Chiffon

Evening dress
MFA #: 51.2620a

Description

Silk chiffon bow
MFA #: 46.1244

A sheer, diaphanous fabric made of Silk, Rayon, or occasionally Cotton. Chiffon originated in France. The plain-weave, lightweight material is made from finely twisted yarns. Chiffon is primarily used for decorative coverings, laces, veils, scarves, blouses, and lampshades. Because of its transparency, chiffon has also been used to repair and reinforce torn book leaves and documents.

Synonyms and Related Terms

chifón (Esp.); chiffon (fijn zijden gaas) (Ned);

Additional Images

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  Chiffon

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  Chiffon

Resources and Citations

• Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Dictionary of Fiber & Textile Technology (older version called Man-made Fiber and Textile Dictionary, 1965), Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Charlotte NC, 1990

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "Chiffon." (Accessed 10 Aug. 2004).

• Website: www.fabrics.net

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiffon_%28fabric%29 (Accessed Jan. 15, 2006)

• Hermann Kuhn, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Antiquities, Butterworths, London, 1986

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000