In the time of past generations, the role of handmade cloth and garment was more prominent, more personal, more part of everyday life than what is commonly known today. Textiles embodied the social values and customs of their times: opulent laces and richly woven fabrics displaying wealth and prestige; fabrics of intricate detail and symbolic design for dowries, births, and deaths; richly hand embroidered and woven textiles for household adornment.

 In innumerable countries skilled craftspeople, coming from diverse social and financial circumstances, created textiles that were a valued and essential part of everyday life. From detailed colorful batique to costumes embellished with gold thread, mirror, or coin; from hand-painted/dyed lengths of cloth to intricately woven dress and suiting fabrics all bearing the imprint of their makers' imagination and skill.