GEORGETTE. The name of a textile fabric, also sometimes described as "crepe georgette." It is a light and gossamer-like tissue of silk of the plain weave, used for ladies' dresses, blouses, millinery, etc., and for other purposes when refinement and deli cacy of texture are advantageous.
A georgette fabric has a somewhat subdued sheen, without being dull, and also a crêpe-like texture without the crimped surface of a true crêpe. This lustre and texture of georgette result from the employment both of warp and weft threads of "reverse" twist yarn spun and woven in the "gum," the yarn being subsequently "de-gummed" by boiling-off prior to dyeing and finishing. The warp and weft threads of "reverse" twist may be disposed either alternately, i.e., with an "end-and-end" disposition in the warp series of threads, and a "pick-and-pick" disposition in the weft series; or in alternate pairs, i.e., with a "two-and-two" disposition either in one or in both series of threads. The employment, in the same fabric, of threads of "reverse" twist in the manner described gives the threads the tendency to untwist in reverse directions and so develops the crepe or crimp effect, which is also for the same cause a distinctive feature of a true voile texture (q.v.) .
Georgine is the description of a very light silk tissue having the general appearance and characteristics of the true "crepe geor gette" but without the same degree of elasticity. (H. N.)