Silhouette and Pirouette are two of Hunter Douglas's most loved premium shades — and the two we get asked to compare more than any other pair in our Dartmouth and Charlottetown showrooms. They look similar in catalog photos, but they behave very differently in a real room.
As a Custom Window Treatment Specialists, we've measured and installed both across hundreds of Atlantic Canadian homes. Here's the comparison we actually walk clients through in person — no fluff.
Silhouette suspends soft fabric vanes between two layers of sheer knit fabric. When you tilt the vanes open, sunlight passes through the sheer panels and is diffused by the floating vanes — you get a soft, glowing daylight with almost no glare and a clear, undistorted view to the outside. When you tilt them closed, the vanes overlap to provide privacy and reduce light. When you raise the shade, it disappears completely into a slim headrail.
Pirouette uses horizontal fabric vanes attached to a single sheer fabric backing. When closed, the vanes rotate flat against the sheer — you get a clean, structured look with stronger privacy. When opened, the vanes lift and curve outward into soft, contoured folds that frame the view to the outside. The effect is more sculptural than Silhouette and creates a stronger architectural presence in the room.
Silhouette is the gold standard for diffused daylight. Because the vanes float between two sheers, light is softened from every angle — there's no harsh banding on the floor, no glare on a TV screen, and skin tones look natural for video calls. If your priority is "make the room glow," Silhouette is hard to beat.
Pirouette gives you a similar effect when the vanes are partially open, but with more visual structure — you can see the individual contoured folds. When closed, Pirouette blocks more direct sightlines from outside because the vanes are solid fabric rather than the softer woven vanes used on Silhouette.
Silhouette has soft fabric vanes suspended between two sheer fabric panels — it diffuses light evenly and disappears into the headrail when raised. Pirouette has horizontal fabric vanes attached to a single sheer backing — when closed, the vanes rotate flat for privacy; when opened, they form soft contoured folds that frame the view.
Both give daytime privacy with the vanes closed. Pirouette's solid fabric vanes block slightly more visibility from the outside when fully closed. For full nighttime privacy with either, pair them with a room-darkening or blackout liner.
Yes. Both come in widths up to roughly 12 feet on a single shade. For very wide openings we often recommend two shades on a continuous headrail for smoother operation and easier service.
Yes. Both are available with premium motorization Gen 3 motorization, including battery-wand and hardwired options, scene-based scheduling, and Alexa/Google/HomeKit integration.
Pirouette typically costs slightly more than Silhouette at the same width and height because of the contoured-fold mechanism. Both are premium Hunter Douglas products and pricing depends on fabric, size, control type, and whether you choose motorization.