Fabric Question, Lurex or Lame or something different ?

JulieW

JulieW

Alumni
This dress's fabric is a stretchy knit with silver threads going though it.
What is it called?
Thanks.

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lurex is a fabric with some or a lot of metallic threads in the same fabric...
lame is a gossamer fabric that appears to be gold or silver or bronze, it shimmers...lurex well the originals, scratch mostly...
 
Julie, my understanding of "Lurex" has always been that it is not a fabric in and of itself. Lurex refers to the metallic threads or yarn shot through the base fabric. You can have cotton with lurex, or polyester with lurex, etc. So your dress would be a "whatever and lurex." Anything with a high content of lurex is, I think, generically referred to as lurex, but there is no lurex material as we think of material or fabric. Lame', oth, is a "yard-goods" fabric.
 
Yep Anne that's what i was coming up with,,,

I did some research and Lurex is the copyrighted/pattened yarn used in "some" lame' fabrics. Its is aluminum applied over yarn.. not a fabric or weave at all.. just the strings used to make it,

while lame' is the fabric type woven with the metallic threads....

as far as eBay or fashion... I think solid silky metallics (or patterns) are referred to as lame' though i use it in listings with a visible amount of metallic threading in photographs, and if the material is supple still. Where lurex I would use for the thicker band of metallic threads (one that look like thin flat ribbons) and makes a stiffer feel. But i still put Lame in the description because I have more success.

I hope that all came out right and is understandable? Sometimes when typing things out I understand what I mean but no one else does lol!
 
I had the same query in a previous post, but the question got lost in the other questions I had about bags. What would you say this bag is ... lame cloth or lurex cloth? When I researched it seemed that both lurex and lame were basically the same thing but lurex was a tradename for the fibres, but both 'lurex' and lame cloths were produced in addition to the therads. Don't mean to hijack this thread, but bk to my orig q....this bag is a soft cloth, so what wld you say it was? As I say, it's very soft, but I guess lurex weave cloth? Then I'll stop hijacking this thread lol

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lol in my "opinion" because I think its one of those things... are the fibers/yarns round and thin? if so sice it is majority gold then I would go with lame'

but its personal i put lame' with all things that have metallic threads in the weave and there may not be alot like this dress for example, and I have never had a complaint or anyone correct me :-) lol
 
oh my, i'm confused, I have dresses like that (very nice by the way!) that I call lurex brocade. I also have a dressing gown which I call lurex brocade for example, pic shown below.

I'm glad this topic has come up cos it's soooooooooooooo confusing!

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lol lurex btocade is entirely acceptable as stated lame and lurex are not in the same category. lurex is the trademark name for the individual string, lame is the fabric created using metallic fibers such as lorex so lorex brocade is entirely correct! so is lame brocade..... its open to interpertation.. whst do you want t describe... the fabric "type" (lame) or fabric content (lurex)
 
ohhh and brocades are raised patterns in the weave... if its flat its damask usually.... my red dress is damask, but they are ususlly only one color lke some curtains,, but they are both the same type of weave, jacquard lol....so often any jacquard weaves with color or large patterns are called brocades... but brocades are supposed to have the patterns raised.

anyone correct me if I am wrong there?

oh i just read this.......best way to tell,, damask patterns are reversable fabric, brocades rarely are and even if they are the unerside carries a different color tone.. hence why damask uses one color.. so my red dress is brocade even though its flat :-)
 
Lurex was an 'official' fabric name, not just the thread, as many times lve seen it with a copyright symbol.
 
is it not in production any more? The lurex website itself only references the yarns they make.

I am only asking because I have never come accross a fabric with this label before so I have no clue about it being registered... I would like to know for sure,, as I am working on my website and I have definitons for both Lame' and Lurex, but i only have it as the fibers in a fabric, not the weave? well even if somehting is a lurex fabric we still are not talking about weaves are we? Because lame' is a weave.... so something could technically be a lurex lame'? or am I misunderstanding?

thanks
 
Lamé is not a weave. It is a type of fabric containing metallic threads. There are three basic weaves and several secondary or combination weaves. Lurex is a type of metallic yarn used in making fabrics. It is confusing but it's important to distinguish between the fiber and the weave when describing fabrics.

I don't think most buyers know much about weaves but they would like to know the fiber content.

Linn
 
ok thank you lynn.. yes I kept sayinf weave but I that is the wrong term :-) but i understand..... kinda like drink soda and pepsi.... yes its a drink but the category is soda but specifically its pepsi?

is that kinda right? Sorry I'm trying to dumb it down for myself. So is this a posibility? Gold lame brocade with Lorex? in a listing and be accurate or is it one or the other always.... Lame' or Lorex?

thanks I know this is overkill, but I like to knoe for sure,,, I've got a lot of years of catching up to do to even be close any of the members on here lol!
 
there is a trademark/copyright/patent on Lurex the original metallic yarn, from the 50s as Jonathan says....
the original lurex was fused to a backing fabric...most of the 60's and 70's lurex fabrics use the name as a common description, and this covers a wide variety ..

there is Lurex fabric
there is 70s lurex
there is metallic fabric
metallic textured fabric
there is lame
gold tonic fabric

this is fun we should have a LUXE thread with images to go with the descriptions..
 
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