If you enjoy browsing in antique shops, you are bound to find some wonderful old linens-quaint things from another era, such as little doilies that slip on the foot of a wine glass. Surprisingly, such things are still being made today.
One Miami family`s name is synonymous with fine linen. The Moseleys-Priscilla Moseley, sons Joseph and Robert and sister Beverly Elias-offer nostalgia with their products. They manufacture and sell table and bath linens, including doilies, that are reminiscent of a more gracious time.
Elaborately monogrammed handkerchiefs, hand-embroidered in Madeira. Tablecloths woven in Switzerland. Bed linens made of Egyptian cotton in Belgium. Place mats decorated to match china. All have been offered since 1925 when Joseph Moseley Sr. launched the business.
Just as fine antiques and expensive cars continue to sell during a sluggish economy, so do exquisite linens. The Moseleys even expanded their business, opening their fourth Florida store last January
”People are entertaining more at home now, both here and abroad,” said Joseph Moseley, president of the firm. ”Our biggest customers are wealthy Latin American visitors. They have sit-down dinners at home for 300, 400 people, and they want nice linens. They throw huge weddings at home, too.”
It`s not only mature, well-heeled people who are buying fine linens today. Young people buy as well, said Beverly Elias, who began designing linens for the business when she was in junior high school.
”They like the luncheon sets (place mats and napkins),” she said.
”They want to show the table top, and they all have nice tables, wood or glass. Brides come in and they want everything . . . fancy boudoir pillows, doilies for stemware. They are asking for everything.”
Hand-crafted elegance is expensive. A set of four hand-embroidered place mats and napkins costs $500. ”People buy sets of 8 and 12,” said Joseph Moseley. ”The average price is $125 per place setting, $1,500 for a set of 12.”
And there`s a wait for elegance. It takes five to six months to have monogrammed handkerchiefs made in Madeira. A half-dozen cost $96 for simpler patterns, up to $300 for complicated ones.
In addition to the artisans in Madeira, the Moseleys employ two needleworkers in Miami who do embroidery and appliques for the collection.
The third generation in the family, Lesli Elias, 22-year-old daughter of Beverly, is working in one shop while making plans to go to law school. She recalls that she and her sister, Christi, 24, were ”receiving things from Moseley`s from the time we were very little.”
But while the sisters were tiny, their dinner table was covered with a plastic cloth-a fact that would have shocked their grandfather. Plastic was a necessity for a while because Lesli had a tendency to apply her artistic talent via crayons on the table linen.
Joseph Moseley Sr. opened his first linen store in Detroit in 1925. He moved his business to Palm Beach and opened a second store in Miami Beach in 1937. There, customers are treated like carriage trade: They are seated at linen-covered tables and samples are shown to them.
Owning linens means ironing linens. If your household is the do-it-yourself kind, Beverly Elias suggests using place mats. ”It`s easier to iron a small piece than a large table cloth,” she said.
