Editing Tassel (section)

==History and use==
[[File:Orna118-Quasten.png|thumb|Illustration of various tassels, from ''A Handbook of Ornament'', by [[Franz Sales Meyer]]]]
[[File:Tester bed (lit à la duchesse en impériale) MET DP155162.jpg|thumb|Tassels of a bed from Paris, circa 1782–1783, in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)]]
Tassels have a long history, dating back to prehistoric times—they were even found on Ötzi the Iceman. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Equipment |url=https://www.iceman.it/en/equipment/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige |language=en-US}}</ref>

In the [[Hebrew Bible]], the Lord spoke to [[Moses]] instructing him to tell the [[Israelites]] to make tassels (Hebrew [[tzitzit]]) on the corners of their garments, to help them to remember all the commandments of the Lord and to keep them (Numbers 15:37-40), and as a sign of holiness. The religious Hebrew tassel, however, bears little resemblance to the decorative one which appeared and eventually became popular in Europe, especially France and Spain.

In the [[Western world|West]], tassels were originally a series of windings of thread or string around a suspending string until the desired curvature was attained. Later, turned wooden moulds, which were either covered in simple wrappings or much more elaborate coverings called ''satinings'', were used. This involved an intricate binding of bands of filament silk vertically around the mould by means of an internal "lacing" in the bore of the mould. During the Middle Ages tassels were widely used in Spain as ornamentation for horses, called ''borla'' from the Latin term ''burrula'' which means "wool of little value".

These constructions were varied and augmented with extensive ornamentations that were each assigned an idiosyncratic term by their French creators. In sixteenth-century France these individuals were called ''passementiers'', and an [[apprenticeship]] of seven years was required to become a master in one of the subdivisions of the guild. The French widely exported their very artistic work, and at such low prices that no other European nation developed a mature "trimmings" industry. Many of the ''passementiers'', however, were among the Protestant [[Huguenots]] who fled France in the 1600s to escape persecution, taking their tools and skills with them.<ref name="Banham1997">{{cite book|author=Joanna Banham|title=Encyclopedia of Interior Design|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MlKhCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT951|date=1 May 1997|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-78758-4|page=951}}</ref>  Tassels and their associated forms changed style throughout the years, from the small and casual of [[Renaissance]] designs (see example), through the medium
sizes and more staid designs of the [[Empire style|Empire period]] to the [[Victorian Era]] with the largest and most elaborate decorative flourishes. Some of these designs are returning today from the European and American artisans, who may charge a thousand dollars for a single hand-made tassel.  The majority of the world's tassel production, however, takes place in China which mass-produces and exports them globally.

Tassels (also called ''tufts'') were traditionally worn by [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] University undergraduates on their caps, those wearing gold tassels were those who had paid for the status of [[gentleman-commoner]], thus receiving increased social prestige and more luxurious accommodation than ordinary commoners who wore plain black tassels on their caps.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/page.aspx?pid=1097 |title=Oxford Today - Student of Oxford |website=www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk |access-date=3 February 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121223052642/https://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/page.aspx?pid=1097 |archive-date=23 December 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Today, only the Chancellor of Oxford wears a gold tassel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/oxford_people/key_university_officers/chancellor.html |title=The Chancellor - University of Oxford |publisher=Ox.ac.uk |access-date=2013-11-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504043351/http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/oxford_people/key_university_officers/chancellor.html |archive-date=2008-05-04 }}</ref>

In the Middle East, tassels were worn as talismans, especially on headwear. In Egypt, Mesopotamia, and throughout the Arab world tassels were worn by children on hoods or caps to protect them from malevolent spirits and ward off demons.<ref>Jenkins, Jessica Kerwin, The Encyclopedia of the Exquisite, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, p. 213</ref>

===Ceremonial wear===
In the U.S., tassels, or [[liripipe]]s, are also found on [[mortarboards]] during university graduation ceremonies and possibly upon the shoes of the graduates at the ceremony. Near the conclusion of the graduation ceremony, the tassel that hangs from the graduate's mortarboard is moved from the right to the left. Typically, the entire graduating class does this in unison.