105 Paisley Paisley

Paisley Update!

Madlon Laster shared some memories and an image of a paisley woodblock:

When we lived in Iran, teaching there 1958-61, we were immersed in paisley: table linens, drapes and curtains, cotton block-print from which I sewed dresses for the hot, dry weather in summer. Sweat in a taxi and you are dry as a breeze hits you when you get out of it. Paisley was there six years later when we went to teach in Beirut. Right now the piano bench is loosely covered (due to poor stapling) in a brown on light beige paisley design I found for $2.98 yd. at WalMart. 

Then today, I visited the Blue Ridge Hospice shop on Featherbed Lane, Winchester. What a wealth of paisley! Even the manager was wearing paisley! I did not photograph all that was there, but do have a sample below of the blouses, sweaters, skirts, dresses, purses and scarves that were all paisley:

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Down the Paisley Path

Being retired, I am often inspired to venture down side paths. Recently the path turned paisley.

I was straightening out my closet and noticed that I own many pieces of paisley clothing. I have two paisley bedspreads and many oriental rugs with the traditional twisted teardrop (or Persian pickle) designs found in paisley.

In the many memorials after Prince died, I learned that his estate was called Paisley Park and his record label, Paisley Park Records. Both were named after a Prince song, Paisley Park.  Here is a link to the song:
http://www.jukebo.com/prince/music-clip,paisley-park,suruf.html

Then to cap it off,  I had a hair appointment with a stylist whom I had never met before. With no mention of the topic from me (although I was wearing a paisley blouse), she tells me how she loves and collects----PAISLEY!

Pashmina shawl

So I began to investigate the topic. The print is named after the town of Paisley in Scotland where paisley was mass produced, but the design's origins go back to Persia to sometime before 650. It spread and became part of Indian saris and Kashmir Pashmina shawls.


The European demand for the Kashmir shawls became so strong that imports could not meet it. So European countries began weaving the design. The weavers of the town of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland, became very skilled in producing the shawls and then began in the 19th century to manufacture cloth with the design printed, not woven into it. The paisley cotton squares they produced were the precursors of the bandanna. 

Indian paisley wood block stamp. I don't
know the date, but isn't it interesting?

Known in Persian as the boteh jegheh, the swirl design in other cultures is also called  mango, mango seed, Welsh pear, palm, and ham hock and, as previously mentioned, twisted teardrop or Persian pickle. 

There is still strong demand for paisley shawls, and it seems that collecting rare paisley shawls is relatively affordable--at least in comparison to other antiques. I ran across a Martha Stewart segment on the topic. The expert who appeared with her showed some beautiful ones: 
http://www.marthastewart.com/909587/rare-printed-and-woven-paisley-shawls





If you are old enough, you remember the Beatles and the Summer of Love that brought paisley back into prominence in the 1960s. I am sure that is when my love affair with paisley started. I do not remember, however, the Fender Paisley Telecaster guitar. An original now sells for about $10,000.

I did not know that motorcycle gangs adopt different bandanna
patterns to identify their group.

The Azerbaijan team wore paisley pants in the 2010 Winter Olympics. In Azerbaijan lore, paisley was thought to ward off evil demons.





Contemporary designers known for their use of paisley designs include Ralph Lauren, Lily Pulitzer, Ralph Lauren and Italian high fashion designer Gimmo Etro. I do not own any of their designs, not even a Ralph Lauren duvet--probably because I can get my paisley fix cheaper elsewhere!

From classic to contemporary, paisley continues to inspire!

Paisley-savvy Trish