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Almost every element of the Chinese festival hat is symbolic. Images such as butterflies, tigers, and flowers all represent different wishes and expectations that the gift giver had for the recipient. These hats were often made by grandmothers to give as a gift to their young grandsons. The hat contains tremendous amount of detail both within the aesthetic details as well as the functional construction of the object. During the late 19th century, only people belonging to the upper class society of Shanxi were able to wear luxurious fabrics such as silk. This display showcases two types of materials that were used in the production of the festival hat. The fabric, used as the background, is a purple silk and the threads used are different colours of silk floss. I feel that it was important to highlight the variations of stitching used using a display because most of the types of stitching were used for the purpose of aesthetic appeal rather than for functionality. Each type of stitch is labeled accordingly on the right of each stitching line.