Fabric of life

The art of making decorative trimmings is being kept alive by a small number of artisans, their ‘passementerie’ adding glamour to historic projects and bespoke interiors alike.

- Celia Rufey

Through many centuries, every needlework skill came together to create passementerie – the collective word for trimmings – first for fashion and military splendour, then to bring glamour to the interior. The French word reflects France’s style leadership from the 17th century in creating trimmings for the royal palaces of its kings, including Versailles. Later, England profited from the arrival of Huguenot weavers escaping religious persecution in France, with many settled in London’s Spitalfields by 1700.

Upholstered furniture has always needed a trimming to cover edges and hide tacks, and these were centuries when the upholsterer gradually took on the role of interior designer in great houses. Passementerie was eye-wateringly expensive, but it defined the status of a room and its owner. Cost was surely why, at the end of the 17th century, the first Duchess of Beaufort had gentlewomen embroidering and fringe making, so that all state beds at Badminton could be ‘made and finished in the house’.