Ribbon

 

The term "ribbon" refers to narrow loom-woven strips of cloth, which often have a visible selvage on each side to help them maintain their shape. Ribbons are typically woven in satin, plain, gauze, twill, and velvet weaves and can be made of any fiber. The origins of the term "ribbon" and its earlier forms, ruban or riband, are unknown, but they could be Teutonic and a compound of the word "band"—the modern day ribbon's ancestor. People wove very narrow, dense, often utilitarian strips of fabric on small portable looms as early as the Neolithic period. The Turkish archaeological site of atal Hüyük yielded impressions of warp-faced plain weave bands dating back to 6000 B.C.E. While bands were primarily functional, some evidence suggests that they could also be used for more flirtatious and decorative purposes. Beginning in the Middle Bronze Age, dancers may have waved strips of fabric while performing, according to Elizabeth Wayland Barber. There is evidence that specialized weavers used a warp-weighted vertical loom to weave decorative edgings and bands to ornament and trim garments in the Aegean cultures from 2000 to 1200 B.C.E.

Early History

Weaving of lightweight ribbons, as opposed to the heavy, warp-faced bands of antiquity, most likely began in Europe with the introduction of the horizontal loom in the eleventh century. However, lightweight ribbons were not unknown; archaeologists working in London discovered several plain weave ribbons of unspun, undegummed silk, which were most likely imported from the East.

Ribbon references became more common in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as more tailored clothing evolved and ribbons with aiglets (metal points) at each end were used to lace garments together. Ribbons were also used to trim garments, girdle waists, and be worn in the hair, as they had in the past. Archaeologists in London excavated ribbons of spun silk (probably woven locally) discovered in digs from the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. While ribbons remained an element of fashionable dress throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, they did not become a focal point of fashion until the seventeenth century, when a loom capable of weaving more than one ribbon at a time was invented.

This new loom enabled the weaving of multiple ribbons at the same time by providing a separate warp beam and shuttle for each ribbon. Lancellotti, an Italian abbé, was the first to write about such a loom, which he claimed was invented in Danzig around 1530. He also claimed that the loom was so dangerous to traditional ribbon weavers that it was destroyed and the inventor was strangled or drowned in secret. The new loom was not completely lost, as it reappears in Leiden by 1604 and London by 1610. However, it was in France that the use of ribbons became popular, thanks to Louis XIV's fashion obsession with them.

Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century

The city of Paris, as well as the cities of Saint-Étienne and Saint-Chamond, were well known for their ribbons, which were woven as early as the fourteenth century. In 1403 Charles VII issued the first statutes of the master tissutiers and Rubanniers of Paris. Statutes were published again in 1524 and 1585, when the rubanniers were given their own guild. During this time, ribbon weavers used small looms that were light, compact, and sat on tabletops. On these looms, men, women, and even children could easily weave one ribbon at a time, and small workshops predominated. When the new ribbon loom was introduced in the seventeenth century, it revolutionized the trades and, as in Danzig, met resistance from French ribbon weavers at first.

Despite the French ribbon weavers' reluctance to use the new loom, Louis XIV's finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert strongly encouraged its adoption, and the trade flourished as the king adopted ribbons as an important element of fashionable dress. Silk and gold and silver thread ribbons were woven in a variety of structures, including plain weave taffetas, satins, and velvets. The ribbons were colored with a variety of brilliant dyes, including cerulean blue, yellow, and a variety of reds such as crimson, scarlet, cherry, and Louis XIV's favorite couleur de feu, or flame. Ribbons were attached to hats, sword handles, shoes, sleeves, around the knees, and even yards of ribbon loops on the lower bodice front, emphasizing the wearer's masculinity. In her book on fashion during Louis XIV's reign, Diana de Marly writes that the Marquis de Louvois and the Marquis de Villeroi would lock themselves away in a chamber for days discussing the best placement for a ribbon on a suit.

Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century

Ribbons began to lose favor with men by the end of the seventeenth century, as the more somber three-piece suit gained popularity. Ribbons were still worn by women, but not to the extent that they had been in the previous decade. Ribbons returned to the forefront of women's fashion by the middle of the eighteenth century, when dresses were trimmed with silkribbon bows. Stomacher trims, also known as echelles in French, were used to close the front of the dress and featured horizontal rows of large bows down the front. Bows adorned the elbows and were frequently worn around the neck. Dressmakers and milliners began to use ribbons in greater quantities by the end of the eighteenth century, as fashion's focus shifted to the trimmings of dresses and hats.

