Portal:Clothing

The Clothing Portal

A garment factory in Bangladesh

Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural products found in the environment, put together. The wearing of clothing is mostly restricted to human beings and is a feature of all human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on gender, body type, social factors, and geographic considerations. Garments cover the body, footwear covers the feet, gloves cover the hands, while hats and headgear cover the head, and underwear covers the private parts.

Clothing has significant social factors as well. Wearing clothes is a variable social norm. It may connote modesty. Being deprived of clothing in front of others may be embarrassing. In many parts of the world, not wearing clothes in public so that genitals, breast, or buttocks are visible could be considered indecent exposure. Pubic area or genital coverage is the most frequently encountered minimum found cross-culturally and regardless of climate, implying social convention as the basis of customs. Clothing also may be used to communicate social status, wealth, group identity, and individualism. (Full article...)

Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, and doctor's gowns. (Full article...)

Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. (Full article...)

Selected articles -

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  Hand-made sweater worn by Fred Rogers, on display in the Smithsonian Institution. Rogers' mother Nancy knitted all the sweaters he wore on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

  
  The "sweater curse" or "curse of the love sweater" is a term used by knitters and crocheters to describe the belief that if a knitter or crocheter gives a hand-knit sweater to a significant other, it will lead to the recipient breaking up with the knitter. In an alternative formulation, the relationship will end before the sweater is even completed. The belief is widely discussed in knitting publications, and some knitters claim to have experienced it. In a 2005 poll, 15% of active knitters said that they had experienced the sweater curse firsthand, and 41% considered it a possibility that should be taken seriously.
  
  Despite its name, the "sweater curse" is treated in knitting literature not as a superstition governed by paranormal forces, but rather as a real-world pitfall of knitting that has rational explanations. Several plausible mechanisms for the sweater curse have been proposed, but it has not been studied systematically. (Full article...)
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  Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk, a Chinese silk painting by Emperor Huizong of Song, early 12th century.

  
  The production of silk originated in Neolithic China within the Yangshao culture (4th millennium BC). Though it would later reach other places in the world, the art of silk production remained confined to China until the Silk Road opened at 114 BC. Even after trade opened, China maintained a virtual monopoly over silk production for another thousand years. The use of silk within China was not confined to clothing alone, and silk was used for a number of applications, such as writing. Within clothing, the color of silk worn also held social importance, and formed an important guide of social class during the Tang dynasty.
  
  Silk cultivation had reached Japan by 300 AD, and by 552 AD the Byzantine Empire managed to obtain silkworm eggs and were able to begin silkworm cultivation; the Arabs also began to manufacture silk at the same time. As a result of the spread of sericulture, Chinese silk exports became less important, although they still maintained dominance over the luxury silk market. The Crusades brought silk production to Western Europe, in particular to many Italian states, which saw an economic boom exporting silk to the rest of Europe. Developments in manufacturing technique also began to take place during the Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) in Europe, with devices such as the spinning wheel first appearing at this time. During the 16th century, France joined Italy in developing a successful silk trade, though the efforts of most other nations to develop a silk industry of their own were unsuccessful. (Full article...)
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  Indigo dye is an organic compound with a distinctive blue color. Indigo is a natural dye extracted from the leaves of some plants of the Indigofera genus, in particular Indigofera tinctoria. Dye-bearing Indigofera plants were commonly grown and used throughout the world, particularly in Asia, with the production of indigo dyestuff economically important due to the historical rarity of other blue dyestuffs.
  
  Most indigo dye produced today is synthetic, constituting around 80,000 tonnes each year, as of 2023. It is most commonly associated with the production of denim cloth and blue jeans, where its properties allow for effects such as stone washing and acid washing to be applied quickly, which is why clothing made with natural Indigo dye tends to be more expensive. (Full article...)
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  Kusquqvagmiut (Kuskokwim Yup'ik) man and woman wearing hoodless fancy fur parkas (atkupiak), circa 1879

  
  Yup'ik clothing (Yup'ik aturaq sg aturak dual aturat pl, aklu, akluq, un’u ; also, piluguk in Unaliq-Pastuliq dialect, aklu, cangssagar, un’u in Nunivak dialect, Cup'ik clothing for the Chevak Cup'ik-speaking people of Chevak and Cup'ig clothing for the Nunivak Cup'ig-speaking people of Nunivak Island) refers to the traditional Eskimo-style clothing worn by the Yupik people of southwestern Alaska.
  
