What is velvet and why is it seen as such a luxurious fabric?
The word Velvet is synonymous with luxury and smoothness and is very often used as a descriptive term for “paint, chocolate or a velvet smooth voice”
It’s a wonderful luxury fabric but is also surprisingly hard wearing and works great for premium country clothing like Hartwell.
There is also quite a history to velvet which might surprise you.
What is Velvet
As is often the case we turned to Hartwell’s very knowledgeable design team and our buyers to expand your knowledge of Velvet.
Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric, woven on a special loom that has the ability to weave two thicknesses of material at the same time. What then happens is that the two pieces are cut apart to create the pile effect and the two lengths of the fabric are swiftly wound onto separate take up rolls in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short, dense pile, giving it that luxurious distinctive soft feel that customers at Hartwell Clothing simply love!
Over the years the word velvety has come to mean “smooth like velvet” which is where the reference to velvety smooth chocolate or a velvety voice comes into play. In the past, velvet was typically made from silk, today, velvet can be made from linen, cotton, wool and synthetic fibres.
Because of its unusual softness and appearance as well as its high cost of production, velvet has often been associated with nobility. Velvet was introduced to Baghdad by Kashmiri merchants. In the Mamluk era, Cairo was the world’s largest producer of velvet. Much of it was exported to Venice, where the merchants of Venice “see what we did there” took the luxurious cloth to most of Europe.
The earliest sources of European artistic velvets were Catanzaro, Lucca, Genoa, Florence, and Venice, who continued to send out rich velvet textures. Sometime later the art was taken up by Flemish weavers, and in the sixteenth century, Bruges attained a reputation for velvet production that was not inferior to those of the great Italian cities.
Velvet can be made from several different types of traditional and modern fibres.
Traditionally the most expensive material to use is Silk and if good quality Silk is used like the material in our 100% Silk Scarves, it can make the velvet costly and velvet made entirely from silk commands some very high market prices, therefore the retail price of the item is aimed at a smaller market.
A large proportion of today’s velvet is made from a mixture of Silk and Rayon to help reduce costs. Cotton is also used to make a less pricey but great quality velvet fabric and other grades of velvet can be manufactured from Wool, Linen and even Mohair.
There are of course fully synthetic velvets which have been developed from modern fabrics such as Polyester, Nylon and Viscose. Mixing Viscose with Silk produces a very soft and comfortable fabric that has an almost reflective quality about it.
Some modern day velvet manufacturers will also add a quality of Spandex to the fabrics mix at the final stages so as to deliver an elasticity which has become known as stretch velvet. This material is fantastic for making figure hugging garments.
Feel Good in Velvet
When you want to ”Glam Up” your trousers there is only one solution, our Rosie Luxury Velvet Jeans. Available in Navy, Bottle Green, Brown & Wine the vibrant colours give your wardrobe so many options as they are wearable with almost anything and look good with a wide range of footwear.
Available in a range of sizes from 8 to 16 and manufactured from 98% cotton 2% elastane
With a straight leg cut. The waistband sits on the true waist and there is a distinct lack of clutter to create a clean silhouette. With a zip fly and 5 pockets in traditional jean style. And of course these beautiful velvet jeans come with the item that makes you stand out from the crowd, the Hartwell patch.
Enhance the velvet in your wardrobe even more with yet another stunning garment from the Hartwell clothing contemporary country wear collection. Our brand new Black Velvet Quilted Gilet is the perfect piece for your outdoor pursuits. Manufactured from UK fabric and with a fitted style for a more feminine aesthetic, the gilet has large open pockets.
This fantastic traditional country garment from Hartwell clothing is made 100% cotton velvet and features a premium quilted lining and features stud buttons
And functional side vent openings for comfort.
With easily adjustable waist tabs and a magnificent embroidered stag motif, you will look stunning in the Hartwell, whatever you’re doing this winter and spring at work and at play.
Make it a Hartwell New Year
This year we will be working harder than ever to bring you more new stunning collections and vibrant, functional country clothing garments to give your wardrobe a lift and match your country style.
Blending country style with a contemporary twist, each and every Hartwell garment is designed in Britain to look great everyday. Using only the finest quality fabrics, our unique prints and modern designs are bringing more choice, colour and style to women’s country clothing.
And don’t forget there is still free shipping across the UK on orders over £ 100 or visit our discounted items outlet page for some wonderful new year bargains.
So jump on the Hartwell clothing website today and stand out from the crowd when it comes to fashion style.Plus don’t forget if you have pushed the boat out a bit this Christmas and New Year you can use our easy interest free instalments payment gateway from Klarna, to top up the wardrobe and pay your instalments ev
