Ornament of Textiles
In addition to ornament added to garment, the ornament in the textile itself must be considered.
Appropriate Designs
Textiles may be beautiful in weave, but spoiled by the design. Quite as important as intrinsic beauty is appropriateness of pattern. How often do we see woven on our curtains, carpets, and garment materials fans, bunches of roses tied with ribbons—bows with long, fluttering ends—landscapes, snow scenes, etc. Nothing is beautiful out of its place. A fan suggests coolness and grace of motion, but woven in our textiles it gives the same impression as a butterfly mounted on a pin—something perverted, imprisoned, or robbed of its natural use. Nothing is or ever can be beautiful without use—without harmony. Decorations on textiles are not to tell stories. There is a difference between landscape painting and using landscapes as a motive for decorating textiles or pottery. In one case the aim is to annihilate surface by producing the impression of distance; in the other, the object is to glorify the surface only.
Advantage of Plain Material
For the woman of limited income it is wiser to select plain material of good texture and weave. Such material is never conspicuous, can be made over, and is always restful and may be interesting. Any good textile must impress itself upon the mind by its suggestiveness and beauty of color. There is a difference between what may be called artistic and decorative embellishment of textiles. Each has its place in the world of beauty, but one is the poetry, the other the prose of the art.
Stripes
There is a dignity and restfulness in plain material which is never obtained by varied patterns. When a stripe is used to vary the material, the style of the textile is changed, elongated if the stripe is vertical, and widening if it is horizontal. If the main stripe is cut at right angles with a second stripe, the textile appears more complicated and repose is lost. The same is true of checks, but no pattern is more distracting than large plaids, especially when used for waists, because the regularity of the design renders very conspicuous any inequalities in the shoulders or bust, and the great variety of colors detracts from the dignity of the dress. With small checks and narrow, self-colored stripes the effect is different, causing the texture to appear only shaded and not destroying the unity.
Conventionalized Designs
On garment fabrics the ornamentation should be flat, without shadow or relief. The pattern must enhance and not mar the figure. If flowers, foliage, or other natural objects are used for the designs, they should be conventionalized—not direct copies of nature. A figured textile requires more careful planning than plain material. It may be beautiful when used properly, but it will appear hideous if distorted in the making. A conventional fleur-de-lis pattern, or a long dash which appears and disappears when used in long, graceful folds, adds to the apparent height. These same figures wrongly used spread out awkwardly or become distorted.
Size of Design
The size of the design should be regulated by the material—small patterns being used for close, thick fabrics and larger designs, with more delicate colors, for thin material of open texture. Thick, heavy fabrics require rich, warm colors and the pattern likewise should be rich and decorative. Velvets, velveteens, and heavy cloths for dresses are beautiful in themselves and should not be marred by patterns or trimmings.
Spirals or curved lines running crosswise on textiles distort the natural curves of the figure by making seeming undulations where none should be and accentuating the prominence of hips and bust. Such patterns should not be used in folds.