Portal:Clothing
The Clothing Portal
Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) consists of items worn on the body. Clothing is typically made from textiles but may also be made from animal skins, furs, and other natural materials and synthetic fibres. Clothing is a feature of every known human society, and its form and use vary according to climate, culture, available materials, technology, social norms, and individual preference.
Humans likely began wearing clothing at least tens of thousands of years ago, and early clothing was made from animal skins and plant fibres before the widespread use of woven textiles. (Full article...)
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fibre-based materials, including fibres, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, doctor's gowns and technical applications like geotextiles. (Full article...)
Textile art is art created from natural or synthetic fibers or from fabric or textile. Textile art is synonymous with fiber art. The art could be wall-hung, sculptural, installation, or have a functional decorative arts purpose. (Full article...)
Selected articles -
Kusquqvagmiut (Kuskokwim Yup'ik) man and woman wearing hoodless fancy fur parkas (atkupiak), circa 1879
Yup'ik clothing (Yup'ik aturaq sg aturak dual aturat pl, aklu, akluq, un’u; also, piluguk in Unaliq-Pastuliq dialect, aklu, cangssagar, un’u in Nunivak dialect, Cup'ik clothing for the Chevak Cup'ik-speaking people of Chevak and Cup'ig clothing for the Nunivak Cup'ig-speaking people of Nunivak Island) refers to the traditional Alaska Native-style clothing worn by the Yupik people of southwestern Alaska.
The traditional clothing systems developed and used by the Yup’ik, Inuit and Nuniwarmiut peoples performs similarly to the most effective cold weather clothing developed to date. Yup'ik women made clothes and footwear from animal skins (especially hide and fur of marine and land mammals for fur clothing, sometimes birds, also fish), sewn together using needles made from animal bones, walrus ivory, and bird bones such as the front part of a crane's foot and threads made from other animal products, such as sinew. The multi-functional ulu (semilunar woman's knife) is used to process and cut skins for clothing and footwear. Women made most clothing of caribou (wild caribou Rangifer tarandus granti and domestic reindeer Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and sealskin. Yup’ik clothing tended to fit relatively loosely. (Full article...)
Warp and weft in plain weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft, woof, or filling. The method in which these threads are interwoven affects the characteristics of the cloth.
Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds warp threads in place while filling threads are woven through them. A fabric band that meets this definition of cloth (warp threads with a weft thread winding between) can also be made using other methods, including tablet weaving, backstrap loom, or other techniques that can be done without looms.
The way the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is called the weave. The majority of woven products are created with one of three basic weaves: plain weave, satin weave, or twill weave. Woven cloth can be plain or classic (in one colour or a simple pattern), or can be woven in decorative or artistic design. (Full article...)- The Vestiarium Scoticum (full title, Vestiarium Scoticum: from the Manuscript formerly in the Library of the Scots College at Douay. With an Introduction and Notes, by John Sobieski Stuart) is a book which was first published in 1842 by William Tait of Edinburgh in a limited edition. John Telfer Dunbar, in his seminal work History of Highland Dress, referred to it as "probably the most controversial costume book ever written".
The book itself is purported to be a reproduction, with colour illustrations, of a 15th-century manuscript on the clan tartans of Scottish families. Shortly after its publication it was denounced as a forgery, and the "Stuart" brothers who brought it forth were also denounced as impostors for claiming to be the grandsons of Bonnie Prince Charlie. It is generally accepted today that neither the brothers themselves nor the Vestiarium are what they were purported to be. (Full article...)
Goldwork is the art of embroidery using metal threads. It is particularly prized for the way light plays on it. The term "goldwork" is used even when the threads are imitation gold, silver, or copper. The metal wires used to make the threads have never been entirely gold; they have always been gold-coated silver or cheaper metals, and even then the "gold" often contains a very low percentage of real gold. Most metal threads are available in silver and sometimes copper as well as gold; some are available in colors as well.
Goldwork is always surface embroidery and free embroidery. The vast majority is a form of laid work or couching; that is, the gold threads are held onto the surface of the fabric by a second thread, usually of fine silk. The ends of the thread, depending on type, are simply cut off, or are pulled through to the back of the embroidery and carefully secured with the couching thread. A tool called a mellore or a stiletto is used to help position the threads and create the holes needed to pull them through. The threads most often have metal or gold leaf wound around a textile core, or are treated with an adhesive and rolled in powdered gold or other metal. (Full article...)
