Exotic Fauna and Flora: Fashion Trends in the Nineteenth Century

International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education ISSN: 1754-3266 (Print) 1754-3274 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tfdt20 Exotic fauna and flora: fashion trends in the nineteenth century Damayanthie Eluwawalage To cite this article: Damayanthie Eluwawalage (2015) Exotic fauna and flora: fashion trends in the nineteenth century, International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 8:3, 243-250, DOI: 10.1080/17543266.2015.1078848 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2015.1078848 Published online: 14 Sep 2015. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 171 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tfdt20 Download by: [The UC Davis Libraries] Date: 07 March 2017, At: 16:30 International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 2015 Vol. 8, No. 3, 243–250, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2015.1078848 Exotic fauna and flora: fashion trends in the nineteenth century Damayanthie Eluwawalage∗ Department of Apparel and Communication Technologies, University of Wisconsin-Stout, 712 Broadway St S, Menomonie, WI 54751, USA (Received 3 May 2015; accepted 29 July 2015) The aim of this paper is to explore the extreme, unique and unusual fashion trends in the nineteenth century. The natural world in general, flora and fauna in particular, has always been a primary source of inspiration for the clothing and fashion. Victorian obsession for expertly worked curiosities from foreign lands using unusual flora and fauna, such as iridescent feathers, hummingbirds and beetle wings created an extensive European export market. Indian beetle wings created an extensive European export market for India in the nineteenth century as a fashion embellishment. Fashionable Victorian ladies swept through ballrooms with dresses, shawls and fans embellished with glittering touches of beetle wing exotica. In the 1851 Great Exhibition, held in the Crystal Palace in London, the main fur exhibitor, the Hudson’s Bay Company, displayed the range of furs such as racoon, beaver, chinchilla, bear, fisher, fox, lynx, martin, mink, musquash, otter, fur seal and wolf. Keywords: fashion; trends; exotic fauna The aim of this article is to explore the extreme and unusual protective wing-cases for the hindwings underneath, which fashion trends in the nineteenth-century Europe and the are used for flying. To fly, a beetle typically opens the British colonies including Australian colonies. The natu- elytra and then extends the hindwings, flying while still ral world has always been a major source of inspiration for holding the elytra open, though some beetles in the fam- the clothing and fashion. For example, Victorian obsession ilies Scarabaeidae and Buprestidae can fly with the elytra for expertly worked curiosities from foreign lands using closed), embellishment has an historical narrative. Differ- unusual flora and fauna, such as iridescent feathers, hum- ent species of metallic wood-boring beetle wings were used mingbirds and beetle wings, created an extensive European depending on the region, but traditionally the most valued export market in the nineteenth century. Fashionable Vic- were those from beetles belonging to genus Sternocera. torian ladies swept through ballrooms with dresses, shawls Their wings were valued for their beautiful and hardy and fans embellished with glittering touches of beetle wing metallic emerald iridescence. The shiny appearance of bee- exotica (Breward, 1995). In the 1851 Great Exhibition, tle wings is long lasting. They are surprisingly durable if held in the Crystal Palace in London, was displayed a dress subject to normal non-abusive use (Figure 2). embellished with beetle wings in leaf and flower motifs1 Throughout the centuries, many people worshipped the (Figure 1). sun, synonymous with light, fire and fertility. According to these primeval beliefs, the sun was, and still is, inextri- Embellishment with glittering substances is a worldwide and ancient practice. (Rivers, 1999) cably linked with shimmering, light-reflecting substances, associated with protection, with the ability to repel evil Beetle wing, or the hard outer wing called elytra mostly and preserve fertility. The message inherent in embellished come from members of the family Buprestidae, also known cloth serves many purposes beyond simple ornamentation, as Jewel Beetles (An elytron [from Greek: ; plural: or an expression of the obvious preciousness of the mate- elytra] is a modified, hardened forewing of certain insect rials. Iridescent elytra, from wood-boring beetles, reflect orders, notably beetles [Coleoptera] and a few of the true brilliant metallic greens and blue-violets, which