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Vans
Vans (Van Doren Rubber Company, founded 1966 in Anaheim) is an American skate footwear brand owned by VF Corporation, known for vulcanized waffle soles, the Old Skool Sidestripe, checkerboard slip-ons, and the 'Off the Wall' identity.
Vanuatu sand drawing
Vanuatu sand drawing, known in Bislama as sandroing, is a Vanuatu tradition of tracing one continuous line in sand to make figures carrying stories and knowledge.
Várgesztes
Várgesztes is a village in Komárom-Esztergom county, Hungary, at the northwest corner of the Vértes mountains, known for Gesztes Castle, a 13th-century Csák kindred fortress turned royal hunting residence and 16th-century Ottoman border castle.
Varieties of biryani
Varieties of biryani: regional styles of the layered South Asian rice-and-meat dish, from Hyderabadi kachchi and Lucknowi pakki to Thalassery, Ambur, Sindhi, and Sri Lankan buriyani, differing in rice, spices, and dum technique.
Vark
Vark (varak, waraq, वरक़), edible silver leaf, is a 0.2–0.8 μm pure silver or gold foil decorating South Asian sweets; India's FSSAI requires 999/1000 fineness and bans animal-origin manufacture.
Vat 69
Vat 69 is a blended Scotch whisky created in 1882 by William Sanderson of Leith, named after the 69th of 100 trial casks, now owned by Diageo. Known for Shackleton's 1914 expedition and Band of Brothers' Captain Nixon; light 40% ABV blend of about 40 malts and grains.
Veejay Floresca
Veejay Floresca is a Filipino fashion designer in New York, winner of Project Runway US Season 21 (2025), the first Filipina and first openly trans woman to win; known for made-to-order bridal and slow fashion.
Vegan cheese
Vegan cheese, also called dairy-free or plant-based cheese, mimics dairy cheese using coconut oil, starches, nuts, soy, and gums instead of casein; lower protein, EU naming bans, and a USD 2.43 bn 2021 market distinguish it.
Vegetarian cuisine
Vegetarian cuisine: meat-free cooking traditions and modern practice, spanning lacto-ovo, vegan, and regional Indian, Middle Eastern, and East Asian repertoires; defined by exclusions, pulses and tofu as proteins, B12 and iron planning, and 1847/1944 term origins.
Vegetarian restaurant
A vegetarian restaurant is a dining venue whose menu excludes meat and fish altogether, a format that grew from 19th-century food-reform movements and now includes vegan venues.
Veil
Veil: a fabric covering for the head, face, or body, worn across Assyrian, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions since the 13th century BCE; also called hijab in Islam; a marker of status, modesty, and contested identity.
Velo (nicotine pouches)
Velo is British American Tobacco's tobacco-free nicotine pouch brand, launched 2018, formerly Lyft in some markets, sold in 49 markets, strengths 3-17 mg per pouch, 8.3 billion pouches sold in 2024.
Velouté sauce
Velouté sauce: one of Escoffier's five French mother sauces, a light chicken, veal, or fish stock thickened with a blond roux; distinct from béchamel (milk-based) and parent of suprême, allemande, and bercy sauces.
Velveeta
Velveeta is an American processed cheese product, created in 1918 by Swiss immigrant Emil Frey from broken cheese and whey, sold to Kraft in 1927, and labeled by the FDA as a pasteurized recipe cheese product rather than cheese.
Velvet
Velvet: a woven pile fabric with a dense cut or uncut pile formed over rods or wires, historically silk, from Italian centers like Venice, Genoa, and Florence; distinct from velveteen, velour, and plush.
Venetian glass
Venetian glass, made chiefly on Murano since the 1291 furnace relocation, is a soda-lime luxury glass tradition defined by cristallo, filigrana, millefiori, and lattimo techniques, its European dominance, façon de Venise imitators, Bohemian competition, and the modern Vetro Artistico Murano trademark.
Venus Butterfly
Venus Butterfly is a shared name covering a Thai all-girl rock band (debut album 2009, Baybeats 2004), a sexual-technique term popularized by L.A. Law, a 1947 Salvador Dalí painting, and various artworks and trademarks.
Vera Wang
Vera Wang (王薇薇, Vera Ellen Wang), American fashion designer born 1949 in New York, ex-Vogue editor and Ralph Lauren design director who founded her bridal brand in 1990 at the Carlyle Hotel, won the CFDA award and National Medal of Arts, and sold the brand to WHP Global in 2024.
Vermicelli
Vermicelli, also known as Siwayan, is the name for very thin noodle or pasta strands, covering Italian wheat pasta, Asian rice vermicelli, and starch glass noodles.
Vermouth
Vermouth: aromatized fortified wine named for German Wermut (wormwood), first marketed by Carpano in Turin, 1786. Sweet (Italian, 90-130 g/l sugar) and dry (French, under 50 g/l) styles; 16-18% abv; key to Martinis, Manhattans, Negronis.
Vesper (cocktail)
Vesper (Vesper Martini): gin, vodka, and aperitif cocktail invented by Ian Fleming in Casino Royale (1953), named for Vesper Lynd; original recipe used Kina Lillet, now replaced by Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano.
Vestment
Vestments are ceremonial garments worn by clergy in public worship, derived from ordinary Roman dress; the tunic became the alb and the paenula the chasuble, with distinct Latin Rite and Eastern forms.
Vetements
Vetements, from vêtements, French for clothing, is the Zurich-based luxury fashion house founded by Georgian brothers Demna and Guram Gvasalia in 2014, known for the DHL T-shirt, oversized silhouettes, and collaborations with Levi's, Champion, and Reebok.
Veuve Clicquot
Veuve Clicquot (Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin) is a Reims champagne house founded in 1772, run from 1805 by the widow Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, inventor of riddling; now an LVMH brand known for Yellow Label.
VF Corporation
VF Corporation, formerly Vanity Fair Mills, is an American apparel and footwear company founded in 1899 as a glove manufacturer and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, whose largest brands are The North Face, Vans, and Timberland.
Vichyssoise
Vichyssoise (crème vichyssoise glacée) is a chilled puréed leek-and-potato cream soup, usually garnished with chives. Invented in New York by Ritz-Carlton chef Louis Diat around 1917 from his mother's hot soup; unlike hot potage Parmentier, and never popular in France.
Vicki Iovine
Vicki Iovine (Vicki Ann McCarty, born 1954) is an American author, lawyer, and former model, Miss September 1979 Playboy Playmate, and author of the Girlfriends' Guide parenting series including The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy (1995).
Victoria Day
Victoria Day (fête de la Reine), a Canadian statutory holiday on the Monday before May 25, celebrates the Sovereign's birthday and honors Queen Victoria; established 1845, made legal holiday 1901, unique to Canada, not observed in four Atlantic provinces.
Victoria Kjær Theilvig
Victoria Kjær Theilvig (born 2003) is a Danish model, dancer, and entrepreneur crowned Miss Universe 2024 in Mexico City, the first Danish winner and first blonde titleholder since 2004; she later became Miss Universe Denmark's national director.
Victoria Oluwakotanmi
Victoria Oluwakotanmi, Nigerian-American model and Navy Reserve Logistics Specialist from San Antonio, Texas; Miss Grand USA 2026, elevated 21 August 2026 after Mekayla Li's termination; US representative at Miss Grand International 2026.