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Naming Cloth

© Ann Garner

It is fairly easy to guess that damask fabric is related to Damascus just as Thai silk must come from Thailand and Egyptian cotton must have originated in Egypt. Names of specific fabrics often reveal their origin or method of manufacture; some even bear the name of their creator or popularizer.

An example of the latter is our modern denim jeans. Many score years ago, in Nimes, France, a sturdy cotton twill was being dyed with indigo and sold for its weathering ability. Sailors from Genoa (called Genes) greatly favored this fabric for making up their trousers -- thus we have a fabric for the Genes de Nimes or, in today's English, denim jeans.

A modern wearer of these widely popular trousers might choose a shirt of poplin. Who would have connected such a fabric with the Pope? But there is a connection. Cotton, rayon, silk or wool poplin was fabricated in Avignon, the residence of the Popes "in exile" from Rome.

For a workaday outfit in warm weather, a jeans wearer might want several shirts of cotton chambray, a light, breathable fabric made with a colored warp (usually blue-gray) and a fine white thread weft. The word chambray comes from cambric, a Flemish word based on the old name for Wales: Cambria.

In colder weather, soft flannel shirts are perfect for topping off jeans. In medieval times flannel was not used for comfort, but quite the opposite. A wool shirt with the surface brushed into a prickly nap was worn with the nap side next to the skin as the hair shirt for penitents. But when the napped fabric is cotton and the nap is on the outer surface of the garment, all the tiny fibers capture the escaping body heat and form an insulation against the cold. Therefore, it seems the purpose of this fabric has changed with the times to suit a generation who seeks comfort rather than penance.

Another fabric has gained an undeserved reputation : chintz. Chintz is a perfectly respectable, very serviceable and quite beautiful cotton fabric. It is glazed with a waxy finish, making it heavier and more impervious to spills, so it has long been used for upholstery. Chintz comes from the Hindi word "chint." In the United States, the brilliant Indian prints were considered too bold a fashion statement and a house decorated with a lot of this fabric was called "chintzy." From there, we began to use the term in reference to any decoration or adornment that was deemed in poor taste.