PLEASE

Silk is a FIBER that can be woven into many kinds of FABRIC. To say you have a dress that is "silk and satin" is only correct if PART of it is silk satin and the OTHER part of it is polyester satin. To say "silk and satin" is very redundant otherwise, unless you have no idea what you're saying. Which seems to be the case most of the time. Something can be silky without being silk, yes, but I always assume that "silky satin" actually means the satin is made from silk...because I'm a weird fiber person who assumes people talking about fibers have done some research. Silk can be woven into satin (charmeuse, peau de soie, duchess, bridal), taffeta, velvet, gabardine, chiffon, bengaline, georgette, brocade, dupioni, organza, faille, gauze, tulle, and netting. Another thing! Silk isn't always made into something shiny! We have silk noil, linen-weave silk, silk twill, silk batting, tussah silk. We also have a plethora of blends--silk bamboo, silk cotton, silk wool, silk linen, silk alpaca (really quite lovely), silk rayon. Not to mention the various momme weight linings and art silks!

So, you see, you eBay and Etsy sellers, it really annoys fiber people when you advertise something as "silk" when, upon closer examination, it is actually polyester or acetate. If I wanted acetate taffeta that will water spot and crease like mad and probably spontaneously combust, I'd BUY acetate taffeta (incidentally, I have a great dress made out of an awesomely good acetate taffeta, but that is not the point)!! Don't destroy the hopes you raised when you advertised a "vintage SILK dress" that is really rayon. Don't mess with my high aesthetic values by trying to sell me a "SILK antique piano shawl" that is really ugly mass-printed polyester. Don't assume I'm an idiot who can't tell the difference between a silk 50s prom dress by Ciel Chapman and an acetate 50s prom dress by Sears.

HONESTLY.

It's just as bad as typing "sequence" when you meant "sequins" or "satan" when you meant "satin".