A swatch of velvet

Royal Military College of Canada gilt & red Velvet Victorian-era pre 1914 pin (Truth Duty Valour)

Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed,with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel.

The word 'velvety' is used as an adjective to mean "smooth like velvet".

Composition[link]

Velvet is woven on a special loom that weaves two thicknesses of velvet at the same time. The two pieces are then cut apart to create the pile effect, and the two lengths of fabric are wound on separate take-up rolls. Velvet was expensive to make before industrial power looms became available. Velvet is difficult to clean because of its pile, but modern dry cleaning methods make cleaning more feasible. Velvet pile is created by warp or vertical yarns and velveteen pile is created by weft or fill yarns.

Velvet can be made from many different kinds of fibres, traditionally silk. Velvet made entirely from silk has market prices of several hundred US dollars per yard. Cotton can also be used, though this often results in a slightly less luxurious fabric. Velvet can also be made from fibers such as linen, mohair, and wool. A cloth made by the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo from raffia is often referred to as "Kuba velvet". More recently, synthetic velvets have been developed, mostly polyester, nylon, viscose, acetate, and mixtures of different synthetics, or synthetics and natural fibers (for example viscose mixed with silk). A small percentage of spandex is sometimes added to give stretch.

History[link]

Traditionally, velvet is associated with nobility. Velvet was introduced to Baghdad during the rule of Harun al-Rashid by Kashmiri merchants and to Al-Andalus by Ziryab. In the Mamluk era, Cairo was the world's largest producer of velvet. Much of it was exported to Venice, Al-Andalus and the Mali Empire. Musa I of Mali, the ruler of the Mali Empire, visited Cairo on his pilgrimage to Mecca. Many Arab velvet-makers accompanied him back to Timbuktu. Later Ibn Battuta mentions how Suleyman (mansa) the ruler of Mali wore a locally produced complete crimson Velvet caftan on Eid. During the reign of Mehmed II, assistant cooks wore blue coloured dresses (câme-i kebûd), conical hats (külâh) and baggy trousers (çaksir) made from Bursa velvet.^{[citation needed]}

King Richard II of England directed in his will that his body should be clothed in velveto in 1399.^[1]

The earliest sources of European artistic velvets were Lucca, Genoa, Florence and Venice, which continued to send out rich velvet textures. Somewhat later the art was taken up by Flemish weavers, and in the sixteenth century Bruges attained a reputation for velvets that were not inferior to those of the great Italian cities.

Types[link]

• Crushed: This type of velvet can be produced by pressing the fabric down in different directions. It can also be produced by mechanically twisting the fabric while wet. The result is patterned appearance that is very lustrous.^[2]

• Devore: This variety is produced with a caustic solution. This dissolves part of the velvet leaving sheer areas of fabric. Usually a definite pattern is produced.^[2]

• Embossed: A metal roller is used to heat-stamp the fabric, producing a pattern.^[2]

• Hammered: This type is extremely lustrous, appears dappled, and somewhat crushed.^[2]

• Panné: Also a type of crushed velvet, panné is produced by forcing the pile in a single direction by applying heavy pressure.^[3]

• Plain: Commonly made of cotton, this type of velvet has a firm hand and can be used for many purposes.^[2]

• Silk: More expensive than plain velvet, this type is usually shinier and softer than the cotton variety.^[2]

• Viscose: In terms of quality, this type is more similar to silk velvet than cotton velvet.^[2]

• Velveteen is a type of imitation velvet.^[3] It is normally made of cotton or a combination of cotton and silk. It has a pile that is short (never more than 3mm deep), and is closely set. It has a firm hand, and a slightly sloping pile. Unlike true velvet, this type has greater body, does not drape as easily, and has less sheen.^[2]

See also[link]

• Corduroy
• Glossary of textile manufacturing
• Velour, or velours, a plush, knitted fabric or textile
• Velvet painting

References[link]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

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Alannah Myles
Alannah Myles photographed by Mike F. Campbell
Background information
Born	(1958-12-25) December 25, 1958 (age 53) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Rock, pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Atlantic
Website	www.alannahmyles.com

Alannah Myles (born December 25, 1958, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, the daughter of Canadian broadcast pioneer William Douglas Myles. In 1989, she released her eponymous debut album. In 1990, "Black Velvet", a single from that album, was a worldwide hit^[1] and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female.^[2]

Biography[link]

Alannah began writing songs at the age of 9. She performed in a songwriting group for the Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto at 12 years of age and by the time she was a teenager, began performing solo gigs in Southern Ontario. She eventually met Christopher Ward, a WMG recording artist and songwriter who helped her to form her own band, and performed cover versions of T. Rex, AC/DC, Bob Seger, Ann Peebles, the Rolling Stones, and the Pretenders. By the time she was in her early mid-twenties, she and Christopher began collaborating with David Tyson to produce her self-titled debut album, Alannah Myles. She appeared in a 1984 installment of the television series program The Kids of Degrassi Street, in which she played the role of an aspiring singer and single mother. She was featured in several other TV and film productions as a guest prior to her success as a recording artist.

