Plaits and Braids

Plait is pronounced as plat, not as plate. Plait is made by hand, interlacing straws to form a long length of even width. A former may be used during the plaiting to create a space or loop in the pattern. Braid is made on various types of machine, or by using tools. The images in this section have been divided into plaits and braids. A plait has three sections: foot, where the joins are made, the body, which is the central section of the plait and the head, which can be decorative.

A plait can be made from two to over seventeen ends and there are dozens of designs, some with patterns across the surface, some with decorative edges and some with both. There are three categories of plait: whole straw, mottled or single splint and improved or double splint. Before plaiting straw had to be bleached to soften it and can be dyed to create colour patterns.

This page looks a range of different plaits and then shows machine and loom-made braid as a comparison. Hats then and now were high fashion, coloured and the materials used changed at the whim of fashion. Luton as the centre of straw hat making was also the centre for international trade, buying the latest plaits and braids from production centres around the world. Some of the new patterns were copied by local plaiters, others held in museum and private collections have through the passage of time been incorrectly identified as English plaits. We begin with a selection of English plaits, that is to say, plaits made in England in the 1800s, but some were probably copied from plaits already being made in Europe.

English Plaits

Whole straw plait

The seven-end plait was the staple product of the British industry. It was also known as Dunstable plait or Luton plait. Made from whole straw. The long ends along the edge are the speel ends that have not yet been cut off. By plaiting with short lengths frequent joining was necessary. Plaiters In Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire were praised for the regularity of their joins. A sequence of even joining produced a strong plait that was valued by the hat manufacturers.

Width: 15mm Made from wheat straw

Single splint or mottled plaitCopyright: Veronica Main — Single splint or mottled plait
Copyright: Veronica Main

Rustic plait

During the 1800s this pattern of plait was called “Pearl”. This is possibly one of the oldest types of plait, made since the 1700s, and probably before then. This version is made from whole straw and its black and white pattern was very popular for men’s boater hats into the early part of the 1900s. It has four ends and this pattern may have been one of the first plaits made by children at plait school. This rustic plait was also made in various European and Far Eastern counties.

Width: 15mm Made from wheat straw

Single splint or mottled plait

The straw has been split and milled prior to plaiting. You can see how the plaiting sequence of the pithy inside of the straw and the shiny outer surface forms a pattern. This plait is made using seven ends. Split straw plait is inherently less strong than whole straw but could be made up into an exquisitely lightweight hat.

Width: 6mm Made from wheat straw

11-end banding

Various wider versions of mottled plait were made for use in the hat industry. This type was one that would be added to strengthen the edge of a hat brim or the inside of a hat crown. Look carefully and you can see that one edge of the plait shows the pith side of the straw, this is the foot edge. The shiny edge is the head of the plait and would have been visible when sewn into the hat.

Width: 14mm Made from wheat straw

Speckled plait

Whilst we probably think that women’s hats in Victorian times were natural straw colour, they were in fact brightly coloured. Just as women today colour-coordinate their headwear to dresses, Victorian women were just as fashion conscious. This plait is a copy of a pattern called “Plum Pudding” originally made in Buckinghamshire in the mid 1800s. It is made from seven ends of bleached and dyed straw. It is possible that the pattern was originally made in Belgium and brought to England.

Width: 7mm Made from wheat straw

Decorative edge split straw plait

The original commercial name of this plait when made in England is uncertain, later when copied by the Chinese it became known as “Liseret”. Made either from seven or eight ends, the head edge is created by working the splints around a split straw held alongside the plait. This pattern of plait looked wonderful when made up into hats.

Width: 6mm Made from wheat straw

Brilliant plait

This is perhaps one of the most elusive of all plaits as so few examples survive and it is so difficult to recreate. First introduced in the mid-1800s it gained its name from the glittering effect as light falls on the angled surface of the splints. English brilliant plait is always made from an even number of straws. This example made in Bedfordshire in the 1800s is made from 16-ends of split straw. Very few hats made from this plait survive due to their fragility.

Width: 18mm Made from wheat straw

Improved plait - Purl or Notch

Another speckled plait but this time made with pairs of splints and worked with a decorative edge. This pattern is called “Two-purl” or “Two notch”. There are various forms of Purl or Notch plait, one, two and three. There are even a few examples of four purl. This is another popular plait from the 1800s that was made in many countries until the first half of the 1900s.

Width: 11mm Made from wheat straw

Improved plait - Feather edge

The eight pairs of splints are faced coloured to bleached so they create a pattern. During the 1800s it was made using various numbers of pairs of splints. The more pairs used the wider the plait. There are a few surviving examples of feather edge plait made with single splints.

Width: 9mm Made from wheat straw

Improved plait - English Wave

This plait may have first been made in Switzerland, brought to England by a plait dealer and then copied by English plaiters. This plait was made in Aldbury, Hertfordshire in the late 1800s. It is a most complicated plait with an intricate pattern that is achieved by facing a dyed splint to a bleached splint. It is made using 17 pairs of splints.

Width: 20mm Made from wheat straw

Luton’s main sources of supply were Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and later in the 1800s China and Japan. These countries were the competition and threat to the U.K. plaiting industry. The British plaiters tended to work with cereal crop straw, although not exclusively, particularly towards the end of the 1800s. Whereas their European counterparts used a wide range of materials and colour which can be seen in the following selection of plaits.

