Crêpe (textile)

Crêpe, also spelled crepe or crape (from the French crêpe),[1] is a silk, wool, or synthetic fiber fabric with a distinctively crisp and crimped appearance.

The term "crape" typically refers to a form of the fabric associated specifically with mourning.

[2] Crêpe was also historically called "crespe" or "crisp".

[3] It is woven of hard-spun yarn, originally silk "in the gum" (silk from which the sericin had not been removed).

There traditionally have been two distinct varieties of the crêpe: soft, Canton or Oriental crêpe, and hard or crisped crêpe.

Woman's mourning bonnet in hard crape, c. 1880
Detail of an aerophane dress, c. 1827
Chirimen
Crepe de chine
Georgette
Satin-back crepe