In May 1989, Warner Music in Canada released Alannah Myles. It produced four Top 40 selections, including "Love Is", "Lover of Mine", and "Still Got This Thing", and the number-one hit "Black Velvet". In early 1990 Atlantic Records released "Black Velvet" in the U.S., making her first album ineligible for possible Grammy nominations. For Myles, "Black Velvet" became a number one hit worldwide and was named the most played song on radio for 1989 & 1990. By 2000 it had received the ASCAP Millionaire Award for having received over five million airplays at radio.^{[citation needed]} "Black Velvet" won Myles a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance in 1991, and three Juno Awards.^[3]

The year 1992 brought the follow-up album, Rockinghorse, which included the hit singles "Song Instead of a Kiss" written by Alannah Myles, Nancy Simmonds and Canadian poet Robert Priest,^[4] "Our World, Our Times", and "Sonny, Say You Will". She received a Grammy nomination for Rockinghorse and several global awards, including a Juno and Much Music's people's choice award for "Our World, Our Times".

The year 1995 produced Myles's final album on Atlantic Records before being released from the label, granting Warner/Atlantic a Best Of CD after only 3 records. The A-lan-nah album, which contained no Top 40 singles, included two tracks which made it into the Top 100: "Family Secret" and "Blow Wind, Blow".

In 1997 she managed to terminate her eight-record contract with Atlantic Records with the help of her then-manager, Miles Copeland III, who immediately signed her to his Ark 21 Records. There she released A Rival, which had the Top 40 hit "Bad 4 You", written and recorded by Myles, Desmond Child and Eric Bazilian at Copeland's castle songwriting retreat at Grand Brassac, France.

In February 2005, together with the Swedish band Kee Marcello's K2, she participated in the third semi-final of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song "We Got It All" scored very few points and finished seventh out of eight songs yet managed to dominate the leading newspaper and media headlines in Sweden.^[5]

In April 2008, she went public about her then upcoming album Black Velvet, which featured a new recording of her song of the same name in addition to ten new studio recordings.^[6] She discussed the subject in May 2008 in an interview with Evan Solomon on the TV program CBC News: Sunday Night.^[7]

In the fall of 2009, Myles released the CD Black Velvet on Linus Entertainment, which merged with Canada's legendary True North Records and released the album in America in the spring of 2010. This was followed by a video for the song "Trouble" that features a jug band performance. "Trouble" was awarded an 'Honourable Mention' as a finalist in the blues category at the 2009 International Songwriting Contest.^[8] Myles won the 15th annual USA Songwriting Competition for both best rock/alternative song as well as grand prize finalist for a song written with Nancy Simmonds for her "Black Velvet" CD entitled "Give Me Love".^[9]

Myles toured in support of her Black Velvet CD beginning with a string of European dates in March 2011. Her song Black Velvet was one of four selected to be covered on the CBC Television reality television show Cover Me Canada.^[10]

At a Toronto music festival on July 1, 2011 she revealed that she has suffered severe spinal nerve damage from an excess of chiropractic treatments and has been left unable to move her head or neck. Her voice is unaffected and she continues to perform and record.^[11]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Singles[link]

See also[link]

• Canadian rock
• List of diamond-certified albums in Canada
• Music of Canada

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alannah Myles

• Official website
• Alannah Myles's channel on YouTube
• Alannah Myles at the Internet Movie Database
• Alannah Myles on Myspace
• Alannah Myles biography in Rolling Stone online
• Alannah Myles talks to the Canadian Press about the new version of Black Velvet
• Review of 'Black Velvet' (2007)
• Videos and Concerts
• USA Songwriting Competition

Alex Winston
Alex Winston on stage in February, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Alexandra Winston
Born	(1987-09-28) 28 September 1987 (age 24) Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Musician
Labels	Island Records
Associated acts	The Knocks Chuck Berry

Alexandra Winston is an American indie pop rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Classically trained in opera, Winston was encouraged by her parents to pursue music.

Biography[link]

Winston was born and raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She moved to New York City in 2010 to work with production duo The Knocks.^[1]

She has covered artists like Chuck Berry (for whom she was a former opening act), Jack Peñate, The Rolling Stones, Mumford & Sons and others in some of her online releases.^[2] Alex's 2010 single, "Choice Notes", is the background music to the European and UK advertisement for the Hyundai ix20 and TK Maxx. Winston played a set at Bestival 2011 on the Sailor Jerry's stage. She has also been filmed by the YouTube channel, watchlistentell and she performed "Choice Notes" with the "Sister Wives".

Record label[link]

The New York based independent record label Heavy Roc Music took on Winston in 2009. This was followed by The Basement Covers EP, which was released as a free download. Two singles, "Choice Notes" (2010) and "Locomotive" (2011) were released and a music video was made for the latter.^[3] These two songs would later appear on the Sister Wife EP, released in February 2011. In early 2011, Winston signed with Island Records,^[4] and subsequently released the Sister Wife EP, including her single "Sister Wife."

Discography[link]

EPs and CDs[link]

• By the Roots, released by Pratdral in 2007^[5]

• The Basement Covers EP, free download, released by Heavy Roc Music on 30 June 2010^[6]

• Sister Wife EP, released by Heavy Roc Music on 10 February 2011 and by Island Records on 10 April 2011

• Sister Wife (The Remixes) EP, released by Island Records on 16 May 2011

• Velvet Elvis EP, released by HeavyRoc Records on 15 August 2011

• King Con (CD, 2012), released by V2/Cooperative Records

Singles[link]

• "Animal Baby" - 6 January 2010^[7]
  
• "Choice Notes" - 27 July 2010^[8]
  
• "Locomotive" - 2 February 2011^[9]
  
• "Sister Wife" - 16 May 2011^[10]
  
• "Velvet Elvis" - 15 August 2011^[11]

Other songs[link]

• "Pet Sematary" (The Ramones) - 18 August 2010 ^[12]
• "Medicine" (AA Side on "Choice Notes" single)^[8]

^[13]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alex Winston in session on the Rob da Bank show