For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, autumn is approaching. (Or in my case, is here…) And as such it is time, it is time to shift our wardrobes to our warmer pieces. I personally gravitate to more merino wool and scarves, as well as technical jackets to stay warm. However, those technical fabrics are fairly recent. So, today I’m looking back in time at a very useful accessory to keeping warm- the fashionable shawl! This 1850s shawl at the Victoria and Albert Museum is a gorgeous example, let’s dive in…
1850s Shawl
Shawl of printed silk and wool. Woven with a white silk warp and white wool weft, except for one inch wide bands of silk weft at intervals of about a foot (12 inches). The broad woollen bands are printed in red, blue, green, yellow and black with meandering stems of tiny leaves and flowers and a semi-eastern motif from which spring stems of flowers. An applied knotted silk fringe in white, pink, mustard and lilac is on all four sides of the square shawl.
Wool is an incredibly warm fabric, and it is why it continues to be used for millennia. However, this silk and wool blend also looks quite delicate in person. Both silk and wool will keep you warm when you need it, as they will naturally adjust to your body temperature. What jumped out to me though, was the pattern. It is an intricate floral pattern that drapes beautifully. I also don’t know that I’ve noticed a printed wool before, somehow! Given that the nineteenth century saw a boom in English textile manufacturing, there are probably many. (How I did not connect English printed cottons to other fabrics, I will never know!)
I think that the popular term these days is “blanket scarf”, rather than shawl, but we still see them. Are you a fan of the fashionable shawl for these colder days?
Cheers,
The Historian
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