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Member since 6/9/11
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Posted on: 10/22/14 11:36 PM ET
You know those long, floral skirts and dresses (probably buttoned down the front) we all used to wear in the 90s? They were light and drapey, with a hand very similar to rayon, but the tags always said 100% cotton.

If I was looking for that kind of fabric, what would it be called? Search for 'cotton' on any online fabric store and you get nowhere because it varies so much.
  
Member since 3/17/12
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Posted on: 10/23/14 6:47 AM ET
Good question! I know exactly what you mean, and they did feel like rayon challis. But had the weight of handkerchief cotton or the cotton used for batik prints. Very soft and thinner than quilting cotton. Maybe cotton lawn?
  
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Posted on: 10/23/14 11:50 AM ET
I'm not sure I'm remembering them 100%... I absolutely remember the rayon ones, and I know I had some long broomsticky-type cotton skirts, and *those* were a lightweight, almost loosely-woven Indian cotton of some sort. Maybe lawn or voile, like Coco said. (I still have one of them; a batik print of elephants that almost has to be from India.)

That said, I recently made a peasant skirt from the cotton sateen quilting fabric from JoAnn. It's much less crisp and beefy than you'd (I'd) expect sateen to be; it's super-soft and drapey with a hand *very* similar to challis and a bit of a sheen. It even feels cool to the touch like rayon does. It would make a gorgeous blouse, but was too floaty and soft for my skirt purposes (Renaissance fair petticoat), which is unfortunate, since I have 8 more yards in 2 colors! LOL
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Member since 5/30/13
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Posted on: 10/23/14 2:07 PM ET
I'm thinking they were lawn too. I'm going through my bins of "clothes I might cut up for something" right now. I think I have a couple of those skirts stashed, I'll take a good look and report back.

  
Member since 6/9/11
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Posted on: 10/23/14 8:11 PM ET
Hmmm, I wouldn't have thought lawn - I use that quite a bit, and it may just be the lawn I buy, but it seems lighter and with less drape than what I'm thinking of. I use it for tops and blouses (and I adore it), but not for floaty skirts.
  
Member since 4/17/12
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Posted on: 10/23/14 8:29 PM ET
I second that maybe it's voile. If you go to Dharma Trading company and read the descriptions for their dyable fabrics, or even call them, I think you might find some good search terms that way.
  
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Posted on: 10/23/14 9:08 PM ET
Here's an etsy search for "vintage 1990s cotton skirt." Anything here look like what you're thinking of?

This one has the buttons down the front, but it's not floaty & doesn't look like rayon.

Here's one in that Indian print cotton I mentioned before.

This one's pretty drapey, but it's a cotton/rayon blend.

Gauze comes up quite frequently, too--but that's not really rayon-y, either.

...But there are 8 more pages of hits, so maybe you'll find the right example!
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Posted on: 10/23/14 9:14 PM ET
...Maybe like this? I had a dress *very* similar to this for my confirmation in 1990; definitely cotton, but smooth hand and nicely drapey like rayon. I would call it "chintz."

Chintz usually refers to a floral pattern cotton with a glazed finish, and it can be crisp (like in home dec applications), but it can also be made into drapey dresses. I think because of that variability in the hand, it would be hard to buy online. :/
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Posted on: 10/24/14 3:45 PM ET
Most of my flowey skirts from that time period were rayon, or poly-cotton blend. My 100% cotton skirts from then were just broadcloth, and I spent a lot of time ironing!
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Member since 10/1/03
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Posted on: 10/24/14 3:51 PM ET
Mine (and I had several - still have many of them, lol) were all rayon! Even the cheap ones.

They were perfect for wearing to work in the summer - or most of the year when I was in Louisiana!

(I need to start a bin/shelf for the stuff I want to cut up and turn into something else!)
  
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