Natural color of undyed shantung?

[ATMachine]

Hello, there. New member here!

I was wondering, what is the natural color of undyed shantung silk? Is it an off-white color or a more yellowish-tan color?

I was driven to wonder by seeing black-and-white reproductions of pictures in old Esquire magazines, in which were shown natural colored shantung dinner jackets.

Please post illustrations if possible - it would be much more informative for me.

Thanks!

 

[apropos]

Hello, I have had the opportunity to visit a silk-processing factory, and while I'm not sure about shantung silk specifically, raw silk comes in all hues - from off-white to nearly grey to a very light brown. The 'wild' silks are usually darker than the 'farmed' silks. I'm also not sure about this, but I think that shantung is actually an end-product of a weaving process, rather than a specific type of silk.

Hope that helps!

 

[rs232]

Shantung is slubbed. It will be ecru. I have a little ecru silk yarn which is a lustrous grey - I'm not sure if it's from wild or cultivated cocoons.

 

[HHD]

That's fascinating! I hadn't given it any thought before. Do you have any photos of raw silks, by any chance?