Question about Tulle bi telli or Assuit

[Mellilahbellydance]

I am going to sell two vests, one gold and one silver. My aunt bought them in Cairo, Egypt about 18 years ago, and they are still perfectly shiny. She remembers them to be expensive. I did some research and think the fabric is called tulle bi telli or assuit. They have some sequins as well. I am attaching pictures. Question: What are they worth? Is there another name for them?

My question is regarding their worth. What should I sell these for? Also, is there another name for these vests?

[jessedan]

Hi there,
Thats not tulle bit telli or assuit. I'm not quite sure what the vest is made of. Is it knitted?
I can tell you that Assuit doesn't have sequins sewn on it. It's usually black or beige (but can come in a variety of other colors as well) The fabric is mesh and it has alot of metal pieces running through it. Antique assuit can be very heavy because of all the metal and it's quite cold to the touch for the same reason. I have an antique piece that weighs almost 3 pounds.
Modern assuit doesn't usually have as much metal in it and tends to be lighter and the mesh stiffer.
I've seen antique pieces with alot of metal go for as much as 700 dollars on Ebay, and the less expensive modern pieces go for around 45 dollars. It really depends on the amount of silver.
Here's one with a close up of the silver pieces:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-ASSUIT-A...QQcmdZViewItem

Regards
Priscilla

[Mellilahbellydance]

Thanks. These vests are lightweight and stiff but not too stiff. It's kind of knitted but loosely.

[auraevans]

It looks crocheted to me. Yes, it is not assuit. It is very pretty.

[ssipes]

Assuit is a cotton mesh that has thin, flat ribbons of metal (usually a low grade silver alloy) folded around the cotton strands in geometric patterns. The patterns may be diamonds or may include natural figures like people, trees, leaves, and camels. They look very art deco and most of the antique pieces that turn up in the US were bought as tourist pieces between the 1900's and 1920's during the Egyptian revival era and the discovery of king Tut's tomb. Some of the heavy antique pieces have so many metal pieces that they look like solid liquidy metal.

here is an article on the gilded serpent about assuit, and shows a number of pieces:
http://www.gildedserpent.com/articles27/najialace1.htm

Unfortunately, I do not know anything about your vests.

Sedonia

[Lauren_]

Looks like crochet to me, too, with sequins worked in. Not assuit.

It is pretty, has sort of a retro-hippy look, doesn't it?

[ChristinaRizkallah]

Its definitely not assuit as some other bhuzzers mentioned. It looks like crochet to me. Its pretty though.

[elisagamal]

hey tootsie - next time you come over, I've got a piece of tulle/assuit I can show you so you can see what it looks like. :)

random: when I met with hallah, she said that while we all call it assuit over here, in egypt they call it tulle (pronounced "tully"). if you say you want some assuit, people will look at you like 'and why do you want to go to that town?' :)