Do You Want To Know The History Of Silk
Flowers?
The skill for duplicating beautiful flowers and plants with
silk flowers is a craft that started centuries
ago…
At the beginning of the 18th century, the French, who
originally learned the art from the Italians, made great
strides in accuracy of reproduction with silk flowers and
silk plants, 
Toward the end of that century, Paris
manufacturers enjoyed a lofty world-wide
reputation for creating beautiful silk flower arrangements
that were used for interior décor, much as they are today.
At that same time, the art was introduced into England by
French refugees, and it soon spread to America. Today, the
majority of silk flowers are manufactured in Asia.
After many years of hand crafting blooms, mass silk flower 
production was invented. This led to the making of plastic
flowers. Unfortunately, they were not so attractive and
“silk flowers” got a reputation for looking cheap and
fake. It took some years for this stigma to wane and
interest in artificial flowers to come back. The industry
is now a highly specialized one with several different
manufacturing processes, which have produced realistic
looking silk flowers, silk flower, arrangements and silk
plants that far surpass any of their predecessors.
It is true, the quality of silk flowers has a wide range. From
low-end silk flowers sold in discount and craft stores, to the
more expensive designs. The higher priced blooms are more
realistic looking because, with painstaking attention to
detail, skilled artisans make sure the stems are botanically
correct by taking real flowers apart and studying the structure
and details of their stamens, leaves and calyx.
Improvements in molding techniques have helped bring back the
silk flower renaissance. Many manufacturers use real petals and
leaves to create their designs. The manufacturing process today
is so meticulous with attention to detail, that one can no
longer say these faux beauties are cheap or fake looking. With
the advancement of textile manufacturing and fabrics used
today, it is hard to distinguish silk flowers from real
ones.
So, today’s faux beauties  are
not the ones your grandmother used to own. A wide choice
of quality silk flowers is available, more today than 20
years ago, and the design and quality will continue to
improve.
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by Leigh LaCava - March, 2009
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Source: http://www.freshsilkflowers.com
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