  The traditional clothing systems developed and used by the Yup’ik, Inuit and Nuniwarmiut peoples performs similarly to the most effective cold weather clothing developed to date. Yup'ik women made clothes and footwear from animal skins (especially hide and fur of marine and land mammals for fur clothing, sometimes birds, also fish), sewn together using needles made from animal bones, walrus ivory, and bird bones such as the front part of a crane's foot and threads made from other animal products, such as sinew. The multi-functional ulu (semilunar woman's knife) is used to process and cut skins for clothing and footwear. Women made most clothing of caribou (wild caribou Rangifer tarandus granti and domestic reindeer Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and sealskin. Yup’ik clothing tended to fit relatively loosely. (Full article...)
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  A modern industrial knitting machine in action

  
  A knitting machine is a device used to create knitted fabrics in a semi or fully automated fashion. There are numerous types of knitting machines, ranging from simple spool or board templates with no moving parts to highly complex mechanisms controlled by electronics. All, however, produce various types of knitted fabrics, usually either flat or tubular, and of varying degrees of complexity. Pattern stitches can be selected by hand manipulation of the needles, push-buttons and dials, mechanical punch cards, or electronic pattern reading devices and computers. (Full article...)
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  Fabrics dyed in the current era from different species of sea snail. The colours in this photograph may not represent them precisely.

  
  Tyrian purple (Ancient Greek: πορφύρα porphúra; Latin: purpura), also known as royal purple, imperial purple, or imperial dye, is a reddish-purple natural dye. The name Tyrian refers to Tyre, Lebanon, once Phoenicia. It is secreted by several species of predatory sea snails in the family Muricidae, rock snails originally known by the name Murex (Bolinus brandaris, Hexaplex trunculus and Stramonita haemastoma). In ancient times, extracting this dye involved tens of thousands of snails and substantial labour, and as a result, the dye was highly valued. The colored compound is 6,6'-dibromoindigo. (Full article...)
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  Mascarade à l'éléphant, also known as Elephant (387 x 640 cm. ; 152 x 252 in.)

  
  The Valois Tapestries are a series of eight large tapestries depicting festivities or "magnificences" held by Catherine de' Medici's Royal Courts in the second half of the 16th century. The tapestries were primarily modeled on drawings by Antoine Caron, but to Caron's distant views of large panoramas crowded with figures much larger portraits of leading persons at the French court have been added in the foreground, usually to the side, as well as elaborate borders.
  
  They were produced by teams of weavers in the Spanish Netherlands, probably in Brussels or Antwerp, shortly after 1580. A number of great artists and artisans worked on the creation of these tapestries but today we are left with nothing but theories and speculation to their identities. Scholars such as Frances Yates and Jean Coural have developed nuanced theories backed by solid evidence to identify these unknown contributors, and also the political meaning of the tapestries, but research has yet to confirm many of these findings. These works display surprisingly intimate and personal moments within the royal inner circle clashing against the busy backdrops of these lavish festivals. (Full article...)
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  A hemp field in Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, France, which is Europe's largest hemp producer as of 2022

  
  Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of Cannabis sativa cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants on Earth. It was also one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber 50,000 years ago. It can be refined into a variety of commercial items, including paper, rope, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and animal feed.
  
  Although chemotype I cannabis and hemp (types II, III, IV, V) are both Cannabis sativa and contain the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), they represent distinct cultivar groups, typically with unique phytochemical compositions and uses. Hemp typically has lower concentrations of total THC and may have higher concentrations of cannabidiol (CBD), which potentially mitigates the psychoactive effects of THC. The legality of hemp varies widely among countries. Some governments regulate the concentration of THC and permit only hemp that is bred with an especially low THC content into commercial production. (Full article...)
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  Former woollen weavers' cottages in Wardle, Greater Manchester, England.

  
  A weavers' cottage was (and to an extent still is) a type of house used by weavers for cloth production in the putting-out system sometimes known as the domestic system.
  
  Weavers' cottages were common in Great Britain, often with dwelling quarters on the lower floors and loom-shop on the top floor. Cellar loomshops on the ground floor or in the basement were found where cotton was woven, as they provided high humidity. A loom-shop can be often recognised by a long row of windows which provided maximum light for the weaver. (Full article...)
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  White Oak Mill

  
  Cone Mills Corporation was an American textile manufacturing company. It produced cotton fabrics such as corduroy, flannel, and denim. The company headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Full article...)
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  Lady Jane Allgood displays her embroidery of an anemone and tulips worked in long-and-short stitch, part of a set of 18th century chair covers and screens which survive at Nunwick Hall, although now much faded.

  
  
  English embroidery includes embroidery worked in England or by English people abroad from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. The oldest surviving English embroideries include items from the early 10th century preserved in Durham Cathedral and the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, if it was worked in England. The professional workshops of Medieval England created rich embroidery in metal thread and silk for ecclesiastical and secular uses. This style was called Opus Anglicanum or "English work", and was famous throughout Europe.
  