A hemp field in Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, France, which is Europe's largest hemp producer as of 2022
The term hemp is the vernacular English language word designating the plant Cannabis sativa, a plant that can be used to make a wide range of products, and be refined into a variety of commercial items, including paper, rope, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, medicines, and animal feed. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants on Earth and was also one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber 50,000 years ago.
The term "hemp" has also traditionally been used as a generic name to refer to various fibrous plants, which have no botanical relation with Cannabis. These include Manila hemp, bog hemp, sisal hemp, New Zealand hemp, Deccan hemp, or Madras hemp (also at times called Indian hemp). (Full article...)
Utility pole warmer on New York City street corner.
Knitta, also known as Knitta Please, was a group of artists based in Houston, Texas often attributed with the creation of the yarn bombing movement, a type of graffiti where participants wrap public architecture—e.g. lampposts, parking meters, telephone poles, and signage—with knitted or crocheted material. Founded in 2005 by Magda Sayeg and Akrylik, the group held yarn bombings in several cities and continents, and were invited to stage installations
Knitta grew to eleven members by the end of 2007, and over the next several years held installations in several countries and on multiple continents. However, by the 2010s, membership had dwindled to just Sayeg. (Full article...)
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he campaigned for socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain.
Morris was born in Walthamstow, Essex, to a wealthy middle-class family. He came under the strong influence of medievalism while studying classics at Oxford University, where he joined the Birmingham Set. After university, he married Jane Burden, and developed close friendships with Pre-Raphaelite artists and poets such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Algernon Charles Swinburne, and Edward Burne-Jones, as well as with Neo-Gothic architect Philip Webb. Webb and Morris designed Red House in Kent where Morris lived from 1859 to 1865, before moving to Bloomsbury, central London. In 1861, Morris founded the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. decorative arts firm with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, and others, which became highly fashionable and much in demand. The firm profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout the Victorian period, with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. In 1875, he assumed total control of the company, which was renamed Morris & Co. (Full article...)
Mascarade à l'éléphant, also known as Elephant (387 x 640 cm.; 152 x 252 in.)
The Valois Tapestries (Dutch: Valois tapijten) are a series of eight large tapestries depicting festivities or "magnificences" held by Catherine de' Medici's Royal Courts in the second half of the 16th century. The tapestries were primarily modeled on drawings by Antoine Caron, but to Caron's distant views of large panoramas crowded with figures much larger portraits of leading persons at the French court have been added in the foreground, usually to the side, as well as elaborate borders.
They were produced by teams of weavers in the Spanish Netherlands, probably in Brussels or Antwerp, shortly after 1580. A number of great artists and artisans worked on the creation of these tapestries but today we are left with nothing but theories and speculation to their identities. Scholars such as Frances Yates and Jean Coural have developed nuanced theories backed by solid evidence to identify these unknown contributors, and also the political meaning of the tapestries, but research has yet to confirm many of these findings. These works display surprisingly intimate and personal moments within the royal inner circle clashing against the busy backdrops of these lavish festivals. (Full article...)- Joan Schulze (born October 13, 1936) is an American artist, lecturer, and poet. Schulze's career spans over five decades. She is best known for her career in contemporary quilting and collage. Schulze was named a “pioneer of the art quilt movement” by Constance Howard. Her work is in galleries and private collections worldwide, including the Renwick Gallery/Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, & the Oakland Museum of California. (Full article...)
Cone Mills Corporation was an American textile manufacturing company. It produced cotton fabrics such as corduroy, flannel, and denim. The company headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Full article...)
Indigo dye is an organic compound with a distinctive blue color. Indigo is a natural dye obtained from the leaves of some plants of the Indigofera genus, in particular Indigofera tinctoria. Dye-bearing Indigofera plants were once common throughout the world. Blue colorants are relatively rare. Since indigo is insoluble, it is also referred to as a pigment (C.I. Pigment Blue 66, C.I.).
Most indigo dye produced today is synthetic, constituting around 80,000 tonnes each year, as of 2023. It is most commonly associated with the production of denim cloth and blue jeans, where its properties allow for effects such as stone washing and acid washing to be applied quickly. (Full article...)
