The club I belong to organizes great outings. A bunch of us went to an amazing little place yesterday, a guy who makes "passements", the fancy tassels, swags, braids, cords etc. Used on curtain tiebacks, royal coaches, military uniforms, chandelier hangers, or anyplace else you might think needs glamour.
Well, I had no idea! He has an enormous stash of splendid threads in silk, cotton, wool, gold and silver wire, and synthetics for customers who don't know better. All possible colors! Over-stimulated! I could hardly fall asleep last night for thinking about it. He makes everything by hand including the ropes and braids, and the techniques have not changed since the past 2000 years :-) Here's his site: