The history of fabrics has been very prominent ever since. In pre-historic times, it was considered to be an artwork and a show of creativity. Now, fabrics are a widespread business, an industry that is rapidly spreading. Before we mention how the tastes have changed throughout these years, we should first talk about the history of fabrics and how it has evolved over time.
History of fabrics dates back to the Pre-Islamic and Islamic period. As mentioned, at that time, it was considered to be an art, and then people started bringing fabrics into trade and commerce. A significant amount of fabric was traded from Eastern and Middle Eastern sides to the Western geography. Silver and gold wrapped threads and silk items were the catch of those times. Before mentioning about the silk clothes, the silver and gold threads deserve attention. These threads were being used with increasing frequency on clothes, so as to give them a final picture of designing.
The history significantly moved on to the time, where Persians arose in the arena. At that time, fabric was the representative symbol of an elite and lofty class. Their specialized variety was silk, and this woven silk had a huge demand in market at that time. This is because it gave a distillation of refinement that no other fabric gave. This is why from Australian side, the Merchants of Venice, had a particular interest in this silk and the trade was started in between them too. The silk had further three classes, namely simple fine, velvet and Brocade variety, which was also famous as “Gold Silk”. Even China came into this business then by making the silk knit variety and the Brocade.
As the time passed by, India started to gain popularity in their materials. It dates back to the Indus Valley civilization in which the people built designs that are still preserved in their museum. Apart from this, cotton started to gain popularity in the Middle East and South East Asia as the crop was being cultivated in increased amounts here. Consequently, Cotton trade also started to European side too, where till then, the only source of fabric was silk. So, they overwhelmingly accepted the trading of cotton clothing.
The present era has shown a remarkable change in the fabric qualities. This is because increased exposure of the people and increased attention towards textile and fashion designing. Now, there are a high number of cotton varieties while hardly anyone uses it today, and its use is now limited to silk linen bed sheets and lingerie purposes. Cotton, polyester, velvet, wool clothing, lawn and chiffon fabrics are those that are being increasingly used nowadays.
To conclude, it must be said that there is a lot of advancement in the way tastes have changed throughout the ages. Many different types of fabrics, pure and synthetic both have emerged. There are many people who are moving to the profession of fabric designing and that has given up new ideas, because of which, tastes have changed through all these ages.