resemble bugs [Heteroptera]; in most true bugs, the forewings are the glint and colour of emeralds. instead called hemelytra, as only the basal half is thickened Adorn with shinning and glittering decorations, adorn- while the apex is membranous. Each beetle has two hard ments and substances, such as gold, silver, precious and elytra that protect the delicate, membranous hind-wings semi-precious stones, is a universal phenomenon practised which are folded away beneath the elytra when they are by the rulers and the upper classes from the initial human not being used for flying. The elytra primarily serve as *Email: [email protected] © The Textile Institute and Informa UK Ltd 2015 244 D. Eluwawalage materials. Shinning materials have always been highly valued because of their beauty, allure and rarity (Rivers, 1999, pp. 6–9). The ideology of the significance of clothing and fashion to enhance social status was developed with the emergence of Western modernity and industrialisation. Among the royal courts of Europe and India, for example, competition amongst the hierarchical groups pushed designers and artisans to new artistic heights that led to the use of innovative and unusual materials, such as beetle wings and feathers. The utilisation of gleaming, glittering and lustrous beetles in personal adornment, whether alive or deceased, has appeared throughout the world, from Amazonia to North- ern Thailand, Australia, the Highlanders of New Guinea, among Mexicans and Central Americans, the West Indies and in ancient Egypt. The prehistoric documented example of the utilisation of beetle elytra is the Tamamushi (Japanese name for green beetle) Shrine in Japan, which dates from AD 650. A later tradition, dating from 1690 to 1730, is seen in Indian miniature paintings from the Basohli School. India has been a rich source of beetle wing Figure 1. A Dress Embellished with Beetle wings: The Great Exhibition 1851. embellished textiles and ornaments for many centuries; pri- Source: The Art Journal, Special Issue 1851, on the Chrystal marily by Indian indigenous people. In the Mughal era Palace Exhibition. (sixteenth to eighteenth centuries), royals and nobles in India wore beetle wing decorated sashes and garments and some of the finest and most elegant examples of beetle wing work were created during this epoch (Bernier, 1891, 1968, 1972). Frank Cowman in his 1865 book called Curi- ous History of Insects tells of a brilliant metallic green beetle which was also held in high repute by the Egyptians, one having been found embalmed in a tomb at Thebes (Figure 3). Colonial Indiaas part of the British Empire received unique attention in nineteenth-century Britain. It was a colony which was important to the British as it had vast wealth and resources. In relation to appearance, British Figure 2. Buprestidae, also known as Jewel Beetles. Source: http://www.butterflyutopia.com/ civilisations. Traces of textiles and other artifacts embroi- dered and embellished with gold were depicted in Assyrian bas-reliefs, frozen in the tombs of the Scythian nomadic horsemen, unearthed with the treasures of the Pharaohs, and preserved in the burials of Andean cultures’ high priests and nobles. Cloth may glitter or shine because of its own lustrous qualities, as is the case with silk, or with the help of special treatments and dyes. Materials such as metals, sequins, beads, or mirrors may be used to embellish fabrics as decoration or to attract or deflect spirits in unseen worlds. Gifts from nature can also be cleverly manipulated into shapes and pieces to simulate more precious materials: for example, the iridescent elytra of beetles reflect brilliant metallic greens and violets as if they were gems. Civil- Figure 3. Dress piece, muslin, Madras (Chennai), India, about isations all around the world assign great value to cloth 1880. and items of personal adornment which use light-reflecting Source: V&A Museum, United Kingdom. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education 245 nationals in India in the nineteenth century maintained codes of conduct which distanced them physically, socially and culturally from their Indian subjects. At home, in the office and hunting in the field, the British dressed in their own fashions (Cohn, 1928, pp. 111 and 112). As Cunnington (1948, p. 10) notes, English fashions in the early nineteenth century were affected by a shortage of French textiles, that is, French silks, because of the French political Revolution and subsequent British-French wars. Under these circumstances, it became more patriotic to use Indian (cotton) fabrics, especially the many kinds of muslins which were even used for evening dresses. Indian clothing, that is, shawls and textiles, especially

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