Back in August of 2015, I announced that Petticoats & Pistols had opened up an official Pinterest account. Pinterest was just gaining traction as a site featuring all kinds of fun pictures that one would pin to these strange things called ‘boards.’ It also turned into a valuable tool for businesses to market their goods, a big reason why we jumped on board (pardon the pun), too. Since then, we’ve grown to 164,200 views a month.
That’s right. Our pins are viewed 164,200 times a month.
Pretty incredible, right?
Through the years, we’ve amassed more than 1,800 pins on 42 different boards that highlight not only each filly and an assortment of her books, but . . .
- Recipes
- Hunky Cowboys
- Favorite Western Movies
- Vintage Clothing
- Wild West Weapons
- Western Lawmen
- Old-Time Medicine
- Texas History
- Turquoise and Silver Baubles
- Windows
- Cowboy Country Christmas
- And more.
As I was drooling–um, I mean scrolling–through the boards, I was struck by several really cool western outfits decorated with really cool fringe.
Did you know fringe has been around since 3000 BC, was first discovered in Mesopotamia which is now modern-day Iraq, and was used on shawls and skirts and eventually the entire garment, and that depending on the fabric the fringe was made from denoted one’s class in society?
I didn’t.
Not surprisingly, linen and cotton fringe were worn by the lower classes, and silk fringe by the wealthy. And . . . fringe was so important and carefully unique, it was actually used as a signature when pressed into clay business ‘contracts.’
Who knew?
Fast forward lots of years, and the Native Americans used fringe as a way to repel rainwater, forcing it to drip down the tassels and off their bodies. We all know they wore leather, which took tons of time and effort to tan and prepare for wearing. They refrained from trimming seams in their garments, which would be wasteful after all that work, and thus using fringe solved the waste problem.
Not long after, the 1920s hit, and who doesn’t love a flapper swirling and swinging fringe when she danced?
And then came the 60’s.
Elvis and Priscilla
Now, modern day western wear is adorned with fringe. Here’s a few straight from our “Western Duds” Pinterest board.
Check out our boards on Pinterest for all things western! https://www.pinterest.com/thefillies/_saved/
Back when I was twelve or so, I bought a faux suede purse that had a good 12 inches of fringe at the bottom very similar to this one. I remember vividly coming home and showing my Italian immigrant grandparents (we were visiting them at the time). As I pulled it from the sack with a great deal of pride, triumph, and flourish, neither of them said a word. I could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet. I can only assume their silence meant my prized purse was definitely not their style.
Did you wear fringe? Did you have a favorite garment or accessory with fringe?