The French Ribbon

Imagine for a moment that you are walking the aisles at an outdoor flea market in France. Say, maybe, Revel or somewhere equally wonderful. So far, nothing has caught your eye. But, your luck is about to change. Big-time. You notice a large old scuffed cardboard carton under one of the sales tables. The flaps of the box are askew, giving you a view of the innards. You spy a stack of what-appears-to-be old ledger books, and hard-cover sample books with worn ribbon ties. Vintage color cards, some with written notations, are also in the carton. A tangle of faded striped grosgrain ribbon, tied in a bunch, is tucked into the treasure box. By now, you are salivating, knowing that you would pay ANYthing, or just about ANYthing, for this cache. ****Snap!**** Stop worrying -- someone has saved you all the trouble. This beautiful volume, "The French Ribbon" wonderfully preserves the long-ago ribbon industry in Saint-Etienne France; and documents page-after-page of lavish ribbons, lingerie trims, passementerie, braids, gimp, and more. Vintage sample cards, steel engraved advertising cards and swatched color charts are beautifully presented, and (oh how perfect) a slim ribbon bookmark keeps your place. It isn't often that we get to peruse a special/unique archive like this; especially on a very specialized topic like ribbon --- Savor the moment.

This book would have been better if there had been some text and information about the ribbons shown. It is mostlyjust images, make it an expensive book for just images. I almost returned it immediately.

Great photos, but no info about the year of manufacture or fibers used. It looks like many of the photos are of 20th-century ribbons. If you want a beautiful picture book with no dates or info, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, skip it.

Exquisite Book design from designers who know when less is more. The content pages they selected are fascinating from the original typography to the beautiful ribbons. Great gift book. I know. I bought one for myself.

I recently visited Paris and actually picked up in their famous flea markets some of these ribbons! They're a bit shabbier than shown in the book, but it's great to see a resource guide.

I needed a bit more text about the ribbon factory and history

Exquisite pictures, surprising variety and beauty. Minimal test, wished for more. Love the project and book.

Have a ribbon fetish and this is a beautiful book!