France is not the birthplace of lace, but it was this country that gave the world a variety of weaving techniques and made openwork a synonym for luxury and sophisticated taste. Today, it is often French lace that adorns fashionable outfits of stars and public figures all over the world. It is available to any woman.
The origin of lace in France
Following Italy and Belgium, France becomes the third European state in which high standards and traditions of lace weaving are born. In the 16th century, lace fashion in France became very stable thanks to queens Catherine and Maria Medici. Both of them were Italians and from their country brought a love of lace. Catherine even invited an artist from Italy named Vinciolo, who creates a large collection of lace patterns that existed in the world at that time.
Italy, as the birthplace of lace, supplied openwork weaving with then fashionable reticella ornament to France. Of course, such a lace was fabulously expensive and was available only to the richest French people.
Naturally, the desire of Parisian fashionistas to have such a production at home was great. And already in the middle of the XVII century, craftswomen appeared in Alencon who tried to repeat the technique of Venetian lace.
Even the Minister of Finance did not stand aside from the problem. He understood that the money went abroad, and that a gold mine lay in the production of lace. He made Alencon the center of the craft. Moreover, in his castle he created a semblance of a school where he wrote out from Venice 30 craftswomen to teach local girls the art of weaving.
However, Italy was not ready to share her mastery secrets with other countries. Like glassblowers, lacemakers were persecuted by the Italian authorities, and soon the craftswomen were forced to leave France. However, they managed to teach French women the craft, and just a year later, the finance minister presented the king with the first local lace. French needlework impressed the king, and he ordered not to order more lace from other countries. Everyone was obliged to come to the court only in the products of local craftswomen.
Further history of French lace
It should be noted that the needle-sewn guipure produced in Alencon was not only not inferior in quality to Italian, but also surpassed it. The pattern of French lace was smaller, graceful and varied. Craftswomen embroidered not only ornaments and floral motifs, but also figures of animals and people. They created a large number of nets that serve as the basis for the future lace and allow you to further diversify the composition. The ornament was braided not only with horse hair, even human hair was taken for finer work. And the drawings themselves were invented by prominent artists of that era.
In the XVII century, guipure as the basis for embroidery was replaced by a lighter and more delicate tulle, and by the end of the century there was a tendency to place the pattern only along the edge, filling the rest of the space with the so-called "bulk" ornament - a scattering of butterflies, flowers or flies.
Chantilly Lace
One of the varieties of French lace, which has become so popular that it is widely used to this day - Chantilly. It is lace woven from black silk thread. It owes its name to a small town near Paris, where in the 19th century the so-called blondies began to weave - another type of weaving. Chantilly lace later gained popularity when it began to be made in Cannes and Bayeux.
Chantilly features not only black color, but also a grid in the form of honeycombs, as well as an ornament, which for a more voluminous pattern can change the frequency of interlacing of threads. The contours of the picture are also embroidered with a denser thread, which makes the picture more expressive.
The most popular Chantilly was under Napoleon III, mostly large things were sewed from it - capes, mantillas, umbrellas, skirts.
Chantilly - from history to modernity
Technological advances have given Chantilly a new impetus for popularity. There was an opportunity to sew lace by machine, which made it more affordable. At the beginning of the 20th century, a dress consisting of a light cover and a Chantilly top layer became very fashionable throughout Europe. Silk and black velvet are added to it for a more dramatic look.
With the advent of cinema, Chantilly becomes a companion to movie star - Ava Gardner, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth use the dramatic and fatal character that this lace has.
Chantilly's French charm is not forgotten by modern designers. It can be found in evening toilets from Prada, Valentino, Eli Saab and other leading designers.
Shuttle lace tatting
This lace got its name from the French word "frivolous," but it did not originate in France. This is such an ancient type of needlework that its roots could not be traced. However, it was from France that it came to Russia, where it received lace the French name.
This is a shuttle lace, which is woven with hands from knots. Thicker and coarser threads are used for tatting than for other types of lace, and initially in this technique they created mainly interior items - drapes, bedspreads, lampshades. In the 18th century, tatting adorns clothes.
Today, using the tatting technique, decorative elements of the costume, jewelry and jewelry are made. For the production of tatting, they take a thick silk or cotton thread and through a knotted weave create a fancy volumetric composition.
Production of modern french lace
Modern technology allows you to create lace in a machine way, which made it affordable and very familiar with the decoration of the costume. However, today there are manufacturers who create man-made masterpieces, as it was in the XVII century - real French lace. Its price is quite high, but the quality is unsurpassed. Such lace is created, for example, in the workshops of SOPHIE HALLETTE and RIECHERS MARESCOT, and their lace, like 200 years ago, is a luxury item. Burberry, Gucci and other fashion houses sew out of their lace outfits. He is worn by Kate Middleton and Queen Elizabeth.
There are more affordable manufacturers, for example, today in Russia you can buy ready-made lace dresses made using technologies that repeat the French lace. Indonesia is an example of this - it is this country that produces clothes under the brand name "French lace".
But those who want something unique are invited to buy authentic old French lace. Vintage ribbon lace is sold at a price of 350 rubles, depending on its age, and a more beautiful needle lace can be bought for about 1200 rubles. Typically, these rarities can be found in flea markets throughout France or in specialized stores selling vintage fabrics and accessories.
Despite the abundance of types of lace that exist throughout the world, including in Russia, it is French lace that for many centuries continues to be a model of elegance and sophisticated style.