[HN Gopher] Clothing, How Did They Make It? Part I: High Fiber
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Clothing, How Did They Make It? Part I: High Fiber
        
       Author : CapitalistCartr
       Score  : 82 points
       Date   : 2021-03-05 10:02 UTC (12 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (acoup.blog)
 (TXT) w3m dump (acoup.blog)
        
       | devoutsalsa wrote:
       | I recently visited a hacienda in the Yucatan that makes twine and
       | rope. It was super interesting to see them pull fiber out of the
       | agave plants and weave it into thicker ropes. If you ever get a
       | chance to see such a process in person, I recommend it!
        
       | vidanay wrote:
       | It always amazes me to think about the influence of the
       | industrial revolution and mass production. Prior to the
       | industrial period, things like linens, blankets, lace, etc.
       | considered extremely valuable and were part of your estate to be
       | inherited by future generations. The only textile that retains a
       | portion of this (aura? mystique?) is silk - but even this is
       | largely mass produced now.
        
         | x3iv130f wrote:
         | Mass production only looks at the supply side. I don't think it
         | fully explains consumer behavior.
         | 
         | The advent of mass marketing and consumerism has given an
         | expectation for everything to be convenient and disposable.
         | 
         | Those linens, blankets, and lace even if hand made from the
         | finest fabrics are to discarded once they are out of fashion.
        
           | bryananderson wrote:
           | This too is explained by mass production. Without it, the
           | ability to regularly discard linens and blankets and buy new
           | ones due to fashion would be out of reach of all but the
           | wealthiest.
        
       | css wrote:
       | Russ Roberts recently interviewed Virginia Postrel [0] on the
       | history of textile manufacturing; I found it absolutely
       | fascinating.
       | 
       | [0]: https://www.econtalk.org/virginia-postrel-on-textiles-and-
       | th...
        
       | nabilhat wrote:
       | I recently read and can recommend _Women 's Work: The First
       | 20,000 Years_ as a deep perspective on the practices and
       | participants in the making of textiles, and their societal and
       | practical reasons. It's fascinating that historically, the
       | practice of hand spinning thread and yarn absolutely dominated
       | available time, and today we know so little about it.
        
         | ericmay wrote:
         | Thanks for sharing that book. I've added it to my list.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-03-05 23:01 UTC)