William Henry Perkin discovered mauveine, the first synthetic dye, in 1856. This is how the colour revolution started in the dyeing industry. Colourful fabrics and threads became more available. Striped woollen outfits from Łowicz were the most spectacular result of the dyeing revolution, especially skirts and dresses. In the mid-19^th century, they tended to be mostly red but the background changed to orange at the beginning of the 20^th century, and green stripes were interspersed with vermilion, white and purple ones. Cool greens and emeralds appeared in the inter-war period, all of them thanks to synthetic dyes. Women were ripping old or unfashionable fabrics and dyeing the threads on their own or with the help of local dyers, in order to weave them in colours corresponding to the trends of the time.