Textile Timeline

This page is not an all-compassing timeline of textile events; just a timeline of the textile subjects I have written about myself.

If you are looking for a professional-level timeline, I recommend:

Fashion Institute of Technology Fashion History Timeline — arranged by era, searchable.  Mostly Western fashion, but a wealth of resources.

Wikipedia Timeline of clothing and textiles technology

Wikipedia History of clothing and textiles (includes information about many regions of the globe)

These are the posts I have done about textile history, in chronological order by their subject.  Some of these are posts where I did some research, and some are photos of actual textiles or clothing.

Ancient History From String to Spandex is a post comparing nine different books that offer general textile history overviews.  These summaries may help you in choosing a resource to learn more.

3500 – 2000 BC Tracking Textile History: The Minoans

2000 – 1450 BC Tracking Textile History: The Minoans, Part Two

1450 – 1190 BC I Love Linear B!

1350 BC On the Trail of Sail History – The Mycenaeans

56 BC On the Trail of Sail History – The Vikings (short section about the Romans and Veneti)

800 AD – 1879 AD – Mystery of Charlemagne’s Missing Textiles

1060 AD – On the Trail of Sail History – The Vikings

1066 AD – Bayeux Tapestry – The Backstory, The Basics, Books Part One, Books Part Two

1200s AD – Rules, Routines, and the Restraint of Initiative – regulations for professional weavers in medieval France

1300s – 1570 AD – Textile Time Travel – The Middle Ages

1300 – 1340 AD – A Medieval Love Story – With Carding and Spinning!

1300s, studied in 1964 – medieval sheep illustrations and DNA in parchment

1400 – 1850 – textile treasures of Aachen cathedral

late 1400s to 1800 – women locked down in Venetian convents

1600 — 2000 AD – 400 Years of Silk in America, Scruples and Scandals

1600s – 1800s  – Textiles at the Briscoe Museum  – men’s clothing and horse trappings from the Southwest

1600s – 1800s – myths and facts about American colonial textiles, book review

1600s – 1800s – a Compendium of Sail Information

1732-1737 – A Treasury of Textiles – French textiles of all types collected in the 1700s

early 1800s – Rose Overshot Coverlet

early 1800s – Blue and Red Coverlet bought in Washington state

1806 to 1830s — the tradition of the wedding “infair”

1830s and 1840s — a woman artist documents interiors and costumes

1838 – a storekeeper’s inventory from Ohio

1840s – author George Sand describes the village hemp dresser from her youth

1844 – one Ohio family’s estate inventory

c. 1845 – Not So Run-of-the-Mill  – woman’s cotton dress
and Shadows of the Past  – same dress, on a real person

1847 – a different storekeeper, same county as the inventory from 1838, an Ohio Merchant’s Inventory

1850s – sewing needles from England

1850s, 1860s – clipper ship cards

1850s – 1870s – Two Lovely Ladies  – old photos

1855 – 1917 – dress diary

1859 – Thomas Marsteller coverlet

1860s – Shawl of Paisley Design

1862 – illustrations from Punch magazine of London; there are five of these posts but this link goes to the one on courtship

1880s – 1880s Favorites – cabinet cards showing fashions of the 1880s, and some early photo touch-up

late 1800s – 1917  – Dynamiting Silk

1800s – 1900s  – Bittersweet  – Native American clothing from children sent to boarding school

1875 – 1900 – book of tiny quilt scraps

1889 – dress reform

c. 1880s – 1900  – Late 1800s Dress

c. 1890s – fabric scraps

c. 1900 – A Cloud of Witnesses (photo of women’s craft group)

c. 1900 – Generosity and Splendor (beautiful sequined gown)

c. 1900 – 1910 – Boy’s Outfit

c. 1900 – 1910 – Frilly Foundations

c. 1900 – 1910 – Why Models Look Bored — models and fashion shows

1905 – Football Dinner – menu and activities from an old party planning book

1905 – Pin Party from a beloved party planning book

1905 – Christmas Entertaining in 1905  – from an old party planning book

1907 – Servant’s Attire

c. 1910 – 1920 – Mary Schenk Woolman, an early textile instructor

1914 – 1974 – cotton gin building and business

1916 – high school yearbook from Dresden, Ohio

1917 – women’s work outfits as portrayed in a musical

1920 – Costumes at the Hippodrome

1920s – Merry Christmas – photo of group of girls

1920s – fashion illustrations from Laura I. Baldt, an early textile instructor

1920s – When Pink was for Boys

1928 – fashion ads and advice to a lovelorn husband

1930s – Flour Sack Dress

1930s – Flourishing in Flour Sacks  – guest post

1930s – 1950s – Flour Sacks! and More  – quilt from folded triangles

1930s – 1940s – Harvest Contest, costumes made from fruits and vegetables

1930s – 1940s – Design Advice from the Dress Doctors, book review

1938 – Sailmaker on Board

1939 – Textiles from Mexico

1939 – an 8th grade annual from Ohio

1939, 1940 – “Sidewalk Photography” on the West Coast

1944 – 1952 Théâtre de la Mode, the story;  Théâtre de la Mode, the exhibit

1950s – A Manly Textile  – tablecloth of divided Berlin and Germany

1950s – Picnic

1950s – baby clothes

1950s – Back to School, 1950s Style

c. 1961 – Greek costume dolls

c. 1961 – souvenirs from a Middle Eastern tour

1962 – embroidered pillow cases

1970s – Denim, Chambray, and Self-Expression

1975, 1976 – Christo and Jean-Claude and the J.P. Stevens textile company; environmental impact of Running Fence

1970 – 2010 – designs of Oscar de la Renta

early 2000s – Jo Lopianowski-Roberts designs and stitches a replica of the Sistine Chapel ceiling

2019 – the state of textile writing as produced by Artificial Intelligence

2020 – virtual textile and fashion exhibits during COVID

2020 – what I did during COVID

the future – 3D Printing and Handcrafts

the future – What We’ll Be Wearing Next Year