Beetle clothing

In Thailand, as in many other parts of the world, beetles of the Sternocera genus have been used for hundreds of years to decorate clothes and home textiles. Iridescent blue-green in color they are rather hard and long lasting if not exposed to wear. Beetles are short-lived, survive for only a few weeks in their adult phase, so they are not deliberately killed but are expected to die naturally, only to be collected. They are then vaporized or immersed in water to soften them a little before being drilled and applied to the fabric. Dresses like this since 1850 have become very popular in Europe, especially for summer evening wear. The example here is made of cotton with a combined shawl. The embroidery of the beetle wing is integrated with silk thread and metallic thread.

By Cora Ginsburg LLC. Embroidered panel, collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London