Category: Notable Concepts

Like (and even more so) with the colonized British Isles, I will not be able to cover Indian dress in its entirety, and have instead chosen to focus on one particular region. I’ve just to speak about Rajasthan specifically because a great deal of modern day textiles and apparel come out of the state. Similarly, many elements of Rajasthan’s traditional dress have made their way into the global fashion market – with or without credit.

Because of India’s history of occupation and Rajasthan’s particular geographical location, the dress traditions have been subject to a good deal of outside influence. Even so, Rajasthan and its many different people’s has retained its indigenous textiles and beliefs associated with it. Even today with Rajasthan being the home to acres upon acres of cotton fields and garment factories for Western clothing, the Indian state retains a unique cultural identity that both evolves with changing times and retains elements of dress that are important to the society.

Perhaps the most globally known aspect of Rajasthani dress is the kurta. Traditionally, this long, knee length tunic is worn by men and can often be found made of khadi. This specific garment is not specific to Rajasthan. In fact, it can be found worn all over the west of Asia. There are, however, specific designs and materials that make kurtas specific to the state of Rajasthan. A specific “type” of kurta is the angrakha. The name of this garment is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning “body shield.” Once again, this garment is traditionally worn by men. Color is a significant part of these garments and are often dyed using the traditional method of “tie and dye” (the very technique that we in the Western world now associate with the 60’s and 70’s).

Historically, these garments were hand spun, woven, and dyed and worn for occasions of significance. Today, they are produced on a large scale and can be purchased at incredibly low prices. Modern fashion has seen the transformation of kurtas from traditional men’s wear to dress that is most commonly seen on women – this trend has held particular sway over the Western world of fashion. This shift could be a result of Western ideas of masculinity and femininity, with the vibrant patterns and fitting trim of the kurta subscribing more to the later. Now, kurtas, or close reproductions, can be found in just about any fast fashion store.

Another textile that is particularly culturally significant to the populace of Rajasthan is the odhni. This is a singular piece of 10 feet long, 5 feet wide cloth draped around a woman’s head to signify different elements of social status. In the Hindu faith, a garment that is stitched is considered to be impure, so this garment is particularly important for women. Interestingly, during the years of British colonization and efforts of Anglicization, the female population of India were the most adamant about sticking to traditional dress, perhaps due to the extreme difference in construction of what was considered to be acceptable clothing. Because of the emphasis put on unstitched clothing, it is easy to see why spinning and weaving would have become such a refined craft in that region. The intense contrast between the native values of garments constructed to last and not need stitches and the factories that now inhabit the area with the literal purpose of creating garments to fall apart is quite poignant.

While fast fashion has most definitely affected the frequency and methods with which traditional clothing is worn in Rajasthan and the rest of India, many Indian designers still turn to khadi as the tried and true way to create garments in India while supporting the working class as well as the country’s culture and customs. Recently, some of the top Indian designers have begun to participate in an event called Rajasthan Heritage Week.  This fashion show highlights heritage textiles and fashions while still rolling with the times and encouraging the ever-present growth of modern society in India. Unsurprisingly, khadi continues to be the fabric of choice for the event. As the seasoned designer Hemant Trivedi states, “khadi is a fabric that is redolent of freedom, individuality and of the fact that we are Indians.”

In order to truly understand the evolution of textiles in the colonized British Isles, it is important to look at some of the indigenous cultures that played an integral role in the evolution of textiles in that region and globally. Because the societies of both Ireland and Scotland have some very distinguished differences per county and region, I will not be able to cover ever single element of traditional dress in Ireland and Scotland. I will, however, cover one of the more significant textile cultures that has come up in my research time and time again – that being of the Aran Islands.

The Aran Islands are a small archipelago that sits just off of the costs of Co. Clare and Co. Galway. Due largely to their isolated nature and lack of significant resources, British colonization and Western influence did not quite make it to the islands until relatively recently. In fact, the population of the Aran Islands alone makes up for a very solid portion of the population that speak Irish as their native tongue. With modernization and new modes of transportation there is much more back and forth between the mainland and the islands now and a movement away from traditional dress has already occured, however, they remain a culture of their own and have a rich history of unique traditional dress.

