Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Metlon Metallic Yarns

Aren't these golden cocktail ensembles from 1958 lovely? Adele Simpson made the brocade suit on the left and Hannah Troy did the lurex knit dress on the right. The fabrics used for both garments were woven with metallic thread made by Metlon, a Rhode Island company still in business today. Metlon began in business in 1947 by designing and building special machinery to slit fine gauge metallic fabrics into thin continuous strips of yarn or thread.

Later in the same 1958 magazine, this ad appears for an evening suit in turquoise and gold brocade by Bill Blass for Maurice Rentner. The brocade fabric was made with Metlon threads. Gorgeous, isn't it? And if you were lucky enough to find this suit today, I'll bet those gold threads would still be shimmering just as brightly as they did over 50 years ago.