Embroidery and workwear

June 24th, 2008

Military and heraldic embroidery might seem a long way away from modern clothing, but although its history is ancient, the art is fully up to date.  One family of embroiderers (called bullion workers because their embroidery took place with golden thread, actually silk woven with genuine gold bullion) came to England in 1767. They were originally Huguenot refugees from Flanders who’d learned their skills in entourage of Catherine de Medicis, when she married into the French court in the 16th century.

In this period heraldic art was used to show the pomp and power of the wearer - garments trimmed with gold lace and embroidery show the rank and achievements of the person they fitted. The family’s name was Hand. The business continued and thrived, moving into embroidery for wedding dresses and stage costumes too. By 2001, M. Hand, merged with the Lock firm of embroiders to form a business that focuses on military, fashion and couture embroidery.

Today you can actually tour the Hand and Lock showrooms and see hand embroidery with genuine gold thread take place in front of you – it’s an astonishing sight. Their embroidery is sent around the world and appears on everything from the dresses worn on stage by Celine Dion to the crests and emblems worn by Princes William and Harry, and other officers, on dress parade. 

Although it might sound far removed from daily life, most of us absorb the impressions of crests and emblems every day, although they probably aren’t hand-embroidered from pure gold! Every school blazer carries a crest, every police department has an emblem along with its shield, every soldier bears his rank, and company along with other insignia and the first thing we do when a meter reader knocks on our door is ask to see his or her ID – which will have a crest or emblem on it!  Embroidery on workwear is usually machine embroidered now, which makes it a lot cheaper than Hand and Lock’s output (here’s a clue, they still price their products in guineas, never a sign of something cheap) but still gives the same impression of officialdom, history and heritage.

Workwear insignia courtesy of connor365

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Entry Filed under: vintage, Fashion, Uniforms, Embroidery