Stands cut threads upright as a dense pile that catches light and crushes under pressure.
Also called: velour, crushed velvet
The basics
What to know about velvet
Velvet is a pile fabric: a base cloth carrying a dense field of short cut fibers that stand upright from it. Light strikes the fiber tips at one angle and the sides at another, so a single panel reads dark from one direction and bright from the other. That directional shine is called nap, and it is why every piece of a velvet garment must be cut facing the same way. A sleeve cut upside down looks like a different color under the same lamp.
The fiber underneath sets both price and behavior. Silk velvet is rare, light and costly. Cotton velvet, often sold as velveteen with a shorter pile, keeps a matte face and takes hard wear. Most velvet on sale is polyester, which resists crushing, washes at home and costs a fraction of the others. Viscose velvet gives the deepest shine and the worst tolerance for water in the group.
Warmth follows from the structure. All those upright fibers trap air, so velvet wears hotter than its thickness suggests and belongs to cold months. It also records everything that touches it. Sitting flattens the pile into a shiny patch, and a seatbelt leaves a stripe across the chest. Rain spots viscose and silk versions in marks that may never lift.
Never iron velvet face down, because pressure is exactly what destroys pile. Hang it in a steamy bathroom, or steam from the wrong side and brush the pile upright with a soft brush while it is damp. Hang rather than fold, since a fold line in pile becomes a permanent crease. Polyester velvet takes a cold gentle machine wash, while silk, viscose and cotton versions usually want dry cleaning. Crushed velvet sidesteps the whole problem, since the pile was deliberately flattened in random directions at the mill.
In photos
Velvet on real products
See this option on different products. Open a photo for a larger view, or select the name to read its guide.
Most velvet is woven double. Two base cloths run through the loom face to face, joined by an extra set of yarns that pass back and forth between them. A blade then travels along and slices those connecting yarns down the middle. That splits the sandwich into two separate fabrics. Each one carries a field of cut ends standing up as pile.
Older wire velvet works another way, looping the pile yarn over metal rods laid across the loom and cutting the loops as the rods withdraw. After weaving, the pile gets brushed, steamed and set upright. It can then be pressed into patterns, burned out with chemicals for sheer designs, or crushed on purpose. Velour is the knitted relative, made on a knitting machine so it stretches, which is why loungewear uses it and tailoring does not.
Best for
When it works well
Evening and holiday clothes gain from it, because pile makes color look deeper than any flat cloth manages.
Cold weather suits it, as the standing fibers trap air and add real warmth for very little thickness.
Photographed occasions favor it, since shifting nap hands the camera light and shadow inside one panel.
Polyester versions serve regular wear, because they wash at home and shrug off the crushing that ruins silk pile.
Plain shapes carry it best, as the fabric already supplies all the interest a simple cut needs.
