From Heirloom to Heritage: Traditional Textiles, Family Memory, and Intergenerational Transmission across Historical and Contemporary Societies

Traditional textiles are more than decorative or utilitarian objects; they are enduring repositories of family memory, cultural identity, kinship, and intergenerational continuity. Yet, scholarship has largely emphasized artistic, anthropological, and heritage perspectives, overlooking textiles as family heritage within broader studies of family history and material culture. This review synthesizes interdisciplinary research on how inherited garments and ceremonial fabrics preserve collective memory, strengthen family identity, and transmit cultural values. It examines family heritage, material culture, women's preservation roles, marriage traditions, kinship, and intergenerational continuity, while identifying research gaps and opportunities in cross-cultural comparison, digital preservation, and integrated family-history frameworks .