Pashmina Shawls… The Origin of Paisley Shawls
Fashion at its best! One of the most distinct designs is the paisley shawls and for almost an entire century, from the late 18th century to the late 19th century, paisley shawls were worn in fashion. During this period, millions of stoles bearing the paisley design were woven and embroidered, primarily, in the Indian region of Kashmir, but later in Western countries, too. At first, what caught the attention of women were the exquisite woven pieces from Kashmir but manufacturers in Europe were quick to spot this interest and come up with imitations of the original cashmere.
The Scottish town of Paisley became the top and most economical producer of the paisley shawls, which explains why the whole world came to call the design itself paisley. But what exactly does paisley look like? If you are not familiar with garments, you may not know what it’s called but you’ve certainly seen this design around. Paisley is a motif consisting of teardrop shapes. Some would say it looks like a huge comma or half of the yin-yang symbol. This design has its roots in India and Persia, although Europe is responsible for the mass production of shawls in this design. The original woolen paisley garments from India came to Europe as soldiers brought them home when they returned from the Colonies.
The European women loved the paisley shawls so the East India Co. and other European manufacturers who quickly saw the market potential of this particular shawl imported plenty of them. Britain was set to lead the market. The paisley design shawl was replicated to be made on handlooms and later on Jacquard looms. In 1790 and 1792, both Edinburgh and Norway, respectively, started imitating the Kashmir paisley design on their handlooms. The weavers of Paisley followed more than a decade after but for about 50 years from the start of the 19th century, the Paisley town weavers in the Renfrewshire, Central Scotland became the leading paisley shawl producers.
This is credited to the unique attachment that they added to their looms in 1812 that allowed them to produce paisleys like no other manufacturer in Europe. Specifically, their loom add-ons gave them the ability to work with up to 5 different colors of yarns in their designs when most producers at that time could only come up with a two-color paisley shawl, in madder and indigo. The multicolored design was popularly-called the Paisley pattern after the town’s name. By the year 1860, Paisley was producing using 15 colors in its shawl products. But while the Paisley design is closest among European producers to the original Kashmir design, the ones from Kashmir simply were simply far more colorful so the trade of the precious cashmere paisley shawls still continued.
What the town of Paisley did was send people to London when the trade ships arrive so they could copy the latest shawl paisley designs that were brought from Kashmir. Then, in a week’s time, cheaper imitations would already be for sale in London for the fraction of the cost of the original Kashmir piece, which was selling then for up to 100 pounds. Later, the town of Paisley also became one of the centers of cotton and wool printing and with this the paisley pattern was no longer being woven. It was simply printed onto textiles, just like how paisley cotton bandannas are made today. This major change in how paisley is produced from printing to weaving ultimately resulted in the price of paisley shawls plummeting, which made it more accessible and popular.
in this design. The original woolen paisley garments from India came to Europe as soldiers brought them home when they returned from the Colonies.
The European women loved the paisley shawls so the East India Co. and other European manufacturers who quickly saw the market potential of this particular shawl imported plenty of them. Britain was set to lead the market. The paisley design shawl was replicated to be made on handlooms and later on Jacquard looms. In 1790 and 1792, both Edinburgh and Norway, respectively, started imitating the Kashmir paisley design on their handlooms. The weavers of Paisley followed more than a decade after but for about 50 years from the start of the 19th century, the Paisley town weavers in the Renfrewshire, Central Scotland became the leading paisley shawl producers.
This is credited to the unique attachment that they added to their looms in 1812 that allowed them to produce paisleys like no other manufacturer in Europe. Specifically, their loom add-ons gave them the ability to work with up to 5 different colors of yarns in their designs when most producers at that time could only come up with a two-color paisley shawl, in madder and indigo. The multicolored design was popularly-called the Paisley pattern after the town’s name. By the year 1860, Paisley was producing using 15 colors in its shawl products. But while the Paisley design is closest among European producers to the original Kashmir design, the ones from Kashmir simply were simply far more colorful so the trade of the precious cashmere paisley shawls still continued.
What the town of Paisley did was send people to London when the trade ships arrive so they could copy the latest shawl paisley designs that were brought from Kashmir. Then, in a week’s time, cheaper imitations would already be for sale in London for the fraction of the cost of the original Kashmir piece, which was selling then for up to 100 pounds. Later, the town of Paisley also became one of the centers of cotton and wool printing and with this the paisley pattern was no longer being woven. It was simply printed onto textiles, just like how paisley cotton bandannas are made today. This major change in how paisley is produced from printing to weaving ultimately resulted in the price of paisley shawls plummeting, which made it more accessible and popular.
Tags: shawl