Editing Needle lace (section)

== Origins ==
The origins of needle lace date back to the 15th century and embroidery. [[Cutwork]] and [[Drawn thread work|drawn work]] were developed to add interest to white on white embroidery, and the methods used in these techniques led to needle lace.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bath |first=Virginia Churchill |title=Lace |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1979 |location=New York |language=en}}</ref> {{Rp|pages=56–57}} A second expert puts the development of needle lace in the following century, the 16th, in Italy, also stemming from embroidery, the [[openwork]] on [[linen]] technique called ''[[reticella]]''.<ref>{{cite book |editor=de Dillmont, Thérèse |title=Needle-made Laces: 1st series |date=1902 |publisher=Dollfus Mieg & Cie |location=Mulhouse, France}}</ref>  To show off their wealth in that period in Italy, the aristocracy favored wearing rich cloth embellished by embroidery and braid. As the century progressed, the small areas that were cut from the fabric to highlight the needle lace were replaced by much larger areas of cutwork. The needlework was dependent on remaining threads running vertically and horizontally, leaving squares and rectangles, which led to geometric designs.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lace: a guide to identification of old lace types and techniques |date=1989 |publisher=Batsford |isbn=978-0-7134-5701-8 |editor-last=Toomer |editor-first=Heather |location=London |editor-last2=Voysey |editor-first2=Cynthia}}</ref>{{Rp|page=17}}

Venice was a center of needle lace making in the 1400s, as documented by official records. In the 1500s, city officials decreed that young men in Venice were prohibited from lace wearing until they had turned 25.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=57–58}} Lace was a prized possession, appearing in lists of people's assets.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=57–58}}