Taffeta is a crisp, smooth, plain woven fabric made from silk or cuprammonium rayons as well as acetate and polyester. It is considered to be a “high-end” fabric, suitable for use in ball gowns, wedding dresses, and in interior decoration for curtains or wallcoverings.
1950s classic beauties in taffeta dresses
Taffeta is also widely used in the manufacture of corsets and corsetry: it yields a more starched-like type of cloth that holds its shape better than many other fabrics.
There are two distinct types of silk taffeta: yarn-dyed and piece-dyed. Piece-dyed taffeta is often used in linings and is quite soft. Yarn-dyed taffeta is much stiffer and is often used in evening dresses. Shot silk taffeta was one of the most highly sought forms of Byzantine silk, and may have been the fabric known as purpura.
A set of gorgeous photos that shows classic beauties wearing taffeta dresses in the 1950s.
Audrey Hepburn wearing a voluminous evening coat of rustling green taffeta
Ann Blyth models a ravishing taffeta dress of seafoam green
Carmen Dell’Orefice in a short evening dress of romantic iridescent silk taffeta by Ceil Chapman
Dovima in a red taffeta evening gown with big poufy sleeves, and earrings, bracelet and brooch
Enid Boulting models a stunning pink taffeta party dress
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