Nineteenth Century

As the jacquard mechanism was adapted for use with ribbon looms, fashion's growing interest in ribbons increased during the early nineteenth century. Weavers created intricately patterned silk ribbons that were popular in the nineteenth century. These ribbons were used to trim the extravagant and large bonnets of the 1820s and 1830s. Saint-Étienne adapted to these new developments and rose to prominence as a leading center in the ribbon trade, specializing in weaving floral patterned ribbons. Saint-Étienne also specialized in weaving the ribbons that were becoming increasingly important in national dress, particularly the clothing of French women from Brittany, Savoy, Alsace, and Provence. Ribbons adorned bonnets, caps, aprons, blouses, and skirts, and the color of the ribbon could be used to indicate the wearer's religious beliefs, as in Alsace, where a red ribbon indicated a Protestant background and a black ribbon, a Catholic one.

Twentieth Century

Ribbons were used in the work of fashionable dressmakers and milliners throughout the nineteenth and even twentieth centuries, though not as frequently as in the past. Ribbons were more popular during some periods than others, such as the mid-nineteenth century, when trimmings on dresses became increasingly popular and ribbons edged flounces and were folded and braided to create complex trims. Ribbons regained popularity between 1910 and 1920, when they were fashioned into flowers and used to trim elaborate evening gowns known as robes de styles. Couturiers like Lucile and the Callot sisters were well known for their creations of these gowns. Ribbons played a smaller role in fashionable dress for the rest of the twentieth century, but they caught the attention of several designers. Dresses made entirely of ribbons stitched together to form a cloth were designed by Charles James, Karl Lagerfeld, and James Galanos.

While the jacquard was adapted to make ribbons with complex floral designs for fashionable and national dress, novelty ribbons and pictures were also woven with extremely detailed imagery that resembled the work of etchers and engravers. Many of these images and ribbons were displayed at international expositions, highlighting the jacquard's technical achievements. The ribbons were frequently woven to commemorate special occasions or events, such as elections and political or historic anniversaries, and they point to another aspect of ribbon use, honoring and remembering.

Beyond Fashion

It is impossible to say when ribbons became significant outside of their role in dress, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary, they were given as favors between men and women as early as the sixteenth century, and by the seventeenth century, wide blue ribbons were worn across the chest by members of the Order of the Garter, the highest honor bestowed by the British ruler. Ribbons were also used to attach medals to the chests of honored military men, and small pins covered in ribbons patterned in a variety of stripes are worn on American military uniforms in place of medals today. The use of blue and red ribbons as first and second prizes in competition appears to have started in the late 1800s.

Commemoration

Ribbons were also used to remember the dead. Mourners wore black armbands and hatbands, and babies' caps and blankets were decorated with narrow black "ribbons of love." The use of ribbons as a symbol of remembrance became especially important in the late twentieth century. Americans decorated their trees with yards of yellow ribbons in 1981 as a mark of remembrance and to welcome home American hostages held in Iran. While many thought the tradition began during the Civil War to welcome home returning soldiers, Penne Laingen, the wife of one of the Iran hostages who started the tradition in 1979, was inspired by the actions of another woman. Gail Magruder decorated her front porch with yellow ribbons in 1975 to welcome home her husband, Jeb Stuart Magruder, who had just been released from prison following his conviction during the Watergate investigations. Gail Magruder's act was inspired by Tony Orlando and Dawn's number one single in 1973, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree." The legend of a man released from prison who told his wife to tie a yellow ribbon on an old oak tree if she welcomed him back inspired the song. Following the first Persian Gulf War in 1991, yellow ribbons reappeared in American front yards to greet returning soldiers.

Signifying a Cause

Ribbons became more symbolic toward the end of the twentieth century, and wearing a small colored ribbon pinned to one's clothing came to indicate sympathy for one cause or another. The art activism group Visual AIDS popularized the wearing of a small loop of red ribbon as an international symbol of AIDS awareness in 1990. A small pink bow represents awareness and support for breast cancer research.

From Fashion to Token

While ribbons are still manufactured and can be found on hats and lingerie, they are no longer a popular fashion accessory. Ribbons' use as commemorative tokens and in the work of crafters has ensured their continued production; however, manufacturing techniques have evolved to make them less expensive to produce. Woven ribbons are less common today, and cut-edge or fused ribbons are more common. A far distant cousin to the luxurious silk, silver, and gold ribbons of the seventeenth century, thermoplastic fibers woven in satin or plain weave taffeta are slit in the desired width with a heated cutting tool that fuses and seals the edges of the ribbon.