A lightweight, open fabric with a sheer appearance.
Strictly, gauze is a weave, not just a thin cloth. The Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus defines it as a woven textile in which the binding comes from warp ends that are displaced and secured by the weft, usually giving a very open weave. On a leno loom, which weaves crossed warps of this kind, the Getty describes a hairpin-like part called a doup pulling the second warp of each pair to the right or left of each pick, so the pair twists around each filling yarn instead of lying parallel.
That separates gauze from organdy and batiste, which the Getty describes as sheer plain weaves, in which every weft passes over and under alternate warps. Outside fashion, the Getty notes gauze’s use for surgical dressings and as a backing for paper, especially maps. In fashion, the V&A holds a 2015 Fendi dress by Karl Lagerfeld whose stripes alternate between silk satin and gauze.
In job listings
Gauze is rarely named in listings. Woven structures are the daily matter of textile roles: weaving machine operators who prepare and load looms and repair breaks, finishing operators, and textile designers whose listings ask for knowledge of woven fabrics. See current textile roles.
