Hi friends,
This is the third part of my Worth and Quality series. Hopefully there has been some value from the previous two Made in X and Personal Worth. In this chapter, I’ll be breaking down some of the most commonly discussed and used clothing materials on MFA, their general purposes, and things to think about when evaluating a particular fabric composition.
/u/Fiber_fanatic has helped me fact check and add some details. He’s also an expert in the field so hopefully he’ll weigh in on some more specifics in this thread.
TL;DR: Sometimes you just want one but maybe adding a few others is good too.
Acrylic - cheap wool alternative, smooth and soft handfeel, easily statics, clings, and pills
Cotton - generic usage, has several types of cotton, very versatile, absorbs moisture
Elastane/Spandex/Lycra - provides stretch, maintains shape well
Linen - high strength, doesn’t stretch, provides structure and breathability, absorbs moisture
Lyocell/Tencell- takes dyes well, smooth handfeel, versatile finishing, absorbs moisture
Modal/Viscose - same as lyocell/tencell but higher strength
Nylon/Polyamide - hydrophobic, extremely high strength
Polyester - maintains shape, resists wrinkles and shrinking, dries quickly, not breathable, very versatile
Silk - smooth and cool handfeel, high strength, good insulation, expensive
Wool - water resistant, good insulation, wicks moisture, breathable, very versatile
Who's That Pokemon?
Acrylic - A pretty common synthetic, acrylic closely resembles wool in appearance and feel. It is lightweight with a soft and smooth handfeel. Like other synthetics, acrylic is hydrophobic. It also tends to generate static electricity and cling to the body. It has high elasticity, retains color well, has excellent moisture wicking, and does not retain wrinkles. It is also prone to pilling and does not play well with high heat. You’ll often see acrylic in performance clothing or blended with wool.
Cotton - This is a big one because cotton is the most commonly used organic material in fashion and a lot of it is actually sourced from the US. There could be an entire post (or several) on the differences in cottons but I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. The properties of cotton depend on two things: the milling, weave, and to some extent, plant species. From fast fashion to designer, most clothing labels aren’t going to tell you what type of cotton is being used. When it is provided, however, here’s what you should know:
Upland - Short-staple cotton (staple is the length of the fiber) and the cheapest type. 95% of cotton grown in the US is upland. Species: Gossypium hirsutum.
Pima - Long-staple cotton which provides strength and softness to the end product. Generally good and may be grown anywhere in the world. Stuff that’s labeled pima could still be contaminated with short-staple cotton. Species: Gossypium barabadense.
Supima - Pima cotton that has been approved by the Supima Association. Basically it is longer-staple cotton that has been strictly regulated and certified. It’s harvested in California, Arizona, and Texas, but mostly California. Same species as Pima.
Egyptian - Another extra long-staple cotton that shares the properties of Pima except, obviously, it is grown in Egypt. Same species as Pima.
Sea Island - Extra long-staple cotton that is the same as above except it’s grown on the Southeast coast of the US. Same species as Pima.
Because there are so many factors in determining the quality of cotton, let’s just say that it is a generic, all-purpose material that everyone has experience with. There are certainly different levels of cotton but when you’re evaluating a particular garment, I’d argue that handfeel, construction, weight, and design are the things you should focus on.
Elastane/Spandex/Lycra - Elastane and spandex are the same thing: spandex is a very American-centric name while elastane is more global. Lycra is actually a brand name for elastane. It’s a very flexible material, is lighter than rubber, and 2% is usually enough to keep the garment’s shape. Because of this, you’ll often see a small % in stretch jeans. Performance-wear commonly uses this material. Elastane is never used in clothing on its own and will always be part of a fabric mix.
Linen - A warm weather favorite, linen is made from flax plants and the majority is sourced through Europe, Egypt, and China. It has high tensile strength, doesn’t stress easily and is slightly silky in texture and appearance. Importantly, linen doesn’t really have elasticity so it won’t stretch to accommodate your body as cotton would. Rather, it is a relatively rigid fabric that creates more structured draping. Linen is very breathable and has good moisture absorbency so it will absorb sweat from your body. As a fabric, it is frequently used in every type of garment except underwear.
Lyocell/Tencel/Rayon - Firstly, Tencel is just a brand name of Lyocell. It is a material that is made from regenerated cellulose after bleaching wood pulp. It has strong fibers and has extremely high dye absorbency, allowing it to take on rich colors. It is highly moisture absorbent with a very smooth handfeel. Structurally, there are very fine hairs on the outer fibers that allow you to process lyocell to have a nappy suede-like finish or an extremely fine silky finish. I’ve mostly seen lyocell used in underwear and tees, likely due to the smoothness on the skin and aforementioned absorbency. The full manufacturing process for lyocell can be found here. I’ve included rayon in this block because lyocell/tencel are subsets of rayon.
Modal/Viscose/Rayon - Also a regenerated-cellulose-based material but manufactured using a different process. As such, it also has a lot of the same functional properties as lyocell, including the ability to take on dye and moisture absorbency. Modal is processed in a way that increases its strength and is therefore more resistant to damage but the practical differences may be negligible. I’ve included viscose here as the production processes and final product are almost the same. These textiles can be called semi-synthetic as they are chemically processed but from natural raw materials. I’ve included rayon in this block because modal/viscose are subsets of rayon.
Nylon/Polyamide - Nylon is a type of polyamide. I’m not actually sure if I’ve seen polyamide on a materials tag but I think I have so I’m making this note. A common synthetic, especially in outdoor gear. Nylon is completely hydrophobic, making it great for raincoats and such. It also has extremely high tensile strength, even beating out polyester. When used in a blend, nylon provides resistance to creasing and quick-dry properties.
