Definition a Day - Dimity

Have you ever heard of dimity? I haven't. I think I may have seen it though since it is a woven.  And in my past life I was a wovens designer.  I should ask my colleagues who are in the drama world if they have worked with dimity because I read that it was a bit of draping worn by performers of the Poses Plastiques, which was an early form of strip tease. Performers wore flesh colored silk body stockings and a dimity to give the illusion of modesty.  oh la la risque....

Swatch photo from the Vintage Fashion Guild

Ok so the technical definition is that dimity is a sheer woven that has double threads in the warp.  The warp is the vertical direction of the fabric.  Although sheer, it is a strong fabric. When a heavier yarn or 2 yarns are put together to form one, this is sometimes called a cord.  It is woven into a plain weave and interesting little fact is that it usually is made from pre-shrunk cotton so there is minimal shrinkage.  The word comes from the Greek Dirnitos which means double thread.

I stumbled upon a fantastic website called Thistle Hill.  First of all I love the name! I imagine a lovely southern or northern country retreat!  They create, weave, reproduction fabrics such as dimity.

Also used for draperies, curtains and sleepwear.
I would imagine it would make great summer sleepwear since it is sheer and lightweight.

If you have worked with dimity I would love to hear your thoughts on it!