FROM PERSIAN CARAVANS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20172, 5 February 1929, Page 5

FROM PERSIAN CARAVANS.

It is not only ancient jewellery which is in fashion in the 20th century, but faithful copies of stuffs woven hundreds of years ago are fashionable to-day, states a Paris writer. Thick silks, intertiireaded with gold, gleaming and lovely, their pale embroideries in no way detracting from the suppleness of the texture, but rather enhancing it, are much sought after.

These original silks may have been part of the merchandise of a Persian caravan, which travelled painfully, guarded on every side, across the wastes of the Great Desert in the 17th century; they may have been among the cherished possessions of harem beauties, or have lain long in perfumed chests of sandalwood, until at last they came into the hands of some traveller from the West who loved them for their bright tints, the delicacy of the glinting embroidery, and the age that is theirs. So he brought them to Franco to bt» woven on modern looms—silks which are such exquisite replicas that few can Ml the ancient from the new—while the clever fingers of French girls to-day copy the tiny, regular patterns of the Persian roses that were stitched by a woman of Persia long ago. To use the copies of the antique fabrics in a conventional way would be. utterly to destroy their charm and character. 'So they are fashioned into slim, sleeveless tnniques, with quaint upstanding collars, reminiscent of those which may be seen worn by the women in print of old Persia, and they have been enthusiastically adopted bv fashionable women for afternoon and semi-evening wear. A rich blend of colour is the attribute, of these fabrics.. Rich lame, with pale stripes of red and cream running through it, the embroidery thrown into relief by the rich silk border running round the edges, and continuing to the neck, composes the material of one tunic; another is of silk, with a golden stripe and an embroidery of white, pink and green flowers. These materials form a rainbow of tints sofe and faded, or brilliant and gleaming, blending together until one's dazzled eyes are no longei able to recognise uuv particular shade among them.