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 Ostrich is the
large flightless bird residing in Africa and it
is unknown if the humans raise them if some time ago they would notice the luxury
feathering of these luxury but weird birds. Humans found out of the wholesome meat and
eggs of ostrich far later as well as of the stunning features of the ostrich
skin. The trend for the ostrich feathers was in forever, the fashion just
traveled from one status to another.
So, the
ancient Egyptians considered the white ostrich feathers as symbols of power,
fair and justice, and thus, the pharaoh fans were made from ostrich feathers.
Besides, none but the pharaoh could afford that lavish accessory, even supreme
priests. The knights from Medieval times used to decorate their helmets with
cascade of ostrich feathers to borrow the tradition from the commanders of the
ancient Rome.
The Romans used to have feathers of ostrich to demonstrate the status of the
owner, while the knights used them to tell they were back from the march with
the triumph.
Maria Antoinette,
the Queen of France, introduced the fashion for ostrich feathers in the second
half of the 18th century. The stronger sex was not about to decline
to them and musketeers had their hats decorated with ostrich feathers with the
special chic.
Within the longest
period of time the ostrich feather used to be exported to Europe
from colonial countries. The demand rose higher, and poor birds were hardly
depopulated. So, in 1840 a ton of ostrich feathers was exported to Great Britain from the South Africa
and by the year 1910 the needs of European fashionmongers increased to having 370
tons of feathers annually. The population of ostriches was saved when they
became to breed ostriches in captivity for this special purpose.
The structure
of the ostrich feather differs from feathers of other birds in some details: it
is symmetric, and the branches go to both sides of equal length. They never close
in between and thus, the feathers do not adjoin to each other as densely as
with the feathers of other feathered species. The nature cared of ostriches to
make them feel warm in winter and cool in summer time.
When a bird
is about two years old, the feathers are formed absolutely. The feathers come divided
into types as white long (male species have them), feminine (female species have
such feathers though with some similarity with those white of males'), ornamental
(every single bird has four of such ornamental feathers with the white and
black coloring in the end), black silky feathers (only male species have them,
while females have grey ones), tail feathers (male ostriches have white or
brown tale feathers while females have them of uncertain light or dark shade).
The length of
ostrich feathers is from ten to eighty centimeters and the most quality
feathers are those that grow over seventy centimeters in length and thirty in
width.
Brazil is one of the consumers of ostrich
feathers when they use fifteen to twenty tons of ostrich feathers for carnival
purposes. During the pandemic of the bird flu when thousands of birds were
depopulated, the national holiday was about to be frustrated and non-infected
feathers were exported from abroad.
Fluffy and
soft boa from ostrich feathers is the favorite accessory of celebrities. Ladies
from glamour society who are today keen on vintage image willingly show off
with an ostrich boa of the most flamboyant colors, from acid lemon to the
fuchsia shade.
From time to
time reputed designers are also exerted with the ostrich feathers to demonstrate
in their collections for the zest. So, Paco Rabanne put attempts to create
eclectic apparel from ostrich feathers combining with fluorescence skin, while
designers of Chanel House demonstrated the skirts made from ostrich feathers
fully.
The price
for the ostrich feather ranges regularly and subject to the drastic
fluctuations regarding the region where the feathers are exported from. The German
traveler of the 19th century Alfred Brehm wrote that a kilo of the
elite white ostrich feathers in Sudan
cost a thousand mark, while the fine feathers were estimated within fifty marks
for the kilo. In the 21st century the ostrich feather became cheaper
significantly. For the most valued feathering of the mature unit thirty to
fifty dollars are spent. The owners of ostrich farms conclude contracts with
establishments of electrotechnical and optical industries when feathers are
used technically for use since they have the high antistatic characteristics
which are required to cleanse the complicated mechanisms.
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