The Story Of An Egyptian Heritage
Tally is a luxurious Egyptian hand embroidered cloth that originated in Upper Egypt in the early years of the 19th century. The fabric is made of cotton tulle. The hand embroidery used to be done with real silver threads, called telli, which means metal in Turkish. That’s why it was also known as “tulle-bi-telli”. Now that it would be too pricey, it’s made of a fine silver plated metal alloy.
Each tally piece represents the neat and patient hand embroidery that is beautifully mastered by talented artisan ladies who inherited the art of magical stitching from older generations.
During the second half of the 19th century, when Egypt became a tourist destination for Europeans sailing along the Nile to Upper Egypt, tally shawls caught their eyes with their shimmering beauty so they would buy them abundantly to use them as head covers from the Mediterranean sun, or as Opera shawls, or piano throws
Egyptian tally witnessed a glorious era in the beginning of the 20th century, when it became in great demand among the Egyptian and European high societies due to its glamour and unmatchable elegance. That’s why the film industry in this period featured many Hollywood movie stars while they were shining in tally outfits.
Traditionally in Upper Egypt, off-white tally was the bride’s gown. After getting married, the lady would wear black tally. Each tally motif represents an element in the bride’s environment. Examples of which are the bride, the groom, the palm tree, the flower, the chandelier, the sun, the star, the water, the camel, the mosque, the church. This makes the tally motifs a real powerful symbolic language.
During the second half of the 20th century, for economic reasons, tally faced a period of regression that threatened it with disappearance.
In 1990, a major project funded by UNESCO supported the revival of tally by offering training sessions for many young women in Upper Egypt to help them preserve their intangible cultural heritage.
Tallyna
Today, Tallyna, as an Egyptian brand for contemporary tally, aims to revive this precious heritage, by making it fashionable and easy to wear. The modern outfits designed by Tallyna are inspired by the beauty of tally, in order to bring back its glorious era.
