Vintage Fabric
Silk and cotton saris feature a dizzying number of different paisleys, ikats, florals, and figural patterns. Imagine your absolute favorite fabric house, and then multiply their library by a thousand, and you’ll have just seen the very tip of the iceberg. Best of all, whereas a single contemporary pattern can throw off the balance of a room, these seem to work everywhere: there isn’t a house on earth, excepting, maybe, a minimalist white box, where one of these magnificent prints won’t fit.
As vintage fabrics that have been softened from time and use, the colors have faded a bit, and they almost uniformly drape beautifully: the cottons don’t have any of the stiffness of new textiles, and the silks are a dream to gather and stitch.
However, as they’ve had a previous life, vintage fabrics can also present irregularities and blemishes, and while every effort is made to be sure that the fabric is pristine, or very close to it, a tiny hole or stain might be strategically tucked into a fold, so that it disappears. If you love the singular richness and utility of vintage textiles you will understand. And if you don’t, these might not be for you.