Iridescent, color-shifting beetle wing casings have been embroidered onto dress around the world for centuries. This paper explores a variation of the practice from its roots in Mughal-era India through its translocation and transformation by English dressmakers during the East India Company and colonial eras. This paper considers the first recorded English women to wear such garments, how and where they were made, and the intersections of fashion, exhibition, and naturalism. By examining extant textiles made for use in both countries, this paper asserts that the English-speaking world, influenced by its colonial sensibilities, appropriated and implemented a new style of beetle-wing embroidery.

彩虹色，变色甲虫翅膀的外壳在世界各地的衣服上都绣有刺绣。本文探讨了这种做法的变化，从其起源于莫卧儿时代的印度，到东印度公司和殖民时代英国裁缝的调动和改造。本文考虑了最早记录的英国女性穿着这样的服装，其制造方法和制造地点以及时尚，展览和自然主义的交集。通过研究在这两个国家使用的现存纺织品， 本文断言说英语世界在其殖民感性的影响下，采用并实施了一种新的甲虫翅膀刺绣样式。