Polyester - For a lot of people, polyester is the big bad wolf of clothing, almost always associated with cheapness or poor “quality”. Polyester definitely has a purpose though, so let’s talk about the advantages. As a material, it is strong and flexible, resists wrinkles and shrinking, dries quickly, and much cheaper than cotton. Furthermore, because polyester retains its shape so well, designers often use it for pleating, laser engravings, and other treatments that require a solid structure. While polyester is resistant to staining because of its hydrophobic properties, it also means that it is harder to dye. Polyester’s distinct disadvantage is that it is not breathable at all, which can make wearing garments with high polyester content uncomfortably hot and sweaty. More true than perhaps any other material, consider why the designer/manufacturer is using polyester in the garment and whether or not the properties it provides are to improve a particular product vision or simply as a cost-cutting decision.
Silk - This is one of my favorite materials and while not super common, it is often in discussion when considering jacket liners. Among its many properties, the two most relevant are handfeel and insulation. There are different types and treatments of silk that produce different handfeels, but generally it is extremely smooth and cool to the touch. Due to its relatively higher cost, it is very rare to find silk as a material in lower end garments. Silk is incredibly time consuming to harvest and only a handful of insects produce it, including moths, spiders, bee’s, and worms. Worms are currently the only real and consistent source. Fun fact, although harvesting silk involves boiling the worms in their cocoons, those worms are then processed for food and fertilizers.
Wool - Like cotton, wool encompasses a huge range of variables that affect the final fabric and garment. Generally, all wools are water resistant, wick moisture, provide good insulation, is breathable, and naturally odor resistant. Wool is also highly susceptible to piling and prone to shrinkage in hot water/dryer cycles. Often you’ll see dry cleaning as the recommendation on care tags. Interestingly, there are no advances in technology to achieve a true “optic white” coloration in wool. The degree to which the fabric actually performs all of these characteristics is up to the grade of material i.e. staple lengths, the thickness of the actual fabric, the weave of the fabric i.e. worsted wool, any additional treatment i.e. boiled wool, and many other factors. While wool content is generally a good thing in whatever percentage, the nuance is the quality and type of wool. Let’s look at a few of the most common types:
Virgin/Lambs wool - Wool from the first shearing of a sheep. It is typically the softest shearing.
Merino - Wool from the Merino sheep (duh?). Compared to other breeds, this wool has extremely fine and long staples which makes the resulting fabric softer and drape better.
Cashmere - Technically considered hair and taken from the undercoat of a cashmere goat. One goat yields about 150 grams of cashmere per year. Has the same properties as other wools but finer and softer than the above.
Mohair - Hair obtained from the Angora goat. Different parts of the goat’s hair get mixed with the undercoat, creating the distinct fuzziness of mohair.
Alpaca - Obviously from an alpaca. There is higher variance in the staple, meaning alpaca can be super fine and soft or kind of coarse and itchy. It’s often mixed with other wools to give it better handfeel.
A Few Examples
So with that aside, how do we use this information to help us judge garments? As we can see, each material provides some distinct features that you may or may not want in a particular piece. I’ll illustrate some examples where things aren’t as clear cut as “non-synthetic is better”.
Topcoat: Top Coat
Consider this topcoat from MFA-darling Uniqlo. We see that the fabric mix is 55% cotton, 45% polyester. You may make a snap decision and say that it is inferior to this topcoat, also from Uniqlo but that is not necessarily true. Whether or not this is a cost cutting decision (and it likely is at this pricepoint) or maybe a dyeing limitation (polyester is hydrophobic), we know that one of the qualities of polyester is that it is not very breathable. This may mean that it is actually better for colder weather conditions than the 100% cotton variant but evaluating that goes beyond just looking at the materials.
Designer Synthetic Aesthetics
These aren’t everyone’s style preference, but check out these beautiful Issey Miyake pants. Cool shape, cool concept, but 100% polyester for that price? Completely absurd right? However, let’s refer back to the fact that polyester retains its shape very well. The whole purpose of the Pleats Please line is the delicate pleating found on each garment to produce an architectural effect. This would not be possible using natural materials like cotton or wool because those fibers are not as structured. Any pleating in the original garment would disappear after use which entirely defeats the purpose.
Cost Cutting Cardigan
Now of course, not all synthetics are used just because they add a particular feature or quality to a garment. Here’s a cardigan from fast fashion giant Zara. You’ll see that the composition is 66% cotton and 34% acrylic. Companies like Zara make their money with volume and turnaround, meaning their priorities are to minimize the cost of manufacturing while maintaining margins. Obviously this is true for every company, but compared to higher end brands, design becomes secondary to optimizing material sourcing and operations chains for fast fashion businesses. Despite that, the acrylic here may still impart some properties that you might want such as anti-wrinkling and maintaining color at the expense of a different handfeel and drape compared to 100% cotton.
Final Thoughts
This is a lengthy one and for good reason: all fabrics exist for more than one reason and we should think about these when looking at material tags. There are many reasons for preferring a certain material composition over another and combining different materials will give you different properties at the cost of others. Personally, I shy away from synthetic blends because of how they feel on my skin over time.
A rule of thumb is that fast fashion companies use synthetics as cost cutting measures because their business model relies on cutting costs and driving volume whereas “slow fashion” uses synthetics for specific properties because they rely more on design. However, keep in mind what each material actually contributes before passing judgment.
If you’ve gotten to this point, thanks for reading and I hope you think it was a good use of your time. Some topics I’d like to cover in my next posts are: the purpose of fashion (on function vs form, self expression, and social signaling), detailing details (like piping, hidden plackets, button flys, etc), and inspiration (geography, social class, trends, fashion shows, body types, etc). I appreciate any feedback and suggestions on my writing and future topics.