Only in Paris… I know of no other place on Earth where frog's legs can be turned into a delicacy, where silkworm cocoons can be spun into robes befitting the Sun King, and where something as banal as a tassel can be transformed into a masterpiece.

It's a combination of inspired artisanship and an undeniable urge to embellish that makes passementerie so purely Parisian. The term passementerie encompasses a broad range of trims for interior decoration, from tassels to multicolored fringe, curtain tie-backs, and other ornate minutiae.

Passementerie stands at the heart of a long tradition of embellishment among Parisian craftspeople. Through the centuries, Paris has put its greatest décorateurs to work decorating buildings, furniture, and interiors with style and flair. The French monarchy and noble classes kept the city's artisans busy churning out deluxe interior fabrics and table settings, prestigious coaches, along with shimmering jewelry, lace collars and cuffs, custom shoes, and powdered wigs to adorn themselves as fancifully as their abodes. They established some of France's most famous manufactures—large-scale artisanal enterprises specializing in interior trappings from Sèvres porcelain to Gobelins tapestries. These trades reached their zenith in the 18th century, when craftspeople fed a nearly insatiable appetite for covering every square inch of noble residences with ornate wall and ceiling moldings, bronze sconces and gilded chandeliers, silk and tapestry upholstery, and of course, fine furniture embellished with elegant fabrics, fancy tassels and trims.