- [i] Marketing:: # Clothes > When we think about textiles for clothing, there are a couple of sources that we tend to fall back on: wool, silk, cow leather, linen, and cotton are the main natural sources. But what about other sources? ## Quick Facts - There's only one surviving breed of wooly pig; the Mangalica is indigenous to Hungary and [unusually fatty](https://www.dartagnan.com/mangalica-pig-heritage-pork.html). - Wool is superior to fur from a survival perspective because it's more breathable and more easily tailored, which makes it much safer in cold weather because there are fewer gaps for cold air to get to your skint thru. %% [[The Golden Thread by Kassia St Clair#ch01p26]] %% - The earliest buttons we know of were 35,000 year old small, pierced circular pieces of stone and bone. %% [[The Golden Thread by Kassia St Clair#ch01p31]] %% - Hemp was probably domesticated in China around 10,000 years ago; it used for textiles, foods, paper and medicine. %% [[hemp was important in ancient China]] %% - Eurasian steppe clothes were created from local materials like [felts, coarse textiles, & birch bark](https://adiu.com.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/331) — but also from imported woolen and silk textiles and embroideries. ## Drop Feathers You can painlessly pluck the feathers of domestic turkeys while they're alive and [use the feathers to make blankets](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/800-year-old-blanket-holds-clues-turkey-farming-american-southwest-180976438/). They're a unique bird in that if a predator grapbs the feather, the skin opens up and releases the feather instead of having it be a capture hold. It's similar to how some lizards can drop their tails. %% 2021-02-19 %% ## Keratin Clothes Baleen is the comb-like keratin-based structure that blue whales and humpbacks use to filter plankton. Before plastics, it was popular because when soaked in hot water it becomes [flexible enough to be bent, and it retains its shape when cooled](https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Baleen). Baleen comes in a variety of colors (black, grey, green, cream) and was popular for making baskets, corsets, tea trays, and sword handles. %% [[The Many Uses of Whales and Their Bones]] %% ## Delightful Dogs Salish Woolly dogs were specially bred as an additional source of wool for indigenous people of the American northwest. They lived in packs of 20-30 and were fed a diet of fish and elk fat to keep their healthy enough for textile creation. To keep them from interbreeding with other dogs (and losing their wooly coats), they were often kept isolated on islands. %% 2021-02-19 %% ## Tree textiles Ugandan barkcloth is made from [the inner bark of the Mutuba tree](http://nationalclothing.org/africa/76-uganda/289-ugandan-traditional-craft-of-barkcloth-making-how-to-make-fabric-from-tree-bark.html). It's the orange-brown color of terracotta. Traditionally harvested during the wet season, it's boiled, then beaten with mallets, then stretched, then left out in the sun to dry. Historically, barkcloth clothes worn by high-status individuals was dyed white or black. - - - 📗 ICYMI: If you found this interesting, you may also enjoy my previous newsletters about [[2020-11-10 Pigs]], [[2020-12-28 Spidersilk (DRAFT)]] & [[2021-03-15 Dye (DRAFT)]], [[All the Things That Trees Can Be]] 💚 If you learned something from this overview, consider forwarding it to a friend and encouraging them to [sign up](https://newsletter.eleanorkonik.com/membership/) for more research deep dives into obscure history and science. 📅 Next week's topic? SOMETHING If you know any SOMETHING, please hit "reply" and tell me about it.