I went to the theater last night

[wsk]

I went to the theater last night and saw a rather mediocre adaptation of a French farce. You know it's not a great play when you start wondering if the fabric used for one character's dress would make an interesting kilt.

This particular fabric was one of those that in a certain light appears one color but in another light or from a different angle appears to be another color. In this case the colors were red and blue and consequently varying shades of violet. As she moved the fabric moved so the colors all shifted. It reminded me of some discussion that we've had here regarding pleating to the stripe where the color is hidden behind the fold of the pleat only to be revealed as the wearer moves.

In the few minutes I've spent googling, I haven't hit upon the correct search terms to discover what this fabric is. Anyone know?

[ccga3359]

Was that not sharkskin?

[auld argonian]

Sounds like something that was popular when I was a kid...irridescent fabric. Lots of men's suits made out of it back in the early sixties...I seem to remember having one that was a yellow to blue fabric...as the saying was in "the day": "...sharp...very sharp...".

I tend to haunt resale shops and, now that you mention this, I cannot think that I've seen any of these suits for a long time now.

Best

AA

[Robin]

Velvet or taffeta silk

[Jimmy the Celt]

I know what you are talking about, but I'm afraid I don't know what the fabric is properly called. Sharkskin sounds as good a name as any *shrug*

[McMurdo]

I know that with auto paint they call it chameleon paint, not sure what it would be called for fabric though.

[Warlock]

I would advise going to your local fabric store and asking, however, you should see the looks I get when I ask for china twill.

[neo71665]

I know that with auto paint they call it chameleon paint, not sure what it would be called for fabric though.

I know I've seen wetsuit neoprene that had the same effect. I'm sure its not the fabric he talking about or it would pleat worth a darn.

[arrogcow]

It is entirely possible that it was just a purplish fabric (doesn't matter what: cotton, silk, wool). It would just react to different light at different places on the stage.

Adam

[wsk]

Silk taffeta seems very plausible as it did have the kind of luster that silk would provide. I didn't find anything on the web that showed how it's made but I can imagine that if one were to weave two colors - one color as the warp and one as the weft - you might get the effect that I saw. Somehow I don't think that a silk taffeta kilt would be very practical.

Surely it was not just a purplish fabric that looked different at different places on the stage. The colors would shift if the actress remained in place but merely turned to face a different direction.