Roller-printed cotton cushion cover panel, 1904, Silver Studio V&A Museum no. CIRC.675–1966
Roller printing, also called cylinder printing or machine printing, on fabrics is a textile printing process patented by Thomas Bell of Scotland in 1783 in an attempt to reduce the cost of the earlier copperplate printing. This method was used in Lancashire fabric mills to produce cotton dress fabrics from the 1790s, most often reproducing small monochrome patterns characterized by striped motifs and tiny dotted patterns called "machine grounds".
Improvements in the technology resulted in more elaborate roller prints in bright, rich colours from the 1820s; Turkey red and chrome yellow were particularly popular. (Full article...)
Rieve (second from right) and other members of a CIO delegation to the Soviet Union, 1945
Emil Rieve (June 8, 1892 – January 24, 1975) was an American labor leader. He was president of the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) from 1939 to 1956, a vice president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) from 1939 to 1955, and a vice president of the AFL-CIO from 1955 to 1960.
Emil Rieve was born in Poland and moved to Pennsylvania as a child. He left school early and first became a union member at age fifteen, quickly rising within the union hierarchy. He organized his first strike in 1930 in Reading, Pennsylvania. His aggressive drives to unionize the region's textile workers and achieve union recognition led to the Reading Formula of 1933 in negotiating with the National Labor Board, a precedent which resolved large numbers of other labor disputes. Rieve was a major figure in the unsuccessful textile workers strike of 1934. When the Congress of Industrial Organizations formed the following year, Rieve received international recognition for his efforts to avoid a rift with the American Federation of Labor. (Full article...)
Catholic clergymen wearing pleated rochets
A pleat (plait in older English) is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to narrow a wide piece of fabric through gathering.
Pleats are categorized as pressed, that is, ironed or otherwise heat-set into a sharp crease, or unpressed, falling in soft rounded folds. Pleats sewn into place are called tucks. (Full article...)- Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. At one point, it was the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds plc and Courtaulds Textiles Ltd.
The company was established in 1794 as George Courtauld & Co by George Courtauld. By 1850, it employed over 2,000 people across three silk mill, and it continued to expand over time. In 1904, Courtaulds acquired the Cross and Bevan's patents to the viscose process for manufacturing artificial silk to reduce the company's dependence on natural silk; within the decade, it was producing man-made fibres in quantity. Courtaulds also entered the market of cellulosics (viscose and acetate) in North America with the setting up of the American Viscose Corporation (AVC) in 1909. During the interwar period, the firm expanded its cellulosics business through various means, which included the founding of British Cellophane in 1935. By the end of the Second World War, Courtaulds was one of the four groups which dominated the man-made fibre industry in Europe. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto generated)
- ... that according to Brandy Hellville, executives at Brandy Melville have bought the clothes off of employees' backs?
- ... that Oduwa's reign saw cowries becoming so widespread as currency that nobles stitched them into their clothes, causing runaway inflation?
- ... that Sandra Ng wore her own clothes while filming Love Lies to help the production crew save on the budget?
- ... that the earliest of the authentic portraits of Mozart shows the prodigy wearing the clothes of Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria, given as a gift by Empress Maria Theresa?
- ... that Armand Avril travelled in 1960 for a year in Africa, where he was inspired to assemble "bottle caps, clothespins, glue, nails and empty tin cans"?
- ... that Caroline Jones wore different charity clothes every day in 2015 after her mother died?
More Did you know
- ...that handmade lace often begins as crochet thread (pictured)?
- ...that Flat Top Manor, built by textile industrialist Moses H. Cone in 1900, gets nearly 250,000 visitors annually as the main feature of the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park in North Carolina?
- ...that unmatched dye lots can frustrate weeks of labor for a knitter or crocheter?
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Dyeing is the process of imparting colour to a textile material in loose fibre, yarn, cloth or garment form by treatment with a dye.
General images -
The following are images from various clothing-related articles on Wikipedia.
