The fact I’m not a current fan of the ‘70s decade
doesn’t mean I eschewed all of its trends when I lived through them. On the
contrary, I enthusiastically embraced “feathered” hair a la
Farrah, bell-bottomed pants, peasant blouses, wooden platformed shoes. I even
bought my husband a leisure suit (which, thank goodness, he had the good sense
to despise and wore only twice). As I was writing this post, I caught myself humming "The Age of Aquarius" (which actually came out in 1969, but close enough). To decorate my first home, I took
inspiration from the apartment of Chrissy, Jack, and Janet of Three’s Company fame. And I was enamored
of macramé.
I’m not sure what it was about tying
knots that had the country ensnarled in that craze, but you can count me as a
victim of ‘70s macrame-nia. I think part of my zeal was inspired
by an aunt who was truly a person created to create. Her hands were constantly
busy—crocheting, knitting, sewing, weaving, even spinning. And she was a
consummate teacher, loving nothing better than sharing her skills with anyone who wanted to learn them. In the ‘70s,
she found willing and eager students among family and friends for her
macramé classes. In knot-tying frenzies, we fashioned hangers for anything from pots to pendant lights. Products of our new-found skill were suspended from
every square foot above our heads. At one point, my dad flatly refused to hang
any more of my mother’s “art” for fear the ceiling would collapse. With the
space above us either off-limits or filled, we moved on to wall hangings,
window and door coverings, purses, belts, jewelry, vests, hats...even bikinis. (I actually never had a macrame bikini, so don't ask me how that worked.)
The options were endless, running out of rope being the only deterrent to
our productivity.
A couple of examples of the macrame art that decorated my 1970s home |
With walls and ceilings amply adorned, we could move on to apparel. |
(For the record, my aunt made these pieces. I stuck mainly with three-prong pot hangers.) |
With the comeback capability of a boomerang, macramé has enjoyed a long and interesting
history of wafting in and out of popularity. Originating in the 13th
century with Arab weavers, the skill worked its way across Europe. In the 17th
century, Queen Mary taught it to her ladies-in-waiting. Sailors brought it to
the New World, where, in the 1970s, hippies and housewives practically made a
cottage industry out of it. Macramé fell out of favor for a couple of decades, but the
other day on the Houzz website, an article suggested it might be staging yet another
appearance. A quick
search revealed dozens of Pinterest boards dedicated to it. Of course, for
the sake of marketing, this most recent phase will involve innovative twists such as...fewer owls.
As far as I’m concerned, even a dearth of owls can’t be innovative enough to make resurrecting macrame-nia a good
idea. It roped me in once, but
as with many trends and fads, once is enough.
Any thoughts on
this? I’d love to hear from those of you who, like me, were entangled in the ‘70s macramé
web.