Textile goods are social objects that assume an importance beyond household maintenance and use. In all ages they have been seen as displays of conspicuous consumption and reserves of wealth, but has the creating of the textiles been a move from valued craftsmen to professional articles produced by anonymous employees.
Today, most textiles are made in far away from the retail customer, often in 3rd world countries where labor is cheap or in large factories using automated machinery. From the exclusive design houses patronized by the rich and famous through brand name products sold in better quality stores to generic branded items in budget stores, consumers are unlikely to personally meet either the designer or the maker of their goods.
Embroidery is valued more for what it signifies rather than for what it is. We display the logos that indicate that an item is from a desirable brand or chose embellished textiles to achieve a particular decorating theme.
Has this changed from the past? Not really. Since the industrial revolution most textile production and embellishment has been done in factories. "Fancy work" was desirable accomplishment for women of wealth or the upper classes. Their projects were mainly designed to show off elegant hands or to keep them from boredom or to embellish decorative items. Such women did not create or deal directly with those who actually made the bulk of their clothing or household furnishings.
source: ezinearticles.com
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