  With the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, the focus of English embroidery increasingly turned to clothing and household furnishings, leading to another great flowering of English domestic embroidery in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. The end of this period saw the rise of the formal sampler as a record of the amateur stitcher's skills. Curious fashions of the mid-17th century were raised work or stumpwork, a pictorial style featuring detached and padded elements, and crewel work, featuring exotic leaf motifs worked in wool yarn. (Full article...)
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  Weaving at Finlayson factory in Tampere, Finland in 1951

  
  Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods such as clothing, household items, upholstery and various industrial products.
  
  Different types of fibres are used to produce yarn. Cotton remains the most widely used and common natural fiber making up 90% of all-natural fibers used in the textile industry. People often use cotton clothing and accessories because of comfort, not limited to different weathers. There are many variable processes available at the spinning and fabric-forming stages coupled with the complexities of the finishing and colouration processes to the production of a wide range of products. (Full article...)
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  Batik from Surakarta in Central Java province in Indonesia; before 1997

  
  Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia.
  Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of wax with a spouted tool called a canting, or by printing the wax with a copper stamp called a cap. The applied wax resists dyes and therefore allows the artisan to colour selectively by soaking the cloth in one colour, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple colours are desired.
  
  Indonesian coastal batik (batik pesisir) made in the island of Java has a history of acculturation, a mixture of native and foreign cultures. It is a newer model compared to inland batik, and it uses more colors, though the patterns are less intricate. This is because inland batik used to be made by select experts living in palace areas, while coastal batik can be made by anyone. (Full article...)
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  Cloak, 1580–1600 V&A Museum no. 793–1901 Techniques – Red satin, couched and embroidered with silver, silver-gilt and coloured silk threads, trimmed with silver-gilt and silk thread fringe and tassel, and lined with pink linen

  
  Aesthetics in textiles is one of the basic concepts of serviceability of textiles. It is determined by the perception of touch and sight. Aesthetics imply the appearance and attraction of textile products; it includes the color and texture of the material. It is a statement about the end user (consumer) and the target market. When combined with fabric construction, the finish of the clothing material, garment fit, style, and fashion compatibility, colours create an aesthetic comfort. All of these elements work together to satisfy our visual perception. Aesthetics incorporates the role of evaluation (analysing and judging) also.
  
  There are various arts and applications that imparts aesthetic properties in textiles. Additionally, the use of LEDs and optical fibres enables the creation of aesthetic properties such as illuminated textiles. (Full article...)
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  Gunta Stölzl (5 March 1897 – 22 April 1983) was a German textile artist who played a fundamental role in the development of the Bauhaus school's weaving workshop, where she created enormous change as it transitioned from individual pictorial works to modern industrial designs. She was one of a small number of female teachers on the Bauhaus' staff and the first to hold the title of "Master".
  
  Her textile work is thought to typify the distinctive style of Bauhaus textiles. She joined the Bauhaus as a student in 1919, became a junior master in 1927. She was dismissed for political reasons in 1931, two years before the Bauhaus closed under pressure from the Nazis. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto generated)

• ... that during a renovation of 4 Park Avenue, workers found a sealed room with women's clothes and shoes that was not in the building's blueprints?
• ... that after being criticized for dressing "like a doll" at an important meeting, pioneering Russian feminist Anna Filosofova replied that "clothes do not make the woman"?
• ... that Liberian paramount chief Tamba Taylor worked as a tailor and claimed to have sewn clothes for Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie and Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah?
• ... that Church Clothes 4 deals with Christian hip hop artist Lecrae's faith deconstruction and reconstruction?
• ... that pioneering Daily News camerawoman Evelyn Straus had her clothes custom-made to carry her film and flashbulbs?
• ... that during the Second World War, the British government's campaign Make-Do and Mend encouraged the public to fashion men's clothes into womenswear?

More Did you know

• ...that handmade lace often begins as crochet thread (pictured)?
• ...that Flat Top Manor, built by textile industrialist Moses H. Cone in 1900, gets nearly 250,000 visitors annually as the main feature of the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park in North Carolina?
• ...that unmatched dye lots can frustrate weeks of labor for a knitter or crocheter?

Related portals

Selected image

Chief Anotklosh (Taku) wearing a Chilkat blanket, Juneau, Alaska, ca. 1913

Chilkat weaving is a traditional form of weaving practiced by Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and other Northwest coastal tribes of Alaska and British Columbia. Chilkat blankets are worn by high-ranking tribal members on civic or ceremonial occasions, including dances.

