The characteristic teardrop shape of the 'paisley' evolved out of a stylized plant form. First woven into Indian cashmere shawls from the 17th century onwards, they soon arrived in Europe during the 18th century.
At that time, a fine shawl, that might take an Indian weaver up to 5 years to make, cost at much as a London townhouse. The paisley had become a necessity of the very wealthy!
Arising from the high demand for paisley, Western designers were sent to India to learn from the Indian weavers. The creative results were a mixture of East and West and with great success: business thrived.
Anything desirable is bound to be reproduced in more affordable forms. 19th century mill owners from the Scottish town Paisley began to produce the Indian shawls on mechanical jacquard looms. This is were the 'Paisley' gets its name from. The warps they produced were very handsome and relatively inexpensive. The production process, from new design to sales, took about 6 months to complete. The actual weaving of a shawl, 2 weeks.
Then came the printed version. These scarfs were still cheaper than machine woven ones. By the late 1860's any one could afford a paisley scarf for a few shillings. Fashion changed and the hype was over. .. an intire industry perished!
But the paisley was not forgotten. Thanks to their amazing quality and craftmanship, the shawls survived and are treasured in museums and textile collections. Thankfully the paisley remains, until today, a popular motif.
Visit the e-repeats.com database to purchaise paisley patterns!
image 1-6: Zara Home
image 7-11: Etsy
image 12: Liberty of London
image 13: John Lewis
