Faux Alligator Fabric ??

[love4vintage]

Hello, Looking for some help labeling a fabric. It is a black dress & bolero jacket 1960s. Any advise on what this is called?? Thanks

 

[Pinkcoke]

Vinyl or PVC I should think.

 

[love4vintage]

Hi, thanks, not sure what PVC is but its definitely not a vinyl. It is very soft, & has a sheen, maybe a silk or rayon silk blend? I just thought maybe there was a particular term for this type of fabric.

 

[Pinkcoke]

They are both plastic coated fabrics, the description you have given would fit the above, it was first popular in the 1960's for clothing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PVC_clothing

There are many varieties, I know we often think of vinyl as a very hard substance, but a very thin coating on a woven fabric only lends a shine and a slightly resistant flexibility.

 

[furwise]

Very pretty. Not sure of the fabric you have there, burn test might help you but you could call it alligator embossed fabric calling the fabric whatever the fabric is and also describe it as an embossed alligator print.

 

[retro ruth]

Yes, embossed is the term I thought of too. As Melanie suggests, it will probably have some kind of coating, that allows the base fabric take the embossing. I don't think it's necessarily vinyl or PVC though.

Our fabric guide may help, here is the entry on embossed fabric. http://vintagefashionguild.org/fabric-resource/embossed-fabric/

 

[love4vintage]

Thank you so much for all of the suggestions, very helpful, much appreciated!!!