2,179 articles
Patch collecting
Patch collecting (badge collecting) is the hobby of acquiring, trading, and preserving embroidered cloth emblems, notably Scout council and OA patches, military insignia, NASA mission patches, and park and police patches, organized by theme.
Patchwork
Patchwork is the needlework technique of sewing small fabric pieces into a larger flat design, distinct from quilting; also called piecework or pierced work. Known for piecing over paper, crazy patchwork, Gee's Bend quilts, and modern quilting's bold, improvisational style.
Patola
Patola (singular patolu) is a double-ikat silk textile woven in Gujarat, India, in which both warp and weft threads are resist-dyed before weaving, with the finest examples made in Patan.
Patrick Grant (designer)
Patrick Grant (born 1972), Scottish fashion designer, FRSA, judge on The Great British Sewing Bee since 2013; bought Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons in 2005, relaunched E. Tautz (2010 Menswear Designer of the Year), and founded Community Clothing in 2016.
Pattachitra
Pattachitra (ପଟ୍ଟଚିତ୍ର), cloth scroll painting of Odisha and Bengal, tied to Jagannath Temple at Puri and Raghurajpur; natural pigments, tamarind-and-chalk canvas, GI-tagged, distinct from Bengal Patua Patachitra.
Pattern (sewing)
A sewing pattern is a paper template from which garment parts are traced onto fabric before cutting and sewing, sold commercially in the United States since 1854.
Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret (1879–1944), French couturier called the King of Fashion and Le Magnifique, freed women's dress from the corset around 1906, pioneered draping-based modern silhouettes, and built a lifestyle empire of perfume and decorative arts.
Paul Smith (fashion designer)
Sir Paul Smith (born 1946, Nottingham) is the British fashion designer behind the 'classics with a twist' label Paul Smith, founded with a 1970 Nottingham shop; about 130 stores worldwide, independent, knighted 2000, Companion of Honour 2020.
Paul Tazewell
Paul Tazewell (born 1964, Akron, Ohio) is an American costume designer known for Hamilton, Wicked, and West Side Story; first Black man to win the Best Costume Design Oscar (2025), also a Tony and Emmy winner.
Pavlikeni
Pavlikeni (Павликени), a town in central northern Bulgaria, is known for the Roman ceramic production centre at Varbovski Livadi: a villa rustica with about fifty kilns, excavated by Bogdan Sultov from 1971, now an open-air museum.
Payot (פאות)
Payot (פאות, pe'ot, payos) are Jewish sidelocks from the Torah's ban on rounding the corners of the head (Leviticus 19:27); long curled locks are a Hasidic and Yemenite custom, not a biblical requirement.
Pazyryk Carpet
The Pazyryk Carpet, also called the Pazyryk rug, is the oldest surviving knotted-pile carpet, excavated in 1949 from an ice-preserved Scythian burial mound in the Altai Mountains of Siberia.
Pea coat
Pea coat, also peacoat or pea jacket, a short double-breasted heavy-wool sailor's coat from Dutch pijjekker (pij, coarse cloth), attested in English from 1721, US Navy regs 1841/1886.
Peace dollar
Peace dollar: U.S. one-dollar silver coin (1921-1928, 1934-1935) designed by Anthony de Francisci, replacing the Morgan dollar to mark post-WWI peace; 26.73 g, 90% silver, revived in 99.9% silver from 2021.
Peace symbols
Peace symbols: visual signs of peace and anti-war protest. Key examples are the CND peace sign designed by Gerald Holtom in 1958 from semaphore N and D, the olive branch, the dove, and the V hand gesture.
Peacock revolution
Peacock revolution: 1960s menswear movement shifting men from conservative suits to flamboyant colorful dress. Term coined by Ernest Dichter for DuPont in 1966; centered on Carnaby Street, London, boutiques like Mr Fish.
Pearl (drag queen)
Pearl, or Pearl Liaison, is the stage name of Matthew James Lent (born 1990, St. Petersburg, Florida), an American drag performer and record producer, runner-up on RuPaul's Drag Race season 7, album Pleasure and Flazéda fragrance, 2015.
Pearl Lowe
Pearl Lowe, British fashion and textiles designer, author, and former singer with Powder and Lodger; vintage-inspired Somerset-made label, Primrose Hill set member, wife of Danny Goffey, mother of model Daisy Lowe.
Pearling (body modification)
Pearling, or genital beading, is a body modification inserting small beads of metal, plastic, or silicone beneath penile skin, also called artificial penile nodules or bolitas; practiced for partner pleasure and prisoner status, with infection and extrusion as main complications.
Pearly Kings and Queens
Pearly Kings and Queens, known as Pearlies, are London charity fundraisers whose suits and dresses are covered in mother-of-pearl buttons, a working-class tradition begun in the 1800s.
Pedro Linares López
Pedro Linares López (1906–1992) was a Mexican cartonero of Mexico City who created the alebrijes, fantastic papier-mâché creatures, and won Mexico's 1990 national arts prize.
Penny (British decimal coin)
The British decimal penny (1p) is the UK one-pence coin introduced on Decimal Day, 15 February 1971, alongside the halfpenny and 2p. Bronze until 1992, then copper-plated steel; 20.3 mm, 3.56 g; legal tender up to 20p; about 28 billion issued.
Penny (Canadian coin)
The Canadian penny, the 1-cent coin struck from 1858 and by the Royal Canadian Mint from 1908, was withdrawn after May 2012 production ended; distribution stopped February 4, 2013, coins remain legal tender.
Penny Black
The Penny Black, Great Britain's 1840 one-penny stamp, was the world's first adhesive postage stamp, valid from 6 May 1840, showing Queen Victoria from Wyon's medal, printed by Perkins Bacon, replaced by the Penny Red in 1841.
Perry Ellis
Perry Ellis is an American lifestyle fashion brand founded by designer Perry Ellis (1940–1986), whose first collection launched in 1976. Owned since 1999 by Perry Ellis International (PERY) of Miami, it marked its 50th anniversary in 2026 with an Alexander Ludwig capsule.
Persian silk textiles
Persian silk textiles are woven silk fabrics produced in Iran from late antiquity onward, reaching their peak under the Safavid dynasty (1501–1722) in workshops at Kashan, Yazd, and Isfahan.
Petoskey stone
Petoskey stone: Michigan's official state stone (1965), a fossilized Devonian rugose coral, Hexagonaria percarinata, from the Traverse Group, scattered by glaciers across northern Michigan beaches; distinguished from the smaller-celled Charlevoix stone (Favosites).
Petra Ecclestone
Petra Ecclestone (born 1988), British heiress, fashion designer, and real-estate investor; daughter of Formula One's Bernie Ecclestone and Slavica Ecclestone. Founded menswear label Form and handbag line Stark; bought and sold the $85m Spelling Manor in Los Angeles; married James Stunt then Sam Palmer.
Petticoat
Petticoat: a woman's underskirt worn for volume, shape, or warmth; from Middle English petycote, originally an upper-body undergarment. Key forms include hooped, quilted, corded, and horsehair (crinoline) petticoats.
Philately
Philately: the collection and study of postage stamps, covers, revenue stamps, and postal history. Born after Rowland Hill's 1840 stamp; organized societies since 1886; long-run returns between bonds and equities.