Mesh Trend

I don’t know about you, but I’m quite fascinated by how holes that have worn in old fabric look. I even wrote part of a song about it (!) Given the quantities of distressed jeans, shirts and dresses we’ve seen cropping up on runways and in stores in the last few years, we feel that our fascination is widespread.

And it turns out, historical! Little known to me before I flung myself into looking things up online, was that the man who most fashion historians presume to have invented mesh fabric shared this fascination, many years ago. In 1888, as the story goes, Lewis Haslam noticed holes in his aunt’s gloves and questioned her about it. The aunt revealed to him that despite the holes in her gloves, her hands were still warm. Haslam was curious about this, and sought to recreate the effect at his fabric mill. Consequently, he invented mesh fabric.

While this is the most-often told origin story of wearable net, perhaps history is not quite so clear cut. Fishnet stockings are also traced alternately back to the Paris Opera Ballet and the Moulin Rogue, founded in 1669 and 1889, respectively.

This origin story too seems to have a hole in it. It is reported that in an 1815 edition of the Children's and Household Tales (now called Grimms' Fairy Tales), the Brothers Grimm included a story in which a rather tawdry king asked his lady prisoner to secure her freedom from him by appearing before him not clothed, yet not naked. Her solution was to wrap herself in a fishing net.

Why this book was presumed a wholesome read for children will imaginably remain a mystery. Nonetheless, there it is: a fairy tale solution to the mysterious origin of mesh.

Regardless of the real story, by the early 1900s mesh fabrics were being manufactured in larger mass quantities.

Nowadays 5 main kinds of mesh are used in clothing: polyester, netting, tulle, power, and nylon mesh.

Mesh has been a trend for some seasons, and we hope that it stays in fashion, otherwise our wardrobes may be in need of some serious revisions.

Please pick up some free knitted mesh patterns and sewing patterns as well as updated vintage jewelry on our website: wonderlandbyhand.com