Everyone is attracted to the look of satin. And shawls of satin are some of the most elegant and sought-after garments sold on the Malaysian clothing market today. But what is it about satin that’s so enchanting and attractive?
The best satin has always been made from silk fibers. But it’s the way that those fibers are woven together that creates the glossy look, rich draping quality and smooth texture that everybody knows as satin. Satin isn’t even a cloth per se; it’s a method of weaving fibers together. While the best satin still results from silk as the base material, satin can be made from virtually any long, narrow and strong fiber. Nylon, polyester and rayon are all artificial fibers that are often used to create a satin fabric that’s more affordable and durable.
Satin was first produced in a coastal city in China about 2000 years ago. The city is now known as Quanzhou, but the traders and merchants who travelled from Europe to the east referred to it by its Arabic name, and it was called Zaitun. The silk woven fabric that made the city a trading mecca was named for the city and has since metamorphosed into the word “satin’.
The Weaves that Create Satin
There are twenty types of weaves in the modern textile world, and one of the most elegant is the satin weave.
Silk is considered a delicate fabric in the fashion world, but it’s actually one of the strongest fibers in the natural world and was the perfect material for the types of satin weaves that originated in China and took the world by storm.
Silk is often used to create satin because it can produce the long, continuous fibers that work best for the weaves. Like any new invention, satin had some tinkerers when it was first invented, and modern satin generally uses one of three weaves: 4-harness, 5-harness, and an 8-harness satin weave.
In every woven cloth, the ‘weft’ and ‘warp’ threads are perpendicular to each other. In a 4-harness satin weave, the weft thread goes over three threads and then under one to create the weave.
The satin wave produces a fabric that is glossy on one side and has a matte finish on the other. Its texture and the way it drapes are also two main selling points. The fabric is durable and wrinkle-resistant, and the thicker the fibers are, the less it’s prone to wrinkles.
Shopping for Silk Shawls Online
There are many types of satin available that are defined by the fibers, applications, and the type of satin weave used. Silk satin is great for clothing in Malaysia, as silk is breathable, so it’s cooler in the tropical climate.
To see some of the elegant clothing this historical fabric creates, simply log on to the Velria website. They have a number of classic silk-satin shawls designed to flatter the modern shopper by the quality of the cloth used. Explore their other clothing as well!
