Side by side
Corduroy vs Velvet
Corduroy and velvet are siblings: both are pile fabrics, surfaces made of cut tufts rather than flat weave. The difference is arrangement. Velvet cuts its pile everywhere, an unbroken plush field. Corduroy cuts its pile in rows, the ridges called wales, with the ground weave visible between them. One reads as luxury, the other as workwear, and the distance between them is a matter of stripes.
Corduroy
No. 035weft-pile cut into wales · first documented 1700s
Velvet
No. 052warp pile, cut · first documented Middle Ages
The differences
| Aspect | Corduroy | Velvet |
|---|---|---|
| Pile layout | Cut in lengthwise ribs (wales) with bare ground between. | Cut everywhere: a continuous plush surface. |
| Classic fiber | Cotton. | Silk historically; cotton and synthetics now. |
| Register | Workwear, farm cloth, professors, the 1970s. | Courts, cardinals, evening wear, upholstery. |
| Durability | Very hard wearing; wales eventually rub bald at knees and seat. | Delicate; pile crushes, bruises, and marks under pressure. |
| Light | Matte ridges with shadowed valleys. | Deep, shifting sheen as the pile catches light. |
Which to choose
They answer different questions. Velvet is for depth of color and occasion; corduroy is for warmth and wear. If it has ridges you can count, it is corduroy; if it is an unbroken light-shifting field, velvet.
Common questions
- Is corduroy a kind of velvet?
- They are cousins in the same family of cut-pile fabrics, both descended from fustians. Corduroy is sometimes described as a ribbed velvet, but the trade treats them as distinct: velvet pile covers the whole surface, corduroy pile is cut into wales.
- What is a wale, exactly?
- One of the lengthwise pile ridges on corduroy. Cloth is named by wales per inch: jumbo cord around 8, standard around 11 to 14, needlecord 16 and up. Fewer wales means fatter ridges and a more casual cloth.