Velvet ornamentaion: The art of velvet weaving

The Ornamentation of Velvet

Velvet has a surface that is short but dense, and the fabric itself is very silky. Velvet weaving, as an art, has been thought to have originated somewhere in the Far East, although there is no mention in any records of this silken fabric until the early 14th century.

Because of the way velvet looks and the way that it feels to the touch, it was a prized fabric worn by royals and statesmen, but was also used for sumptuous hangings and vestments. In the days of kings and queens, there wasn’t a greater fabric worn than of Italian velvet. There were several different ways that they wore it, they could have piles of fabric and change each pile to a different color, or change the lengths of each of the piles, or they could include in the pile some plain silk or tissue that was golden. The first out of Europe to come up with this velvet fabric were Genoa, Lucca, Florence, and Venice, and still today, Genoa produces the finest of all. Later on, the art of velvet weaving was attempted by some Flemish weavers, and by the 16th century, Bruges established his own velvets that were just as good as the ones from Europe.