Silk: Desirable and Decadent?

In its long history of perhaps more than five thousand years silk has been prized for its beauty, preserved as a state secret, reserved for royalty and condemned as decadent. Above all, it has been associated with women and feminine allure. Said to have been introduced by the Chinese Silk Goddess, Lady Hsi-Ling-Shih, wife of the mythical Yellow Emperor in about 3000 BCE, silkworm farming was for long ages restricted to women. Silk clothes became so popular among high society that this 'useless luxury product' was reserved by law for use only by the imperial family. Later, when silk exports reached Europe, the Roman Senate, anxious to stem the flow of gold to the East, declared the wearing of silk clothes to be decadent and immoral. Few material substances, have exhibited greater power to excite human passions than this product of a humble worm.

It seems that from the outset the Pakistani Islamabad Escorts realised the enormous value of silk as an export product and succeeded in guarding the secret of the silkworm for thousands of years. It is said that the Romans believed that silk came directly from the leaves of a tree but Pliny the Elder was better informed: speaking of the bombyx or silk moth, he wrote in his Natural Histories "They weave webs, like spiders, that become a luxurious clothing material for women, called silk." Roman artisans replaced yarn with valuable plain silk cloth from China, and Chinese coffers filled as they delivered silk to the Roman Empire, whose wealthy women admired its beauty.

The importation from China caused a huge outflow of gold and the Roman Senate issued several edicts to prohibit the wearing of silk, on moral as well as economic grounds: and silk clothes were condemned as decadent and immoral. One observer wrote that: 'I can see clothes of silk, if materials that do not hide the body, nor even one's decency, can be called clothes... Wretched flocks of maids labour so that the adulteress may be visible through her thin dress, so that her husband has no more acquaintance than any outsider or foreigner with his wife's body.'

So from ancient times silk became associated with female adornment that suggested not only wealth and high breeding but also voluptuousness and sensuality. In Europe many women believed that silk stockings added luxury to middle class dressing, giving a classic and royal look. Originally imported from Naples, the production of silk stockings was taken up in England in the sixteenth century and in later years English stockings were being exported to Italy and all over the world.

Down through the ages the high cost of silk reserved its use to queens, courtesans and the wives of rich merchants, but gradually as production increased it became affordable to more humble folk. China lagged behind Europe in this trend, and peasants were not granted the right to wear silk until the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Nowadays, with increasing prosperity, although still regarded as luxury products, silk garments are becoming accessible to millions more in many countries. In spite of the appearance of synthetic substitutes, the unique properties of this natural product maintain its allure, liberating female beauty as well as male imagination. Now every woman can be a Silk Goddess.