A soft, lightweight, flowing silk fabric, charmeuse is now also made of manufactured fiber. With its semi-lustrous satin face and dull back, it compares to crepe-back satin, except it is lighter, less glossy and is used only with the satin side out. The name is French for “charming woman.”
Uses: Blouses, evening gowns, dresses, lounge wear, lingerie and high-quality linings
See also:
Crepe-back satin
The characteristic print of chintz is a large floral pattern, and the finish is glossy from glazing. It is of cotton or a cotton blend, in a plain weave. The glaze can be starch or wax (both temporary finishes), or a more durable chemical resin. Unprinted but glazed fabrics are sometimes called chintz today.
Chintz was originally made in India. The Indian name for the fabric was chint (plural chints), and the classic 17th century Indian chintz is a hand-painted Tree of Life pattern—brightly colored and featuring plants, animals and birds. The fabric was copied in Europe and America using block printing and starch glaze. The starch glaze would wash out, so it was used more practically for household decorating rather than clothing purposes. To this day, chintz is primarily associated with interior decorating.
Uses: Household decorations, some accessories and clothing
See also:
Polished cotton
Ciré (French for waxed) is fabric given a hot calendering finishing treatment with wax applied to the fabric, resulting in a highly polished surface. When this treatment is given to taffeta, the fine ribs flatten and run together. Ciré is both the name of the finishing treatment and the name of cloth treated with this effect.
See also:
Taffeta
Lustrous on one side and with a crepe texture on the other, this light to medium weight fabric is called crepe-back satin when its glossy side is its face, and satin-back crepe when the dull side is the face. It can be called crepe satin or satin crepe as well. Sometimes the contrasting sides of the fabric are both used on the outside of a garment. Characteristically silk, it can be made of rayon or manufactured fibers.
Uses: Blouses, dresses, evening gowns, lining
Heavy and luxurious very lustrous satin made of fine filament yarns in a tight satin weave. Originally always silk, duchesse can be rayon, polyester or acetate.
Uses: Evening gowns, bridal
See also:
Peau de soie
French for “skin of silk,” peau de soie is a medium-weight, dully lustrous fabric. Although at first glance it appears to be satin, it is woven in a compact plain weave. Elizabeth Denny in her book Textile Fabrics (1928 ed.) states it is of a twill weave, and numerous sources state that it can be made in a satin weave, a less expensive alternative. Originally always silk, it can be made of manufactured fibers. The best quality peau de soie will be reversible, and most have a fine cross-ribbed reverse.
Uses: Evening gowns, bridal
See also:
Duchesse satin
Glossy cotton that obtains its gloss through calendering, polished cotton may be plain or satin weave, the latter contributing further to its luster.
Uses: Dresses, skirts, household decorations
Early references to radium silk noted it was a “Trade name for a light-weight supple washable silk for lining or dress purposes” and “The element radium, discovered in 1898, inspired a particularly shiny fabric sold as radium silk” and “Strong as the strongest lining silk…warranted not to stretch, split, or tear.”
References to radium silk appeared at least by late 1904. A trademark infringement U.S. court case regarding radium textiles noted: “The word (radium) came into use in Paris in connection with peculiarly lustrous fabrics, and was taken up by many persons here for use in the same connection…the evidence shows that the word was first used by the Gilbert Company…and registered by it (on Aug. 29, 1905 apparently) long before anyone else used it in this country…”
Although there were consumer products that contained radium, this brightly shiny fabric (thankfully!) does not.
Research, writing, and images by Lynne K. Ranieri
The name sateen means the diminutive of satin, which is traditionally made of silk, while sateen is made of cotton, sometimes a cotton blend. It is constructed in a tight satin weave with float threads that cross the face diagonally…sort of a satin/twill hybrid. Already lustrous and smooth by virtue of its weave, the best sateen is made of combed cotton and mercerized and can be very glossy. It can be printed, often with flowers, or plain.
Uses: Dresses, skirts, jackets, household decorations
Satin is the name of one of the basic weaves, and also a fabric made in this weave. Owing to its silk or manufactured filament yarns and its uninterrupted warp yarn face, satin is very lustrous. Satin originated in China, and takes its name from Zaytoun, now Guangzhou, in southern China.
Uses: Apparel (particularly evening wear), lingerie, lining
See also:
Satin weave
Duchesse satin
Crepe-back satin