The most notable contribution of Aran culture is the “Aran Knit Jumper,” or “ganseys” as they’re called in Irish. This design was and still is an element of men’s traditional wear – specifically that of the fishermen of the island. A common tale is that different patterns in the cable knit sweater signified different Irish families so that a fisherman’s body could be recognized if found washed ashore, and another less popular one is that they symbolized different charms. There is not an exact record of when the gansey became a staple of Aran wear, however, the myths of the significance of family patterns has been traced back to a J.M. Synge play where a woman recognizes her lover’s body by a dropped stitch in the garment she knitted him. This play was written in 1904, and it is likely that those already producing Aran knits for sale used it as a clever marketing snippet.

There are lots of different folk stories surrounding Aran sweaters, and what wasn’t true before seems to have fibbed its way into truth in the modern era. What is particularly historic and special about the knits from this region is that they are not scoured to remove the lanolin from the wool before spinning. This creates a yarn that is much harder to work with, but also adds a water resistant quality to the garment that is knitted for it – which is important for an economy that was historically based on fishing in incredibly rough, stormy weather.

Since its widespread marketing starting in the early 20th century, Aran sweaters have become arguably the most recognizable aspect of Irish fashion. Today, Blarney Woolen mills takes over the tourist market in Ireland, while globally, companies like L.L Bean have created lines using aran knits and fast fashion stores like H&M and Forever 21 have created knits that mimic the traditional cable knit pattern. Through all its expansion, in order to be called a true Aran knit sweat, the garments still must be hand knit in the Aran islands.

Moving away from the more globally recognized products, most people are surprised to discover how colorful the tradition lady’s dress is. This is mostly because of the monopoly that ganseys have on Aran clothing in the public eye. In reality, however, the only reason that those sweaters are not dyed is because they are the equivalent of work wear anywhere else. Formal dress on the islands was much more detailed and colorful – specifically those for attending mass. A piece of clothing that is all but forgotten to the modern world is the ‘crios belt.’ According to David Shaw-Smith in his exploration of Irish crafts in Ireland’s Traditional Crafts crios belts were created by “stretching the warp threads between two chairs or stools – or, more traditionally, between one hand and one foot, tying the ends to the shoe – making the length 3 1/1 yards if the crios is to be worn by a man and 2 yards if by a woman. It is customary to have two white threads on each outside selvedge, using perhaps five or six different colors between.” (Shaw-Smith, p. 27) These garments were often worn on wedding days and were even used to bind the wedded couple’s hands together. Like with any traditional garment, these belts were dyed using natural materials from the islands; mainly mosses and lichens from the shores.

Today, the globalization of the textile chain has unfortunately made the textile traditions of the Aran Islands a bit less about creating something that is of the islands in its essence, and more about creating a product that can be marketed as such. In the case of Aran jumpers, the wool is often from sheep that are raised and sheared in Australia – one of the world’s top wool producers – and processed into roving (and sometimes dyed) in China. It isn’t until the actual spinning and knitting portion of the chain that the fiber makes its way to Ireland to become the product that is world famous for being conceived on the islands. Unfortunately, the islands (nor the mainland itself) do not have the resources to create a product that is easily digestible for tourists looking to bring home each and every family member a jumper at less than 100 euro each. In some ways, the sweater and tourism industry has revolutionized the rough life that used to be part of the Aran Islands and has made life so much more comfortable for the people who call them their home. Unfortunately, some of the narrative of the true tradition has been lost along the way.

In another way, many young Irish fashion designers are working to bring back some of the depth of tradition in their designs while not necessarily stubbornly holding onto the past. An example of that would be the Tweed Project, a two person designer team based in Galway city. In their designs, they have payed homage to traditional aspects of Irish dress like the crios belt and tweed (of course) while still embracing modern aspects of the fashion world. Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of this design is that they have chosen to look inward for suppliers. Instead of producing designs that are the poster child for what “traditional” Irish dress looks like for tourists to consume, they are not afraid to be unique with designs while still supporting local crafts people from fleece to frock. In this way, they are respecting the true narrative of traditional dress – not in the design but in the creation.

