What Is Taffeta?

How is taffeta made?

Taffeta is made by weaving fine yarns in a plain weave, the simplest over-one, under-one interlacing, and setting the threads so the cloth shows a faint crosswise rib. The two reference sources describe the rib slightly differently: Britannica attributes it to there being more warp threads than filling (weft) threads, while the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s CAMEO database says the filling yarn is heavier than the warp.

The original fibre was silk. CAMEO notes that taffeta is now also made from cotton, rayon, nylon, acetate or polyester.

Yarn-dyed and piece-dyed

When the colour goes in matters as much as the fibre. Britannica and CAMEO both divide silk taffeta into two types:

• Yarn-dyed: the yarn is dyed before weaving. The result is stiff, with a crisp rustle that Britannica calls scroop, or froufrou.
• Piece-dyed: the cloth is woven first and dyed afterwards. It is softer, and Britannica describes it as washable.

Shot taffeta

If the warp and weft are dyed different colours, the cloth can look iridescent, changing colour as it moves. CAMEO calls this type shot silk.

What are the properties of taffeta?

Taffeta is crisp, shiny and finely ribbed, and in silk taffeta the stiffness differs between the yarn-dyed and piece-dyed types.

• Handle: yarn-dyed taffeta is stiff; piece-dyed taffeta is soft (Britannica, CAMEO).
• Sound: yarn-dyed silk taffeta rustles as it moves: the scroop described above.
• Surface: often lustrous, with a fine crosswise rib.
• Strength: Britannica notes that a particularly strong form was much used for parachutes during the Second World War.

Beyond these points, weight, warmth and breathability depend largely on the fibre, which is why the label matters.

What is taffeta used for?

Taffeta is used for evening dresses, linings, suits and trim, with the stiff yarn-dyed kind suited to evening wear and the soft piece-dyed kind to linings. Britannica lists yarn-dyed silk taffeta for evening dresses and for the underskirts of couture dresses, and piece-dyed taffeta as a favourite for linings. It also names some uses outside clothing, such as electrical insulation.

The word is old even if the cloth has changed. The Online Etymology Dictionary dates taffeta in English to the mid-14th century, when it meant a fine, smooth, lustrous, costly silk cloth, and notes that it has been applied to different fabrics in different eras.

A museum example shows how far the cloth can be pushed. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds a 1950 evening dress by the Paris couturier Jacques Fath, made of watered silk taffeta with chiné spots, with a pleated ruffle of chiffon at the collar. Its museum record notes that couture garments were expected to last many years because of their materials and construction.

How is taffeta graded or measured?

Taffeta is told apart by three things you can check rather than by a single grade number: the fibre, the dyeing method and any surface effect. Neither Britannica nor CAMEO gives a momme, thread-count or weight scale for it.

How is taffeta different from satin and damask?

Taffeta is a plain weave, satin is a weave in which yarns float over several others, and damask combines the two in one cloth. In fact plain weave is sometimes simply called taffeta weave: Britannica describes the pattern of damask as “a plain or taffeta weave” set against a satin field made by floats of warp, with the plain or taffeta areas giving less lustre than the satin.

How does taffeta appear on a clothing label?

Taffeta does not appear on a fibre-content label at all; the label names the fibre the taffeta is woven from, such as silk, acetate, nylon or polyester.

United States

• Labels must give the fibre content by generic name, the country of origin, and either the company name or the Registered Identification Number (RN) of a business such as the manufacturer or importer.
• Fibres under 5% of the fibre weight are listed as “other fiber” or “other fibers”, unless the fibre has a definite functional significance at that amount. Wool is the exception: wool or recycled wool must always be disclosed by name and percentage, even below 5%, according to the FTC’s labelling guide for the Textile and Wool Acts.
• Labels may be out by up to 3%, but not when the label says the product is one fibre: “100% silk” or “All silk” means exactly that, apart from allowed ornamentation or decorative trim.
• Linings used only for structure do not need their fibre disclosed. Linings added for warmth must be disclosed separately.

European Union

• Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 lists the permitted fibre names. “Silk” means fibre obtained exclusively from silk-secreting insects; synthetic taffetas appear under names such as “acetate”, “polyamide or nylon” and “polyester”.
• Each component of a multi-component product must be labelled. Components may be left off only if they are not main linings and make up less than 30% of the product’s total weight, so a main lining of taffeta must be labelled.

How do you tell good taffeta from poor taffeta?

Good taffeta is the taffeta you were told you were buying: the fibre on the label matches the description, and the rib, handle and colour behave as that type should.

1. Read the fibre line first. “Taffeta” or “silk-look taffeta” in a description is not a fibre. Find the sewn-in label and look for the fibre name. A “100% silk” label carries no tolerance.
2. Hold it up to the light. You should see a fine rib running across the cloth. A cloth with long, glossy floats on the face is behaving like satin, not taffeta.
3. Crush a corner and listen. Yarn-dyed silk taffeta is stiff and rustles. A soft, quiet silk taffeta is likely piece-dyed, which suits linings; that is a difference in type, not a defect.
4. Tilt it. If the colour shifts as it moves, the warp and weft are different colours: shot taffeta. Check the shift is intended and even across the panels.
5. Check the lining. On a US label, a structural taffeta lining may carry no fibre information at all. In the EU, a main lining must be labelled, so a missing lining line is a question to ask.

Red flags: a listing that says “silk taffeta” while the sewn-in label lists polyester or acetate; a “100% silk” label with any other fibre named; a label with no RN or company name on a garment sold in the US, where most textile products must carry one.

How do you care for taffeta?

Care taffeta according to its care label, because the right treatment depends on the fibre and on how the cloth was dyed. Britannica describes piece-dyed taffeta as soft and washable but makes no such claim for the stiffer yarn-dyed kind. In the US, care labels on clothing are required by a separate FTC rule, the Care Labeling Rule (16 CFR Part 423).

Is taffeta sustainable?

There is no single answer for taffeta, because its impact depends on the fibre it is woven from, and the same weave is made in silk, cotton, rayon, nylon, acetate and polyester. Read the fibre line, then look at that fibre’s own record; the entries on silk, polyester and recycled polyester cover the main choices.