all the work, none of the glory

On a roll tonight--on with more nonsense, this time about history and fashion!

A lot of people are probably aware that purple is a colour often associated with royalty--because for a time it was actually illegal to wear it unless you were royalty, or at least a very high-ranking noble. Not that the law mattered much, since the dye was hard to make and time consuming and could make only very small quantities at a time, it was extortionately expensive, making it unattainable to all but the wealthiest people.

Easier to come by, but still expensive, was a versatile blue dye made from a plant called 'woad'. It could be made much more efficiently and in larger quantities--it's woad dye in various intensities that you see over and over again in abundance in Medieval tapestries. For a time the sumptuary laws (the laws dictating who could wear what) even prohibited certain people from wearing this colour.

Despite the fact that the dyemakers specialized in making a product available only to the richest of the rich, they were never especially popular people in their communities. The process of making both dyes was notoriously pungent, and in a world without regular bathing the pigment and smell tended to seep more or less permanently into the hands and clothes of the dyemakers. Woad purportedly smelled of really strong cat urine; purple dye was made by grinding the shells of murexes, a tiny sea snail found only in parts of the Mediterranean. (Phoenicia was for a time famous for producing and selling purple dye, because they had the best access to them.) Purple dye was even more malodorous and smelled like extremely rancid fish.

I don't know whether or not the smell stuck around after it was soaked into a fabric. I wouldn't be surprised if it did and people were just willing to put up with it or try to ignore it--it's not like it's at all strange for people to put up with a lot of terrible shit in the name of fashion. Do you honestly think anyone wore huge elaborate wigs, hoop skirts, picadills, or lead face paint because they were comfortable and easy to wear?

It's a bit interesting to think that the people who created a product available exclusively to only the richest people were so shunned and avoided by everyone else because the much-sought-after product they made smelled so terrible.