Why choose silk for a lining?
DMV Artistic silk lining
Where is silk also used?
What is silk
How is silk produced?
History of silk
Properties of silk
How to care for silk
Why choose silk for a lining?
Specifically, why choose such a lining for a bespoke and made to measure suit?
Both wool and silk are expensive and luxurious fabrics.
Firstly silk is a natural material. Most often your bespoke or made to measure garment will be made of wool which is also a natural textile. Silk’s properties are similar to those of wool and complements wool particularly well.
This makes them naturally compatible and more comfortable when combined in a garment. They also combine well in terms of thermo regulating your body temperature and also cleaning.
Selecting silk material as a lining for your suit adds the perfect finishing touch to ensure your expensive garment remains a real luxury fashion statement.
Choosing the less quality option of synthetic material over silk downgrades the look of your luxury item. It also risks colour leakage and comfort levels which are compromised by the blending of non-compatible materials.
So once you have been through the process of designing every detail of your bespoke suit, selecting only the best fabrics, why not upgrade and personalise your luxurious satin silk lining one step further with the colours, prints and images of your choice?
DMV Artistic silk lining
Luxury piled on luxury. Imagine hand painted silk lining, which was made just for you to your exact specification.
Your favourite colours, patterns, features or theme reminding you of a special memory or event in life and telling that message to a world. And you can be sure nobody will ever have the same lining as you as each hand painted piece is a 100 percent cent original of which only ONE exists in the whole world.
This is precisely what we specialise in, here, at DMV Artistic Tailoring. Only with us, can you actually turn your truly luxury suit into a piece of art and into a garment that you will be exceptionally proud to wear.
The price of our made to order silk artwork depends on the complexity of your design.
Our DMV Artistic hand painted silks are also available as a readymade range, where price starts from £400 for a lining in a jacket.
Now how do you we think you will wear that jacket with your own, unique hand painted lining?…With the certainty that your suit will never, ever, go unnoticed!
Where is silk also used?
Silk has maintained its supremacy in the production of luxury fashion garments and high-quality specialized goods and up to this day silk is considered a premier textile material in the world, the most luxurious and the most comfortable fabric.
Silk’s low density makes for light and comfortable clothing.
Silk is a protein fibre and a non-conductor of heat, similar to wool in this respect. This makes silk stay warm in winter, making it highly suitable for winter apparel. However, it’s absorptive capacity makes it equally comfortable as a choice of apparel for higher temperatures.
What is silk?
A natural protein fibre, most often obtained from the cocoons of Lepidopteran silkworms from the Bombycidae family. Other insects such as spiders, also produce silk-like substances, but most of the world’s silk is derived from actual Bombyx mori…a worm which only lives on mulberry trees. When fibre and textiles is, therefore, obtained from this sound and traded, it is referred to as mulberry silk.
How is silk produced?
Sericulture is the worm cultivation, where domesticated Silk caterpillars, are fed mulberry leaves. After 35 days of eating, the silkworm spins a cocoon of silk which can consist of nearly a mile of filament! Cocoons, are the unspun and thread it onto a reel. Several filaments are combined and wrapped on a reel creating a yarn. Silk may be harvested either by hand or machine.
Generally, silk’s production process does not involve the use of pesticides and, when produced, weavers leave no energy footprint. It also has a low impact on the land, water and air. This makes the production process both ethical and sustainable. There are, however, other factors to consider when determining how eco friendly and sustainable the production of silk is, today.
History of silk
Silk is one of the oldest fibres known to human kind.
According to Chinese legend, around 2700 B.C. Empress Hsi Ling Shi [Sigh-Ling-She] sat under a mulberry tree drinking tea. She began playing with a silkworm cocoon and discovered it was made of a delicate thread. The Empress learned to spin the silk and to make luxurious fabric.
But archaeological discoveries indicate that silk production may have begun as early as 5000BC. The ancient Chinese kept the details of sericulture secret and remained the only country producing silk for approximately 3,000 years before spreading this skill to other Asian countries. Today, silk is produced in China and India. However, it is Japan who is currently manufacturing more silk than any other country in the world.
Properties of silk
The length of the silk fibre is important to create a high quality fabric with a smooth surface which gives the silk its beautiful properties to reflect light and make it shimmer and shine. Short fibres can be spun to create lower quality fabric.
Still, silk is the strongest fibre available. It is both resilient and elastic as well as having good tensile strength. This allows it to withstand great pulling pressure and resist deformation.
Silk fabric retains its shape and has moderate resistance to wrinkling. It is the best fabric for drapes due to its excellent draping qualities.
Silk, has good insulation properties. It feels warm in winter and cool in summer. It’s moisture-absorption is equal to that of wool which makes it one of the most absorbent fabrics which is also a major factor in silk’s ability to be printed and dyed easily.
When washed or wet, silk will be subject to normal levels of shrinkage, but this can be restored by ironing. Silk fabric weakens on exposure to sun light.
How to care for Silk?
There are various ways Silk can be cleaned. However, any detergents which contain bleaching agents will damage silk just as they do wool.
For this reason it is recommended for the garments made of natural fibres and specially bespoke suits to be dry cleaned. This process of cleaning is the safest for the garment and ensures that it keeps its structure and bright colours.
But excessive cleaning can also damage the fibres and retain and even compound the dangerous chemicals inside which are used in process of dry cleaning. So for the suit garment made of wool it is sufficient to be cleaned twice or three times a year.
Additional ways to keep your garment fresh after wear, is to ensure that you expose your garment to airing while hanging it on the right shaped hanger, and any perspiration marks on the silk lining can be even gently hand washed with cold water or cleaned with a damp cloth.
Silk has the ability to dry very fast. Also, when patterns are printed on to a silk lining not only is the effect beautiful, but the material is much less likely to reveal any unwanted marks.
In our next blog we will reveal more about how to clean and care for silk, wool and your bespoke garment.