General images -

The following are images from various clothing-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  Gensei Kajin Shu by Yoshu Chikanobu, 1890. Various styles of traditional Japanese clothing and Western styles. (from Fashion)
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  Liu Wen, supermodel, walks the runway modeling fashions by designer Diane von Fürstenberg at New York Fashion Week 2013. (from Fashion)
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  Minidress by John Bates, 1965 (from Fashion)
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  Haute couture fashion models walk the runway during New York Fashion Week in February 2014, at the Carolina Herrera show. (from Fashion)
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  Bold floral patterned silks, 15th century (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Estonian national clothes are a fine example of change in clothing after the industrial revolution. They changed a lot during 18th and 19th of century with the addition of new types of colors (like aniline dyes), placement of colors (like lengthwise stripes) and with the addition of new elements (like waistcoats). By the end of the 19th century they went out of use in most of the country (except more remote places as in Kihnu island) and it was only in mid 20th century when they once again gained popularity and now as a formal clothing. Members of University of Tartu Folk Art Ensemble wearing clothes specific to Kihnu island, Tori Parish (women in red skirts) and Tõstamaa area (men in brown clothing). (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Ivanka Trump (right) along with Japanese PM Shinzō Abe wearing Western-style business suits, 2017 (from Fashion)
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  Cover of Marcus Clarks' spring and summer catalogue 1926–27 (from Fashion)
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  A French reinterpretation of Spanish fashion, with elaborate reticella ruff, 1609 (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  A see-through top worn along with pasties by a model at a fashion show in US, 2017. Such fashion trends get popularised through media. (from Fashion)
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  Edgar I of England in short tunic, hose, and cloak, 966 (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, was a leader of fashion. Her choices, such as this 1783 white muslin dress called a chemise a la Reine, were highly influential and widely worn. (from Fashion)
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  A woman in Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, clad in fine Bengali muslin, 18th century. (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Slashing at its height: Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, c. 1514 (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Gross sales of goods vs IP laws (US 2007) (from Fashion)
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  The Boxer Codex, showing the attire of a Classical period Filipino, made of silk and cotton (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Fur fashion for sale in Tallinn, Estonia (from Fashion)
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  Albrecht Dürer's drawing contrasts a well-turned out bourgeoise from Nuremberg (left) with her counterpart from Venice. The Venetian lady's high chopines make her look taller. (from Fashion)
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  Textile machinery at the Cambrian Factory, Llanwrtyd, Wales in the 1940s (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Latin dancers in their costumes. The woman is wearing backless dress with deep slits on its lower portion, while the man is wearing a shirt with top buttons open. (from Fashion)
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  Celebrities such as Britney Spears have popularized the concept of wearing underwear as outerwear. (from Fashion)
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  A Mexican sports reporter wearing little black dress and knee-high boots (from Fashion)
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  14th-century Italian silk damasks (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  This 1921 clipping from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, with story and drawings by Marguerite Martyn, represents the saturation newspaper coverage given to society women at a fashionable dance. (from Fashion)
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  Woman's Bicycling Ensemble, 1898, LACMA (from Fashion)

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Featured articles Bronwyn Bancroft Inuit clothing Good articles Batik Bed hangings Cora Slocomb di Brazza Dar al-Kiswa English embroidery History of silk Knitta Please William Morris Natural dye Navajo weaving Sprang Featured pictures 17.17-37-1969-Kaukasisk-broderi 17th century Central Tibeten thanka of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra, Rubin Museum of Art Eugène Grasset - A La Place Clichy Khalili Collections A Composite Imaginary View of Japan Featured portals Portal:Clothing

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Textile Arts WikiProject

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WikiProject Fashion  • WikiProject Knots  • WikiProject Sculpture  • WikiProject Visual arts

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Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : Japanese embroidery, Slip stitch crochet, Angelo Testa (see Ostrich leather for example) Assess : Rate unassessed articles for quality and importance Cleanup : Tassel, Burlap, or one of the articles in our cleanup list Copyedit : History of knitting, Drawn thread work Expand : History of textiles and clothing, Casting on (knitting) Photo : Hollie point, Challis (fabric), Mountmellick embroidery, More photos... Stubs : Afghan blanket, Emilie Bach, Candlewicking, Dip stitch (knitting), Elongated stitch (knitting), More stubs... Verify : Clothing, Ply, Bobbinet, Braid, Canvas, Cardigan (sweater), Cotton-spinning machinery, Crocheted lace, Damask, Distaff, Dobby loom, Drawn thread work, Dyeing, Hemline, Ikat, Lace, Natural fiber, Neckline, Oilskin, Overlock, Machine embroidery Other : Help find and upload Requested pictures Place the {{WikiProject Textile Arts}} project banner on the talk pages of all articles within the scope of the project. Place the {{Portal|Textile arts}} portal template in the See also section of associated articles. Improve a top priority textile arts article. Original research removal: Clothing, History of knitting

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