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Textiles: The Whole Story, Beverly Gordon

The title of Beverly Gordon’s new publication suggests a comprehensive journey through the history of textiles; the reality is a thought-provoking, holistic story of the nature of thread and textiles and our relationship with them. It is clear in the preface that Gordon has a passion for textiles, and hopes “to make it undeniably evident that to be human is to be involved with cloth” (p. 7). The book is driven by her own “emotional and spiritual” connection to textiles (p. 8). The six chapters avoid a chronological, technical, or geographical structure, as has been used in books such as 5000 Years of Textiles (British Museum Press, revised 2010) and World Textiles: A Concise History (Thames & Hudson, 2004). Instead they approach the subject thematically: The Very Fabric of Existence; Living on the Earth; The Ties That Bind; Cloth and Temporal Power; Cloth as a Communication; Textiles and the Spirit. Her holistic approach is evident in the importance placed on metaphors, which act as strands binding the book together. Cloth as a “wrapper, container or framer” is considered in relation to the rituals surrounding life and death, as well as military uniforms (p. 26). The living qualities of cloth are displayed in the reuse of fabric in quilts, the unraveling of European cloth by Navajo weavers in order to attain red yarn, and the spiritual use of white cotton yarn by the Wawo people in Indonesia. Gordon’s writing style is a pleasure to read. It makes no claims to present new facts or findings but explores existing information in a new way, provoking further enquiry in the reader. The information presented is primarily anecdotal and this brings the book’s themes to life. The chapter on power includes the story of the “Meeting on the Field of Cloth and Gold” in 1520 between Henry VIII and Francis I, a costly political event of conspicuous consumption, in which the two leaders’ temporary camps were festooned with rich textiles, much of them woven with gold (p. 163). The use of cloth as a tool or symbol of power continues today, as evidenced by the then-President and Mrs Clinton’s visit to Ghana