Velvet is a soft and luxurious fabric identified by its dense pile of evenly cut fibers with a smooth nap. The fabric displays a unique soft and shiny appearance due to the short pile of fibers, usually half a centimeter in height. Velvet is a favorite material for evening gowns and formal wear because of its silky appearance and beautiful drape. Velvet was first made only from silk and was once very expensive. These days, fibers like linen, cotton, wool, mohair, and synthetic fibers are also used to make velvet making it more affordable than when it was only made from silk. The first velvets made from silk were tremendously expensive and were only accessible to the royals and the nobles. The new loom technology and the use of other fibers than silk lowered the cost of producing velvet. Velvet nowadays can be easy to find, but pure silk velvet is rare and still very expensive. Most velvet fabrics sold as silk velvet at the average fabric store are mostly a combination of silk and rayon. Synthetic velvets are made from synthetic fibers like nylon, polyester, viscose, and rayon. Aside from being a popular fabric material for sewing dresses and gowns, velvet is also used for curtains, pillows, beddings, and upholstery covers.