Даже если шёлк выглядит красивее, летом я чаще выбираю хлопок.

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Breakdown of Даже если шёлк выглядит красивее, летом я чаще выбираю хлопок.

• если: if
• даже: even
• выглядеть: to look

Questions & Answers about Даже если шёлк выглядит красивее, летом я чаще выбираю хлопок.

Why does the sentence start with Даже если? What does that mean exactly?

Даже если means even if.

So the first part, Даже если шёлк выглядит красивее, means Even if silk looks more beautiful.

It introduces a contrast:

• one thing may be true: silk looks prettier
• but the main result is still different: I still choose cotton more often in summer

A close English pattern is:

• Even if X, I still Y.

You may also see если даже, but даже если is the more standard and natural way to say even if.

Why is шёлк in the nominative case?

Because шёлк is the subject of the verb выглядит.

In this clause:

• шёлк = silk
• выглядит = looks / appears

So literally:

• Silk looks more beautiful

Subjects are normally in the nominative case in Russian, so шёлк stays in its dictionary form here.

Why is the verb выглядит singular?