate haughtiness. I had to then reference these Cecil Beaton images taken in the 1920s (Beaton himself is in them too...) where a group of Bright Young Things have taken to interpreting Regency dress in their own foppish way. I've been looking at the incredibly dilligent set up of these photos a lot, thinking how they were bothered to go to these lengths to stage these photos...
My cravat Google search led me to a period clothing website that is a little bit on the shonky side but here is a page of collars that are all incredibly tempting to buy as neck layering devices that nod to Celine's pop of white at the neck in a more interesting way. At £10-20 a pop, even though they're sized for men's necks, I've bought a few to see how they will sit on top of shirts and jumpers. I have Worsley to thank for this historic tangent that has bought me to an unlikely shop source. A report on whether they're A/W 11-12 neckbrace material will come as soon as they arrive...
from stylebubble
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