Bullion fringe

The title of this article might seem a bit obscure to some of you. What is bullion fringe? Well, it has nothing to do with investing, as some of you might suspect. It is in fact a kind of lace trimming used as an ornament. It is called bullion fringe because in order to create it you have to use gold or silver thread. If you still have no idea what it might look like, think of an old-fashioned tablecloth with rows of braid attached to its edges. They might vary in colour; I"ve seen light silver, antique gold, green, blue or even burgundy fringes. When I was a little child, my grandmother used to sew dark red fringes to the rims of her old tablecloth. It looked fantastic and created a wonderful atmosphere for Christmas. She also used it to decorate her curtains. But bullion fringe can also be found in military objects. There are several companies that produce uniforms, badges, emblems, flags and other items with this ornamental pattern. A very similar type of ornament is also very common in China, Taiwan and Japan where such fringes were used in everyday clothing of more affluent people or authorities centuries ago. Nowadays, companies from these countries are among the most renowned manufacturers of bullion fringe.