Editing Velvet (section)

== History ==
[[file:Medici velvet.jpg|thumb|Velvet with [[Medici]] arms, Florence or Venice, 1440–1500]]
Because of its unusual softness and appearance as well as its high cost of production, velvet has often been associated with nobility. Velvet was introduced to [[Baghdad]] during the rule of [[Harun al-Rashid]] (786–809) by [[Kashmiri people|Kashmiri]] merchants and to [[Al-Andalus]] by [[Ziryab]]. In the [[Mamluk]] era, [[Cairo]] was the world's largest producer of velvet. Much of it was exported to [[Venice]] (whence it spread to most of Europe), Iberia and the [[Mali Empire]]. [[Mansa Musa]], the ruler of the Mali Empire, visited Cairo on his [[pilgrimage to Mecca]]. Many Arab velvet makers accompanied him back to [[Timbuktu]]. Later [[Ibn Battuta]] mentions how [[Suleyman (mansa)|Suleyman]], the ruler of Mali, wore a locally produced complete crimson velvet [[kaftan]] on [[Eid ul-Fitr|Eid]]. During the reign of [[Mehmed II]], assistant cooks wore blue dresses ({{lang|ota-Latn|câme-i kebûd}}), conical hats ({{lang|ota|کلاه}}, {{lang|ota-Latn|külâh}}) and baggy trousers ({{lang|ota|چاقشیر}}, {{lang|ota-Latn|çakşır}}) made from [[Bursa]] velvet.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}

King [[Richard II of England]] directed in his will that his body should be clothed {{lang|la|in velveto}} in 1399.<ref>{{Cite book |author=L W Cowrie |title=Dictionary of British Social History |year=1996 |publisher=Wordsworth Reference |page=304 |isbn=1-85326-378-8 }}</ref>

[[file:Chasuble abondance.JPG|thumb|A [[cope]] in pile-on-pile velvet]]

The [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]] described velvet and its history thus:
{{blockquote|VELVET, a silken textile fabric having a short dense piled surface. In all probability the art of velvet-weaving originated in the Far East; and it is not till about the beginning of the 14th century that we find any mention of the textile. The peculiar properties of velvet, the splendid yet softened depth of dye-colour it exhibited, at once marked it out as a fit material for ecclesiastical [[vestment]]s, royal and state robes, and sumptuous hangings; and the most magnificent textures of medieval times were Italian velvets. These were in many ways most effectively treated for ornamentation, such as by varying the colour of the pile, by producing pile of different lengths (pile upon pile, or double pile), and by brocading with plain silk, with uncut pile or with a ground of gold tissue, &c. The earliest sources of European artistic velvets were [[Catanzaro]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://velvet-bet.com|title = Top Velvet}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lopificio.it/en/blog/discover-the-velvet-hair-fabric|title=Discover the velvet hair fabric}}</ref> [[Lucca]], [[Genoa]], [[Florence]], and Venice, which continued to send out rich velvet textures. Somewhat later the art was taken up by [[Flemings|Flemish]] weavers, and in the sixteenth century, [[Bruges]] attained a reputation for velvets that were not inferior to those of the great Italian cities.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Velvet|volume=27|pages=979–980}}</ref>}}As mechanization was incorporated into the production of textiles in the 19th century, velvet became a more attainable fabric for the middle class. The development of "double velvet" in the 1830s allowed for two pieces of the textile to be woven at the same time on Jacquard looms which doubled the production capacity and cut the previous cost of the textile in half. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hartzell |first=Freyja |date=2009 |title=The Velvet Touch: Fashion, Furniture, and the Fabric of the Interior |url=https://www.bgc.bard.edu/storage/uploads/The_Velvet_Touch_Fashion_Furniture_and_the_Fabric_of_the_Interior.pdf |journal=Fashion Theory |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=51–82|doi=10.2752/175174109X381328 }}</ref>