Essay: Muslin in literature and history

The muslin dress was the most symbolic item associated with Regency women fashion. The word muslin could be used for both fabric and dress made of it. It is plain-woven light soft cotton fabric without a pattern. It was used as a dress foundation or a dress by itself. Jane Austen exhibited her real interest in fabrics and fashion through her writing, but muslin in particular played an important role in her novel’s characters’ lives. In her novel Northanger Abbey, heroine Catherine Morland asks Henry Tilney on the first time she met him in the Lower Rooms in Bath: “Do you understand muslin, sir?” and he answers “Particularly well, I always buy my own cravats and am allowed to be an excellent judge and my sister has often trusted me in the choice of a gown. I bought one for her the other day and it was pronounced to be a prodigious bargain by every lady who saw it. I gave but five shillings a yard for it and a true Indian muslin”
Muslin went through many phases and changes through history. The first mention of muslin according to the book «The Arthashastra» (Kautilya, 300CE cited in, meanwhile the male Arabic dealer in the ninth century AH called Suleiman, that the origin of this cloth is Bengal. Foreign merchants had to come from distant lands, such as the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Armenia, China, Malaya and the Levant to buy it. The importance of the aesthetic muslin Bengali, as stated in the book «Geography» of Ptolemy, the smoothness and the delicacy of its texture to the extent that it makes it possible to fully dress it passes from a tight loop. There is no doubt that this cloth claimed global prestige and fame for hundreds of years, where it is believed it is used to shrouding the mummies of the pharaohs. Machelebatnam in southern India and Dhaka in Bengal were known whee the best quality of muslin was made. The famous Roman historian Pliny refers to a type of Indian muslin, known as “Jahoona” which were worn by Roman women of the upper class in order to flaunt their bodies. The Romanian Empire imports large quantities of this cloth, woven with silver or silk, from India and was then known as “Kasida”. It also turns to successive Chinese empires.
During the Mughal rule muslin weavers were receiving encouragement and care by the referees, because it is weaves specifically for the king and known as «Malmulkas» and the quality is not matched by the best European fabrics. Muslin was not rivaled in prestige except the «Obrawan» fabric which means running water. The story says that the quality of the cloth «Obrawan», made emperor Aurangzeb berating his own daughter for her condescending and extravagant behavior.
The muslin is made by hand tenderly and transparency like no other fabric, because the weaving process was very difficult. In the beginning, the weavers have to find a good quality of cotton, then comes the precision stage, where this process only done in the early hours of morning or afternoon to avoid the intensity of sun’s heat. The number of strings in the best sort of this cloth 1.800 per inch, while the number of threads necessary for the manufacture of all types at least an inch in quality 1.400. In the end, the magnificence of this cloth weavers come on sight account. In contrast, they have distinct social status.
The selling of fabric Dhaka muslin continued in London until 1813. Sales profits increased high up to 75%, because it was cheaper than the British fabrics and for the reason that the fear of competition to make the British impose a tax on Indian products of 80%, as well as the emergence of weaving machines hit a powerful blow for the manufacture of muslin. By the year 1817, the English arrived thread made from machine to Dhaka and the price was a quarter of the Indian textile price.
Some historian mentioned that some of the British did cut the fingers of the Bengalis weavers who specialize in muslin cloth. The objective of the British textile industry was to establish in Manchester and take advantage of all the big exporting fabrics to the Indian market. To succeed this idea had to be the destruction of the textile industry in India, including cutting fingers artists muslin so as not to be able to produce this kind of upscale cloth, which helps promote their own fabrics. Dr. Trevelyan said, “Indian cotton manufactures had been to a great extent displaced by English manufactures. The peculiar kind of silky cotton formerly grown in Bengal, from which the fine Dhaka muslins used to be made, is hardly ever seen; the population of the town of Dhaka has fallen from I 50,000 to 30,000 or 40,000, and the jungle and malaria are fast encroaching upon the town. The only cotton manufactures which stand their pound in India are of the very coarse kinds and the English cotton manufactures are generally consumed by all above the very poorest throughout India. Dhaka, which was the Manchester of India, has fallen off from very flourishing town to a very poor and small one; the distress there has been very great indeed.\” [Romesh Dutt, The Economic History of India in the Victorian Age, 3rd ed., London (1906), vol. 2, p. 105][2]
Still nothing can match the handicraft and quality. Muslin can be light and very thin to the extent that it makes it possible to weigh 10 grams’ yard of it and 6 yards of it can pass through the ring dressed in forefinger. Wrote Dr. Taylor, the British textile expert, in 1840: «Even today, in spite of the ideal achieved by weaving machines, cannot compete with any cloth fabrics in Dhaka transparency and beauty and paper tissue». Taylor mentions: «It was a muslin myth because it can be folded dress length of 50 meters from this cloth inside a match box». It was more of a weaver girls with thin delicate skilled fingers who enjoyed sharp eyesight and between the ages of eighteen and thirty. He explained: «During the Middle Ages, it was the best in Dhaka Muslin allocates the imperial court. They were not dealing with the most famous weavers as if they were employees of the tiles are not allowed to weave muslin to others. » As was the weaving process depending on the weather, which cannot be well dried, otherwise it will become fragile and will not likely any pressure and it would be impossible to work on it. It must be the air humidity specifications particular, where the tissue is absorbed from the air. To maintain the fabric of the heat, the surface should be built from the three insulating layers. The first layer of hay made and the second from the tin, and the third of bamboo. During summers, the suspension of a damp cloth on the windows to reduce the impact of hot air.
Of the hallmarks of muslin cloth, which is loved by designers, its ability to follow the body shape, which aggravated femininity. Makers and designers today uses Indian muslin fabric as a standard during the shearing process before going out the final form of the making an expensive fabric price dress. As well as other features characteristic of this type of fabric is the possibility of dye colored and embroidery. This can be done using a lot of different shapes and designs that make it unique and earn multi-use.