Taffeta is a crisp, lightweight fabric that is commonly used to make a variety of types of high-end women's apparel. This plain woven fabric is smooth to the touch, and it can be made from a variety of different materials. The word "taffeta" is derived from tafta , which means "twisted woven" in Persian. While it's true that taffeta fabric is made by twisting yarn as it is woven, many other fabrics are also made with this method, which means that the starched and shape-retaining qualities of taffeta are more representative of its unique attributes than its name. , Traditionally, taffeta was made from silk, but with the advent of synthetic fibers in the 20th century, textile manufacturers started making this fabric from materials like rayon and polyester. While it's still possible to find silk taffeta fabric, it's much more common to find versions of this fabric that are made from polyester. While the term "taffeta" has been used to describe lightweight silk garments for close to a thousand years, it's unclear whether the taffeta of the distant past resembled the type of fabric that goes by this name today. This fabric shows up multiple times throughout history; for instance, it's reported that tabby cats were originally named for their resemblance to a certain type of striped taffeta fabric. Taffeta was also used in certain aviation experiments during the 18th century. In recent times, taffeta fabric has even been used in artificial blood vessel experiments due to its paper-thin texture and durability.