Dyes have not been known for fastness until recently. Linen shifts and shirts were the next to the skin layer, and were meant to be washed, so white would have to be the color of choice. Remember that in Germany clothes have been boiled in recent memory. How this explains the black embroidery on shifts in Elizabethan times I have no idea. Nor the red silk worn by Puritans in places that could not be seen. I did read that bit somewhere. Notice also that there are no citations to sources in this post, so this is just my own thinking. It seems to be to be only sensible that color would not be put in lace that was to be washed regularly. Color and metal for things that would not be washed would be fine. I really don't think sumptuary laws had much to do with the color of lace, but I think that practical considerations were very important. I suspect that even caps were subject to washing, although by the lady’s maid, not the laundress, and certainly handkerchiefs neede! d washing. White lace would have been a more reliable investment. Plus, if it were decorating something, white lace would match every color of silk, and colored lace would not. So we find colors in fans, and, of course, in modern lace, 20th century lace, where color fastness was more reliable. Just my two cents.
Lyn from Lancaster, Pennsylvania , USA, but presently in hot, sunny dry Arizona, hoping that the weather back home will be good by the time we get home. "My email sends out an automatic message. Arachne members, please ignore it. I read your emails." - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
