The popular fabric of the time was muslin and there were wild rumours that women would have wet the sheer fabric so that the outline of their figure could be seen beneath the dress, although in reality this would probably only have happened at very private gatherings.

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Black holes are known to draw in material - gas and even stars - and to stretch the very fabric of space-time at their edges.

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With the nucleus of the family in shambles, the fabric of American society is unraveling one thread at a time.

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The Supreme Court has held that aliens attain constitutional rights gradually as they are woven over time into the fabric of our national community.

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Now imagine this happening in the four-dimensional fabric of space and time.

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Fighting, we're reminded time and time again, is part of the fabric of the sport, at least in North America.

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Over time, cards have woven themselves into the fabric of our culture in a far deeper way than most financial services.

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It's always been the case in this country -- that notion that we invest ourselves, our time, our energy, our vision, our purpose into the very fabric of this nation.

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So it must have given Gabriel a contemporary appeal to viewers at that time, and the fabric is dominated by an enormous dianthus flower, said to be the flower of God.

WSJ: Jan van Eyck | 'The Annunciation' | Old Subject, New Approach | Masterpiece | By Richard Cork