Prom Dresses Materials to choose from!!!
Choosing the color, style, and length of your prom dress is hard enough. Well, it’s time to complicate things even further. What fabric do you want your prom dress made from? If you are anything like most prom dress shoppers, certain words may as well just be foreign. Here’s a few of the tricky ones to help you on your hunt for the perfect dress.
• Charmeuse – This luxury fabric is made from silk but it has a satin finish. Its appearance is flowing and drapes elegantly. It is lightweight, soft, and glossy. Charmeuse comes in solid colors or with patterns and designs woven into the fabric. But be careful! This fabric is fragile and needs to be handled delicately.
• Taffeta – While originally made from silk, today’s taffeta is made from synthetic fibers. The dying and manufacturing process makes the stiff, crisp, and makes the classic ruffling noise associated with elegant dresses. Taffeta helps keep the shape of the dress as a lining, or it can add spunk when used as a top layer.
• N/P Taffeta – Unlike traditional taffeta, nylon-polyester taffeta has a much silkier feel without the delicacy of charmeuse. Many dresses combine both types of taffeta for a layered yet complimentary look.
• Tulle – This fine netting is extremely lightweight and composed of silk, rayon, nylon, and sometimes cotton. Tulle can be woven tightly for a flowing skirt or loosely, and starched to have the effect of taffeta. While it is renowned for being the fabric that added shape to the poodle skirt, it’s popularity is skyrocketing again, decades later.
• Chiffon – Even though the name comes from the Old French word for “rag,” this fabric is a gorgeous combination of silk, cotton, nylon, polyester, or rayon is ideal for evening wear. It tends to be sheer and has a faint shimmer with a simple weave. The slippery feeling adds an appeal of elegant drapery.
Prom dresses, of course, are not limited to these five fabrics. Many are made from pure satin or pure silk to create the prom night that is the epitome of elegance. Others are predominantly cotton for the laid back approach to natural beauty. Some are even spandex for an over the top glamorous sexy look. Jessica’s Fashion lists the fabrics used in making each dress as well as a zooming option to get a closer look at the materials.