Now that my introductory spinning course is over, I feel a bit more equipped to try to tackle the great subject that is spinning. This notable concept post is going to cover the basic history and methods through which spinning is done, but more extensive notes can be found in my annotated bibliography. My main focus or goal in this research project is not necessarily on the history of this art, but I believe understanding the history and evolution of textile crafts is pivotal to tracking where the modern, Western textile industry has gone wrong. In the same way, it pays homage to cultures that have been doing things sustainably and therefore prevents the adoption of ideas without giving credit where credit is due.

History:

When it comes to the global history of spinning, I have found that different societies and cultures have progressed it both interchangeably with others, as well as completely separate. It seems that some inventions, take the spinning wheel, for instance, made their way across oceans and to different societies by means of communication while other discoveries seem to have progressed alongside each other without actually having any direct influence. I believe that a “complete” history of spinning is rather unattainable given how universal and ancient of a practice it is. However, separating histories by society tends to lend itself to a more complete history than by simply trying to regard it as one singular, global practice. I believe that this applies to any textile craft, which is why I have chosen to separate my studies into different cultures. With that being said, I will try to provide a general history of the aspects of spinning that are universal, or have been universally distributed before breaking into more extensive histories by society.

Historical Overview – 

It is believed that the spinning of fiber into string has occurred amongst humans throughout the world for approximating the past 15,000 years. The earliest method of spinning was through the handspindle – I’ll add here the symbolism of how many spinners (including myself) first learn on the handspindle before graduating on to the wheel. In fact, the drop spindle (a form of handspindle) was used for spinning for the first thousands of years of practice. It is believed, but not confirmed, that the drop spindle was invented in ancient Egypt and made its way throughout the rest of the world.

It wasn’t until around 500 – 800 CE that the spinning wheel was invented in West Asia, very likely in India. Usually, this is operated by a pedal which allows the spinner to have both hands free to manage fibers. The spinning wheel made its way over to Europe in the 13th century CE and was subject to a variety of adaptions throughout its use in daily life.

The Industrial Revolution’s beginning in the late 18th century saw the Spinning Jenny invented by James Hargreaves in England. This invention is credited with beginning the great shift of the textile craft from cottage industries to full blown mills. This has since evolved into full-scale spinning mills that have relocated in places all over the globe and was the first step in the sudden cease in production of hand spun fiber in Western textiles.

Spinning in the British Isles:

Spinning is known to have taken place in the British Isles for at least the past 3000 years. Though, once again, the spinning wheel would have not made its way to the Isles until the late Middle Ages/Early Renaissance. Like in many cultures, the art of spinning was considered to be a woman’s craft and often accompanied the symbolic shift from girlhood to womanhood.

In Ireland and Scotland specifically, the spinning wheel was adopted into every day life and became a massive part in the growth of cottage industries such as Donegal yarn and Harris Tweed. Traditionally, the most common fibers spun in these areas were wool and flax. Over time, different mechanisms where adapted to best suit productivity.

When the flax wheel was brought to co. Donegal (nearly 6000 where imported in order to promote the growth of the linen industry), it was adapted in order to spin wool and became an element of social life in rural Donegal.

Spinning in India: 

The spinning wheel is thought to have been invented in India somewhere in between 500 and 1000 AD and has since been subject to quite a few changes both through industrialization and through the Swadeshi movement in the early 20th century.

Europe had a colonial presence in India directly after the Moghal Rule in the 16th century, though Britain did not rule it as a colony until the early 1700’s. Through this colonization, Britain shifted the economy from finished spun products to raw materials. This, alongside new laws that limited the profitability of Indian-spun textiles, limited the advancement of spinning beyond industrial machinery brought in by England for some time.

When the Indian independence movement came into full swing in the early 1900’s and Gandhi began promoting the Swadeshi movement, a new spotlight was shone on textiles that were hand spun and woven outside of the Western mode of production. Through this, the charkha saw new modes of creation that were designed to keep up with more modern production demands. Because Gandhi advocated for increased productivity of the spinning wheel an improved version of a wheel called ‘Bardoli Charkha’ was created by standardizing parts to increase productivity:

1) the circumference of the driving wheel was fixed

2) Bush bearings were provided in the center of driving wheel to facilitate its easy rotation around the axle of the wheel

Week 5 marks the halfway point of the quarter and my research in this area, so I have decided to create an informative post on one of the most notable concepts that I have come across in these past few weeks of research; that concept being cottage industries.

