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Welcome to the world of Hollywood glamour, with a touch of exotica, from Whirlingturban's Chinese brocades!
Use
this page to familiarize yourself with this fabric and the possiblities
for your own glamourous cocktail dress, stagewear, wedding dress or
bridesmaid dresses. We have made all of these from this gorgeous fabric
for our delighted customers. And they ALWAYS say: "The dress was so
much prettier "in person"!"
Please
do NOT think of this as a fabric style ordering page! This page is only
to give you ideas and reference points to see what you like in order to
communicate with us. If you get attached to a specific motif fabric
here, you will be disappointed. |
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We
have a unique source for these fabrics. Our source changes stock from
day to day! Often we see a motif and color ONE time, never to see it
again. We normally do not buy rolls. We buy enough for 1-2 dresses;
often that's all our supplier ever gets! We have to make a special
effort to obtain a full roll when we make several matching bridesmaid
dresses. Our supplier seems to have a relationship in China and -much
to our good fortune- we get a wide variety of items that are plucked
out of the warehouse of a Chinese manufacturer who has been in business
since the 50's!
Can be ordered in the following bodice styles:
1.Shaheen Dream
2.Petal Bust Bodice
3.Hawaiian Heaven
4.Chinese Bombshell
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So
we get a wide variety of ever-changing choices and even occasionally
get some new old vintage stock. 99% of the fabrics we feature are made
from the old weaving "cards"- the original designs from the 50's and
early 60's. These designs are programmed on a simple card (a techinique
developed long before computers) that is put into the weaving machine;
thus the identical old designs are made. Fiber varies from fabric to
fabric. They use a mix for each fabric of some combination of silk,
rayon and occasionally some polyester. But we go in and feel the fabric
to be sure it is suitable for our styles. For the ones we select, if
there is polyester in the mix it is usually undetectable or does not
detract. Don't worry- we are at least as fussy as you are!
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This
fabric is thick enough to be uniquely suited for our styles and yet
drapey enough to conform snugly to the figure. We will not use modern
polyester satins for our dresses. These fabrics may look fine to you on
the roll in your local fabric store, but when they are stitched up they
look like modern prom dresses. We also dont use silk satin unless we
can find vintage. This is because modern silk satins are just too thin
to get the vintage effect for these styles. We can sometimes obtain
Thai silk, but that's a different look and a different story we will
tell at another time. |
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Besides
having the original vintage motifs, our Chinese "brocade" has a magical
quality to it. We've tried to capture and explain some of this effect
for you here. Because the motif elements of the design are literally
woven on top of the background color with a satin stitch (this is
technically called a jacquard), the motifs really catch the light and
stand out when they are facing direct lighting. When they are in
shadow, they essentially disappear. This gives the fabric so much
movement and life when you wear it!
This
fabric is also just extremely difficult to photograph. So we've given
you some of our most successful efforts here on this page in hopes you
will get a sense of the fabric which will compensate for the vagaries
of our on-the-fly photo safaris. We do not stock much of this fabric.
When you order it, you give us your color preferences and we go into
the supplier- a crowded shop with flourescent lighting- and take pics
of what is currently available. The pics are often too reflective, do
not show the color accurately or make the motifs appear to "pop" a lot
less subtly than they do in person. You need to be prepared for this
makeshift presentation and "take our word for" explanatory notes about
the color and other details which may have come out inaccurately in the
pics we send you from which to make your choice. |
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After receiving pictures, you then must make your fabric decision immediately, because the stock changes DAILY.
Repeating-
most of the motifs on this page were available to us at one time and
will never be available to us again and are not avaible now. Please do
NOT try to order from these choices! Instead, give us an idea of what
you like, referencing the photos here, and we will try to get you
something compatible with what you like. Of course, we will send pics
for your choice and approval before you make your purchase. |
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