Tweed (fabric): composition, price, reviews

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

As evidenced by the memoirs of contemporaries, the famous English writer Arthur Conan Doyle was very fond of tweed. The fabric, traditionally made in Scotland, pleased him so much that he “gave” a cap made of this material to his character, Sherlock Holmes. There are only a few mentions of this in the book, but today no one can even imagine the great detective dressed in clothes from a different fabric.

Book illustrators and costume cinematographers feature an English detective in a tweed coat and cap. This is how the Soviet Sherlock Holmes - Livanov, as well as his foreign colleagues performed by Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch are dressed.

What is this fabric?

Modern tweed is a woolen fabric woven from threads dyed in different colors that form a relief surface. The subject of national pride of the Scots, along with the traditional kilt (men's plaid skirt) and whiskey, is tweed. Today this traditional Scottish materialAvailable in a wide variety of colors and densities. It is worth mentioning the fact that this is the only material in the world that is produced from local raw materials using genuine national technology on a commercial scale. The most recognizable patterns decorating this material are herringbone, fly and cage.

In addition, tweed is a durable fabric, very soft and warm, and besides, it practically does not wrinkle. Initially, men's warm jackets for hunting were sewn from tweed, and then in classic fashion it was used for tailoring men's and women's suits, coats and hats. Modern designers have found many other uses for it and make bags, shoes and even handkerchiefs from this fabric.

Tweed fabric: description and characteristics

As already mentioned, this material is made from specially treated and dyed untwisted thick yarn obtained from high quality sheep's wool. During the manufacturing process, wool fibers are intertwined diagonally, forming a twill structure of the fabric. The coloring of tweed is quite variegated and is obtained by mixing multi-colored threads dyed in discreet natural colors. Tweed is a fabric in which the maximum number of yarn colors used can be up to six.

Who invented it?

At the beginning of the 19th century, in the Scottish town of Harris, on the Isle of Lewis, tweed was first made. At that time, it was a heavy and dense, thick and rough material, from which a suitableBritish weather conditions, clothing that reliably protected from wind, cold and rain. For dyeing yarn, natural natural dyes of soft shades were used. In those days, tweed was taken for sewing men's suits and hunting jackets.

The fabric, the reviews of that time so testify, was so rough and prickly that for trousers they specially cut out a lining from a different material so as not to irritate the skin. Over time, production technology improved, and tweed became more and more thin, elastic and soft material.

Why is it called that?

Modern researchers talk about two possible options for the origin of the name of this Scottish wool fabric. According to one version, the material got its name in honor of the River Tweed, which flows along the border between Scotland and England. According to the second version, the illegible and poorly readable handwriting of one of the Scottish suppliers contributed to the fact that the London merchant read "tweed" instead of "tweel" and sent a batch of fabric with that name for sale. Interestingly enough, both tweed, a fabric that expresses status and individual style, and the ubiquitous denim - a phenomenon of mass culture, belong to the class of twill - materials with a diagonal weave of fibers.

Main species

Trying to adapt to the requirements of ever-changing fashion, tweed has noticeably changed and become very diverse:

• The thickest, warmest andexpensive kind is harris. It is also called English tweed. A fabric whose composition and manufacturing methods have remained unchanged since the 19th century. As at that time, the yarn for it is dyed only with natural dyes, it is made by hand in Scotland on old looms.
• It is Cheviot that is considered the best material for sewing a coat. Made from the wool of sheep of a breed called "Cheviot" and get a dense and coarse tweed fabric. The price for it is quite high, but, according to experts, such a coat will last for decades and at the same time will not lose its appearance and qualities.

• Very warm and heavy bedford cord with a wavy pattern is used in the manufacture of winter hunting suits and jackets.

• For sewing jackets and suits for hunting, as well as everyday vests, medium-density material - donegal is used.

  

• Tighter tracksuits and coats are made of thick and heavy fabric - the so-called carpet-cotton tweed, dyed in a brownish-olive hue.
• Pepita, or shepherd's cage, is a type of tweed fabric used for tailoring jackets in an informal style.
• It is hardly possible to name a more recognizable tweed pattern than a herringbone. In its classic form, it is performed on a medium-weight fabric in brown-yellow colors. In the modern interpretation of this pattern, other color combinations are also used.

Men's fabric

In his autobiographical book "RememberingWindsor" Former King Edward VII (Duke of Windsor) says tweed is also favored by British rulers such as Edward VII and George V.

The first popular piece of men's clothing made from this material was the Norfolk jacket intended for hunting. Tweed jackets were introduced into European (in particular, French) men's fashion by Paul Poiret. The English classic tweed jacket for everyday use was created much later and was sewn from a brownish-green fabric. Over time, costumes made from this material became popular among the creative and scientific intelligentsia, youth and students.

Tweed and women's fashion

Thanks to the inimitable Coco Chanel, tweed fabric and suits made from it got into women's fashion. It was she who slightly changed the composition of the fabric by adding cotton to it, and also developed a model of a fitted jacket without a collar. European women of fashion did not immediately accept a new type of costume, but overseas, in the United States of America, they accepted it with a bang. Working and busy American women liked the simple and elegant suit. Many famous and popular ladies of different times, such as Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy, Kate Moss and Lady Gaga, are happy to wear tweed suits. Tweed reached its first wave of popularity in 1966, and in 1980 it went out of fashion and was practically forgotten until 2007. Since the 2013-2014 fall/winter fashion shows, various types of tweed fabrics have been present in most collections.

Issue price

Today it is quite easy to gettweed fabric, the description and characteristics of which were given above. One has only to remember that the price of this material depends on the quality of the wool itself, the technology of its processing and, of course, on the manufacturer.

We won't stop at 100% synthetic Chinese fabric called "tweed" as it has nothing to do with real tweed. Quality material is made only from natural ingredients: wool with a small amount of silk or cotton in the composition.

Thin tweed fabric for sewing dresses and suits can be bought in Moscow at a price of 500-600 rubles per meter. A thicker and denser suit material will cost from 1300–1400, for a coat - from 2000 rubles and more.

Customer Reviews

If you are thinking about buying or sewing a suit from such an expensive fabric as tweed, you may be helped to make the right decision by the reviews of those who already wear tweed clothes. Most buyers note the main, in their opinion, drawback - the high price of both tweed fabric and products made from it. In addition, there are some features in the care of tweed items, which somewhat complicate the life of their owners.

First of all, only hand washing is allowed in special detergents designed for wool, as well as drying washed wardrobe items in a horizontal position. However, tweed suits, dresses and jackets have much more advantages than disadvantages. Here are some of them:

• things hardly wrinkle;
• tactilely very pleasant and comfortable to wear;
• even with constant wear, clothes do not look shabby or worn.

Many of the owners of tweed wardrobe items are thinking about purchasing some more thing from this natural and beautiful material.