Cottage industries are defined as “an industry whose labor force consists of family units or individuals working at home with their own equipment” (Merriam-Webster). Over the course of my research, I have realized that almost all of the business models that I have directed my attention to fall along the lines of this definition and it has become a point of interest in my search for a sustainable and ethical form of textile production.

I began by looking at khadi cotton and its role amongst the unemployed peoples of India. Khadi is, by nature, a movement rooted in the spirit of the cottage industry. Traditionally and historically, all textiles in India were khadi until British textile mills and colonization began to shift focus away from local industry. Because of this, its role in the Swadeshi movement was pivotal to its survival and in many ways to the survival of the craftsman who participated in the industry. The focus of this movement was to provide employment to the many people who could not find employment. Particularly for those who did not have the ability to move out of rural areas to find jobs in factories. Khadi gave people the opportunity to have a source of income that was entirely self-driven and involved very little resources to create. This craft only requires self-powered machinery and the raw materials used for spinning and weaving, so there is very little investment that the craftsperson has to make initially to get started. Khadi’s association with freedom from colonization and support of craftspeople who have no other source of income has created a market that sustains those cottage industries and allows people to have options other than working in inhumane conditions.

A continent away, a similar industry arose in both Ireland and Scotland. There is an incredible parallel between the island people of these nations and the traditional crafts that received international attention. For the people of the Hebrides (Scots-Gaelic speaking islands off of the Northwest coast of Scotland) it was Harris Tweed, and for the people of the Aran Islands (Irish speaking islands off of counties Clare and Galway, Ireland) it was Aran knit sweaters. These two crafts began like most folk crafts have; necessity for survival and protection from the elements. Tweed was created to utilize as many different materials as possible and Aran jumpers (or “ganseys”) to protect fisherman from the harsh sea wind.

What was particularly interesting to me was that both of these crafts were not brought into the attention of the fashion industry by the people who were involved with the traditional production of the garments. Instead, in both instances (and in the case of khadi cotton as well), an “outsider,” usually someone of a more privileged socio-economic status was responsible for recognizing the economic potential of the craft and proceeded to create a business and market for the craft. In the case of Harris Tweed it was the

landlords of the land where the tweed originated that pushed for the marketing and sale of tweed and for the case of Aran sweaters, it was anglo-Irish protestants who were largely responsible for bringing the attention of the outside world to the crafts of the island people.

It is hard to know for sure whether the a genuine concern for the well-being of the island people of these nations. In the case of Scotland, there is an irrefutable link between the financial success of the locals of the Hebrides and that of their landlords. However, it cannot be denied that the emergence of the craft market did drastically change the lives of people who previously relied on sustenance farming and fishing as a way of survival. I do believe in a lot of ways, it was beneficial to have people from outside the island way of life involved in the production of their crafts. Without people who knew how to navigate the world of business and law, it would have been much more difficult for the crafts to be protected under trademarks that ensured the crafts stayed relatively close to the original “cottage” structure while facilitating enough growth to provide employment opportunities to many different members of the local community.

After learning all of this information, it was very special for me to be able to visit Olympic Yarn and Fiber – a modern day example of a cottage industry. The owner, Lynn started the business herself, invested in the machinery herself, and runs the business out of her garage by herself. This to me is the perfect example

of traditional cottage industry concepts blended with the high productivity of modern day mechanization. Because Lynn was able to purchase machinery that allows her to process more fiber than one in the traditional industry could dream, she has the ability to provide for herself and her family in a way that those employing traditional methods could only dream of in an entirely local and community-supported manner.

Because Lynn is only in her first few years of business, she is not able to provide employment for anyone in the community yet. But it is a goal of hers and I am very eager to see how the business progresses and continues to be pillar of local textiles and community sustainability.