page_title: Tie-dye
section_title: Earliest examples
hierarchical_section_title: Tie-dye / History / Earliest examples
caption_attribution_description: English: A tie dyed lace tank. Photo taken by User:Gezi and explicitly released under GFLD by ThaiDye Artists.
context_page_description: Tie-dye is a modern term invented in the mid-1960s in the United States for a set of ancient resist-dyeing techniques, and for the products of these processes. The process of tie-dye typically consists of folding, twisting, pleating, or crumpling fabric or a garment and binding with string or rubber bands, followed by application of dye. The manipulations of the fabric prior to application of dye are called resists, as they partially or completely prevent the applied dye from coloring the fabric. More sophisticated tie-dyes involve additional steps, including an initial application of dye prior to the resist, multiple sequential dye and resist steps, and the use of other types of resists and discharge.
  Unlike regular resist-dyeing techniques, tie-dye is characterized by the use of bright, saturated primary colors and bold patterns. These patterns, including the spiral, mandala, and peace sign, and the use of multiple bold colors, have become cliched since the peak popularity of tie-dye in the 1960s and 1970s. The vast majority of currently produced tie-dyes use these designs, and many are mass-produced for wholesale distribution.
context_section_description: The earliest surviving examples of pre-Columbian tie-dye in Peru date from 500 to 810 AD. Their designs include small circles and lines, with bright colors including red, yellow, blue, and green.
caption: Example of Mudmee tie-dye, an art form originating in Thailand
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