Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

HISTORY - TYPE OF GARMENTS AND MATERIALS PRODUCED AT SALTAIRE  

Queen Victoria and the British Royal family were part of the reason alpaca garments enjoyed such a success. Queen Victoria made the alpaca dress fashionable, and many wealthy women followed the trend. Men wore alpaca coats, which were noted for their warmth and durability against the weather. The coats, especially, became family heirlooms and were passed down through generations. Titus Salt also came up with a distinct process of combining wool with silk to make striped waistcoats, as well as an array of colorful cloths (Lustre fabrics) which interested the ladies of the time.     "Salt had multiple talents and often applied them unconventionally. Born in 1803 to a family of prosperous woolen merchants, his innovations took the family fortunes to stratospheric heights. His first big step was the purchase of a cheap load of Russian wool, rejected by other merchants as being too tangled. Salt devised a way to deal with the tangles, and made a lot of money. Then in a similar feat he bought up bales of llama wool lying unwanted because the fibers were too long and fine to be worked by current machinery. Eighteen months later, Salt had developed a way to spin and weave that wool into warm but lightweight alpaca, a cloth that was to become the Victorian favorite for dresses and cloaks." - From "A tiny town in England has big attractions," by Claire Hopley. Boston Globe (May 17, 1988) http://www.boston.com/globe/search/stories/travel/saltaire_england.htm