A silk chiffon dress identical to that worn by Jennifer Lopez to the 42nd Annual Grammys in 2000, this version exhibited at the Fashion Museum, Bath, as part of their Dress of the Year Collection. (from History of clothing and textiles)
Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, was a leader of fashion. Her choices, such as this 1783 white muslin dress called a chemise a la Reine, were highly influential and widely worn. (from Fashion)
Sungir boy clothes reconstruction, about 30,000 years ago. (from History of clothing and textiles)
Warp-weighted loom configured for twill weave fabric. (from History of clothing and textiles)
Reconstruction of people of the Mierzanowice culture from present-day Poland, c. 2100–1650 BC. (from History of clothing and textiles)
Gross sales of goods vs IP laws (US 2007) (from Fashion)
Cover of Marcus Clarks' spring and summer catalogue 1926–27 (from Fashion)
Kaia Gerber at the 2019 Max Mara Fashion Week in Milan (from Fashion)
Kiko Mizuhara is a designer known for blending traditional Japanese elements with modern fashion, challenging stereotypes of Japanese style as static or outdated. (from Fashion)
Tie dye vendor, July 2013 (from Fashion)
Textile machinery at the Cambrian Factory, Llanwrtyd, Wales in the 1940s (from History of clothing and textiles)
A 16th-century Boxer Codex image showing the attire of a Classical period Filipino, made of silk and cotton (from History of clothing and textiles)
A multigenerational banquet depicted on a wall-painting from Pompeii, 1st century AD (from History of clothing and textiles)
Model with a modern dress reflecting the current fashion trend, 2011 (from Fashion)
Hindu lady wearing sari, one of the most ancient and popular pieces of clothing in the Indian subcontinent. (from Fashion)
Estonian national clothes are a fine example of change in clothing after the Industrial Revolution. They changed considerably during 18th and 19th century with the addition of new types of colors (like aniline dyes), placement of colors (like lengthwise stripes) and with the addition of new elements (like waistcoats). By the end of the 19th century they went out of use in most of the country (except more remote places as in Kihnu island) and it was only in mid 20th century when they once again gained popularity and now as a formal clothing. Members of University of Tartu Folk Art Ensemble wearing clothes specific to Kihnu island, Tori Parish (women in red skirts) and Tõstamaa area (men in brown clothing). (from History of clothing and textiles)
Edgar I of England in short tunic, hose, and cloak, 966 (from History of clothing and textiles)
Celebrities such as Britney Spears have popularized the concept of wearing underwear as outerwear. (from Fashion)
1895 Punch cartoon.Gertrude: "My dear Jessie, what on earth is that Bicycle Suit for?"
Jessie: "Why, to wear, of course."
Gertrude: "But you haven't got a Bicycle!"
Jessie: "No; but I've got a Sewing Machine!" (from History of clothing and textiles)
A see-through top worn along with pasties at a fashion show in 2017. Such fashion trends get popularised through media. (from Fashion)
A Concert in an Interior by Jan Josef Horemans the Younger of Antwerp, 1764. The women's sack-back gowns and the men's coats over long waistcoats are characteristic of this period. (from History of clothing and textiles)
Bold floral patterned silks, 15th century (from History of clothing and textiles)
Latin dancers in their costumes. The woman is wearing backless dress with deep slits on its lower portion, while the man is wearing a shirt with top buttons open. (from Fashion)
14th-century Italian silk damasks (from History of clothing and textiles)
A French reinterpretation of Spanish fashion, with elaborate reticella ruff, 1609 (from History of clothing and textiles)
Albrecht Dürer's drawing contrasts a well-turned out bourgeoise from Nuremberg (left) with her counterpart from Venice. The Venetian lady's high chopines make her look taller. (from Fashion)
Diana: A Celebration, an exhibition of Princess Diana's outfits at the Frazier History Museum. Diana's fashion significantly impacted style trends. (from Fashion)
A woman in Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, clad in fine Bengali muslin, 18th century. (from History of clothing and textiles)
Liu Wen, supermodel, walks the runway modeling fashions by designer Diane von Fürstenberg at New York Fashion Week 2013. (from Fashion)
Indigenous Americas Map Tunic designed in 2018 by Carla Fernández and Pedro Reyes for Taller Flora. (from Fashion)
This 1921 clipping from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, with story and drawings by Marguerite Martyn, represents the saturation newspaper coverage given to society women at a fashionable dance. (from Fashion)
Gensei Kajin Shu by Yoshu Chikanobu, 1890. Various styles of traditional Japanese clothing and Western styles. (from Fashion)
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