Velvet, Decoded: How To Tell Good From Bad

Velvet has a reputation problem, and it isn't velvet's fault. For every jacket that glows like an Old Master after dark, there is a party-shop blazer that has gone bald at the elbows by Boxing Day. Same name, very different cloth. Before you buy, here's how to tell them apart.

Start with the pile

Velvet is woven as two cloths face to face, joined by pile threads that are then cut apart, leaving countless upright fibres. Good velvet packs them in densely: part the pile with your fingers and you shouldn't see the backing beneath. Thin velvet shows its ground cloth, and with it, the corners that were cut.

Rust Mayfair Velvet Newport Jacket with Ticket Pocket

£660

Burgundy Mayfair Velvet Newport Jacket with Ticket Pocket

£660

Burgundy Mayfair Velvet Single Breasted Smoking Jacket

£790

Rust Mayfair Velvet Artist Jacket

£575

Swing Jacket Harvest Green Chandos Silk Velvet

£1,890

Swing Jacket Black Navy Stotfold Silk Velvet

£1,400

Swing Jacket Blue Melford Silk Velvet

£1,450

Swing Jacket Green Melford Silk Velvet

£1,450

Then press it

The simplest test is your thumb. Press firmly into the pile and let go. Good velvet springs back almost at once, while poor velvet holds the print like wet sand. That resilience keeps a jacket fresh after an evening of sitting, dancing and leaning on the bar.

Watch the light

Velvet's depth comes from the way its pile catches light at different angles. On a good cloth, the shading shifts evenly as you move; patchy sheen, streaks or thin spots suggest an uneven pile.

Double Breasted Dinner Jacket Iberian Wine Cotton Velvet

£790

Coming Soon

Cigarette Trousers Iberian Wine Cotton Velvet

£550

Can't see your size, please enquire

Camden Jacket Iberian Wine Cotton Velvet

£890

Coming Soon

Camisole Bias Top Magenta crepe satin

£190

Can't see your size, please enquire

Know your fibres

Much of what is sold as silk velvet is a blend, and Favourbrook is open about it. Our silk velvet is 82% rayon and 18% silk, because pure silk velvet is rare and fearsomely expensive. The blend gives fluid drape, luminous colour and a beautifully soft handle, ideal for evening coats such as the Whitehall and Westminster, and a perfect canvas for French embroidery. Cotton velvet trades a little sheen for body and durability: denser, more matte and firmer in the hand, which is why it suits our menswear tailoring and coats such as the Claret Long Swing Coat.

Long Swing Coat Navy Mayfair Cotton Velvet

£1,050

Coming Soon

Long Swing Coat Claret Plain Cotton Velvet

£1,050

Long Swing Coat Black Plain Cotton Velvet

£1,050

Can't see your size, please enquire

Bloomsbury Coat Black Papavar Silk Velvet

£1,500

Whitehall Coat Royal Blue Sulgrave Silk Velvet

£1,850

Whitehall Coat Fox Brown Caswell Silk Velvet

£1,590

Look closer at pattern

In Favourbrook's Nene cloth, used for the Midnight Black and Green dinner jackets, the motif is worked into the pile itself rather than printed on top, so it reads in texture rather than colour. Much of the womenswear velvet, meanwhile, is made up in London and finished with covered buttons, contrast piping and working cuffs.

Care for it properly

Hang velvet on a shaped hanger, steam rather than iron, and brush gently with the nap. Treated well, good velvet ages like a fine leather armchair. Bad velvet simply ages.

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