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Fashion & Textiles vocabulary · Fibres & Fabrics

Silk

Meaning in fashion & textiles, with examples

/sɪlk/nounCommon term

In fashion & textiles, silk means: A fine, strong natural fibre produced by silkworms when they make their cocoons, and the smooth, shiny fabric woven from it.

In Turkish: ipek, ipek kumaş

How it is used

Used for luxury blouses, scarves, ties, eveningwear and lingerie. Silk fabrics include satin, crêpe de Chine, chiffon and habotai, and silk weight is often given in momme (mm). Bursa has a long history of silk production.

Example sentences

  1. The scarves are printed on 16 momme silk twill.

  2. Silk marks easily, so the care label says dry clean only.

Common collocations

  • pure silk
  • silk satin
  • silk scarf
  • mulberry silk
  • silk blend
  • fibreA very thin, long strand of natural or man-made material that is spun into yarn to make fabric, such as cotton, wool, polyester or viscose.
  • fabricCloth made by weaving, knitting or bonding fibres or yarns together, used to make clothes, home textiles and many other products.
  • printA design applied to the surface of fabric with ink or dye, such as flowers, logos or stripes, rather than woven or knitted into it.
  • liningA layer of thin fabric sewn inside a garment to hide the seams, help it slide on easily, add warmth or give it a cleaner shape.

More terms: Fibres & Fabrics

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