Where does Taffeta come from?

Taffeta comes from Iran, Persia, first documented in the 1300s.

Plate No. 043fabric

Different warp and weft: the color shifts as the cloth moves.

First documented: 1300s
Origin: Persia, Iran
Fiber: silk, polyester
Weave: plain weave, high twist
Family: plain

Plate No. 043 · fabric

Taffeta

Taffeta is a crisp, smooth plain-weave cloth, classically silk, whose tightly twisted yarns give it body, a fine luster, and the rustle that dressmakers call scroop. Because warp and weft can be dyed different colors, taffeta is the great cloth of shot effects: the surface shifts color as it moves, madder warp flashing against an ink weft. It came west along the Persian trade routes in the Middle Ages and has been formalwear ever since, holding the structured shapes that softer silks collapse.

Illustration: a Persian court tailor's workshop, shot silk in red and deep blue thrown across a cutting table, brass shears, oil lamps, arched windows with evening light — A Persian court tailor's workshop, shot silk in red and deep blue thrown across a cutting table, brass shears, oil lamps, arched windows with evening light.

Named for

From the Persian taftah, meaning twisted or woven, for the crisp glossy silk of the Persian looms.

Common questions

What is Taffeta made of?: Taffeta is a crisp, smooth plain-weave cloth, classically silk, whose tightly twisted yarns give it body, a fine luster, and the rustle that dressmakers call scroop.
Where does Taffeta come from?: Taffeta comes from Iran, Persia, first documented in the 1300s.
What is Taffeta named after?: From the Persian taftah, meaning twisted or woven, for the crisp glossy silk of the Persian looms.