No clothing material provides a greater aura of luxury and glamour than silk. For long ages, this product of a humble insect has provided the adornment of queens, courtesans and all who sought a highly visible means of displaying not only beauty but also wealth and elevated status. In modern times, vastly increased production has made this adornment of affluence available to a much wider community while providing employment and wellbeing for thousands of deprived rural dwellers in some of the world's poorest countries.
Silk production started in China around 3000 BCE, spreading to India in the second century of the Common Era and to the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century. The industry is reputed to have reached Western Europe after Roger II of Sicily attacked Corinth and Thebes, two important centres of Byzantine silk production, during the second crusade in 1147.
The essential foundation of silk production is a mulberry plantation. The silkworm larvae feed upon mulberry leaves and spin a cocoon from a continuous filament of silk. Placing the cocoons in hot water dissolves away the gum binding the filament and allows it to be unwound onto a reel. Filaments are about 1000 metres in length but are so fine that 48 are needed to be spun together to constitute a single thread, and several threads may be plied to create yarn for weaving into cloth. This natural fibre is so light that it takes 5500 silkworms to produce one kilogram of raw yarn.
Silk is a natural renewable product made by thousands of small cultivators in some of the world's poorest countries. As such, it seems to have excellent green credentials. However, silk production has been criticised by animal-welfare activists because placing the cocoons in hot water kills the larvae. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing".
It could be said that every luxury comes at a price to nature but silk production does not threaten the extinction of a species in the same way as, for example, the trade in ivory or rhino horn. On the contrary, the growing demand for silk can only increase the global population of silkworms. Most people would agree that silk production is much greener than the manufacture of fibres from non-renewable mineral oil. Ladies seeking to share the elegance and romance of past ages are justified in choosing this most exquisite means of adornment.
Ladies of discerning taste and voluptuous proportions who would like to share the glamour and prestige of high-quality silk dresses hand-made in Vietnam, an ancient home of silk production, can learn more from: http://www.curvesofsilk.wordpress.com and http://www.etsy.com/shop/curvesofsilk
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Powell
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8972078
Silk production started in China around 3000 BCE, spreading to India in the second century of the Common Era and to the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century. The industry is reputed to have reached Western Europe after Roger II of Sicily attacked Corinth and Thebes, two important centres of Byzantine silk production, during the second crusade in 1147.
The essential foundation of silk production is a mulberry plantation. The silkworm larvae feed upon mulberry leaves and spin a cocoon from a continuous filament of silk. Placing the cocoons in hot water dissolves away the gum binding the filament and allows it to be unwound onto a reel. Filaments are about 1000 metres in length but are so fine that 48 are needed to be spun together to constitute a single thread, and several threads may be plied to create yarn for weaving into cloth. This natural fibre is so light that it takes 5500 silkworms to produce one kilogram of raw yarn.
Silk is a natural renewable product made by thousands of small cultivators in some of the world's poorest countries. As such, it seems to have excellent green credentials. However, silk production has been criticised by animal-welfare activists because placing the cocoons in hot water kills the larvae. Mahatma Gandhi was critical of silk production based on the Ahimsa philosophy "not to hurt any living thing".
It could be said that every luxury comes at a price to nature but silk production does not threaten the extinction of a species in the same way as, for example, the trade in ivory or rhino horn. On the contrary, the growing demand for silk can only increase the global population of silkworms. Most people would agree that silk production is much greener than the manufacture of fibres from non-renewable mineral oil. Ladies seeking to share the elegance and romance of past ages are justified in choosing this most exquisite means of adornment.
Ladies of discerning taste and voluptuous proportions who would like to share the glamour and prestige of high-quality silk dresses hand-made in Vietnam, an ancient home of silk production, can learn more from: http://www.curvesofsilk.wordpress.com and http://www.etsy.com/shop/curvesofsilk
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Powell
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8972078
