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Textile historian Mary Schoeser explains the appeal of sumptuous Indian cottons to early European consumers and why cotton in Britain was first used for furnishings rather than clothing. The novelist and pamphleteer Daniel Defoe writes about the furious backlash that the 17th century craze for “calicoes and Indian stuffs” provoked among British wool and linen manufacturers of the day. Photo: a historic richly fabric-covered bed (Getty Images)