European Plaits

Italian plait

This is a seven-end plait made from extremely fine whole straws. It was made in the first half of the 1900s and was a popular product in the hat industry.

Width: 6mm Made from grass or cereal crop straw

Chip and straw plait

From the 1800s, this plait could have been made in Italy or Switzerland. It is made from seven ends, two ends of a wide split straw and five of a narrower wood chip.

Width: 20mm Made from wood chip and cereal crop straw

Woven hemp tape plait

Made in Switzerland, hemp is one of their specialist materials. The hemp fibres are woven into a cloth (weft: hemp, warp: silk) stiffened and then cut into strips that are plaited together. The double-edge plait with Vandyke points has been decorated with tiny cutout straw shapes.

Width: 30mm Made from hemp fibres, silk, rye straw, flock

Hemp tape and felt plait

Made in Switzerland later in the 1800s the hemp fibres have been glued into a tape. The five ends of this plait comprise hemp tape and cereal crop straw. The decorative edge of a felt strip has been worked into the plait during the process, rather than being added after.

Width: 24mm Made with hemp tape, cereal crop straw, felt

Hemp tape plait

This Swiss plait with its picot edge is another from the 1800s. This time the hemp tape has been combined with a length of rustic plait. The rustic plait has been added so that it shows its reverse side. This plait is made from five ends.

Width: 23mm Made from hemp tape

Hemp tape plait

An example of hemp tape plaited into a two-purl pattern. The decorative rouleau-looped edging, incorporated during the making process, is also made from hemp. This plait was made in Switzerland during the 1800s.

Width: 26mm Made from hemp tape

Cereal crop straw plait

The Swiss loved to make colourful plaits. Some of their chosen colour combinations must have been quite avant-garde for the tastes of Victorian ladies. This plait pattern is very similar to “Matchbox brilliant” made in England. The space is achieved by working the straw around a piece of card and the eight ends of splints are worked to show only the outer shiny side on the face of the plait.

Width: 16mm Made from cereal crop straw

Cuba bast and hemp tape plait

We know this plait cannot have been made before the 1890s since that was when the new material of Cuba bast was introduced into the industry. The Cuba bast has been glued to one side of the tape and as the four-ends are plaited they form a striking pattern. The pattern shows a design influence from Japanese plaits that were imported into Europe at this time.

Width: 25mm Made from Cuba bast and hemp tape.

Ramie tape plait

Ramie was another material introduced into the Swiss industry toward the end of the 1800s. The ramie or Chinese nettle fibres were glued together into a sheet which was then cut into tapes. This six-end plait also shows the influence of Japanese plait by its use of variegated colour.

Width: 36mm Made from ramie tape

Cereal crop straw plait

Although this sample came from Switzerland its origins are uncertain. This picot edge plait has only three ends. The split straws have been faced together to produce an improved plait. The Japanese used barley straw to make their plaits but it is very difficult to establish is what straw this is. Made in Japan and exported to Switzerland, or made in Switzerland?

Width: 23mm Made from either wheat or barley straw

Machine and loom-made braids

To supply the enormous demand of the hat manufacturing industry, machine made braids were vitally important. The introduction of extruded viscose and cellulose fibres early in the 1900s was a boost to machine production. Man made fibres were described as “endless” since they could be extruded and wound onto spools containing hundreds of yards of thread. Machines could run without the constant need for joining. These braids were cheap since they involved less labour. By using a variety of machines and set up configurations, a huge number of patterns were produced. These man made braids were lightweight, therefore ideally suited for the large hats of Edwardian times.

Machine-made braid

This braid was made in the 1900s. It combines viscose fibre and cotton thread. Note the carrier threads along each edge and through the body of the braid. These hold the braid taut during making and add strength when finished.

Width: 10mm Made from viscose and cotton

Machine-made braid

This braid has been produced with the intention of imitating a narrow Italian cereal crop straw plait. Each strand is a single hemp thread wrapped with a narrow strip of cellophane. Cellophane was introduced into the hat industry in the early 1900s. This product called “Pedaline” was invented in 1921 by the J Isler company in Wohlen, Switzerland.

Width: 4mm Made from hemp and cellophane

Decorative hat braid

This unusual braid features a wide extruded tape formed into semi-circular rosettes that have been attached to a wide man made fibre braid. It’s width makes it difficult to construct into a hat so perhaps it was used to make the small half hats and bandeaux of the 1950s.

Width: 75mm Made from man made fibre, possibly viscose

Loom-made braid

These were a speciality of Switzerland and Italy. Worked on a hand operated loom, the range of patterns produced in a wide variety of widths was awe-inspiring. This example has a silk warp, a weft of horsehair and two-ply rye straw threads. This example dates to the mid 1800s.

Width: 33mm Made from silk, horsehair and rye straw

Loom-made braid

This wide braid was made in the mid 1800s in Switzerland. It would have been used to make a stunning and expensive bonnet. It has been made from woven hemp tapes and rye straw, that forms the weft and silk, which forms as the warp. Once made it has been hand decorated with split straw motifs known in Switzerland as “Spreuer”.

Width: 65mm Made from silk, hemp and rye