Sunday, September 19, 2010

Beautiful buttons and noble mollusks

I knew textile evaluation would be a useful class, but I did not expect it to be much fun. I am pleased to have been wrong about that. The textbook, Quality Assurance for Textiles and Apparel, 2nd ed., by Sara Kadolph looked like it would be a dry, boring read, but I am finding it quite interesting. In chapter 5, Specifying and Evaluating Materials, in the section about buttons, I found a passage that made me smile. While describing buttons made from naturally occurring materials Kadolph wrote, “These buttons are usually assumed to be environmentally friendly. If a button is made from a shell, the animal living in the shell has been, at the very least, removed from its home.” (2007). I hope you found that statement as poignant as I do. Please take a brief moment of silence to honor those brave mollusks who made the ultimate sacrifice to satisfy our need for beautiful buttons. Thank you.

Kadolph, S. (2007). Quality Assurance for Textiles and Apparel, 2nd ed. New York: Fairchild Publications, Inc.




















Briny Beach by Sir John Tenniel

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