Portal:Clothing

The Clothing Portal

A garment factory in Bangladesh

Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural products found in the environment, put together. The wearing of clothing is mostly restricted to human beings and is a feature of all human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on gender, body type, social factors, and geographic considerations. Garments cover the body, footwear covers the feet, gloves cover the hands, while hats and headgear cover the head, and underwear covers the private parts.

Clothing has significant social factors as well. Wearing clothes is a variable social norm. It may connote modesty. Being deprived of clothing in front of others may be embarrassing. In many parts of the world, not wearing clothes in public so that genitals, breast, or buttocks are visible could be considered indecent exposure. Pubic area or genital coverage is the most frequently encountered minimum found cross-culturally and regardless of climate, implying social convention as the basis of customs. Clothing also may be used to communicate social status, wealth, group identity, and individualism. (Full article...)

Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. 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, and doctor's gowns. (Full article...)

Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. (Full article...)

Selected articles -

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  Former woollen weavers' cottages in Wardle, Greater Manchester, England.

  
  A weavers' cottage was (and to an extent still is) a type of house used by weavers for cloth production in the putting-out system sometimes known as the domestic system.
  
  Weavers' cottages were common in Great Britain, often with dwelling quarters on the lower floors and loom-shop on the top floor. Cellar loomshops on the ground floor or in the basement were found where cotton was woven, as they provided high humidity. A loom-shop can be often recognised by a long row of windows which provided maximum light for the weaver. (Full article...)
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  "Summer", detail from a tapestry called The Seasons or Orchard, woven by Morris & Co. in wool, silk, and mohair on a cotton ground at Merton Abbey in 1890, designed by William Morris and John Henry Dearle.

  
  John Henry Dearle (22 August 1859 – 15 January 1932) was a British textile and stained-glass designer trained by the artist and craftsman William Morris who was much influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Dearle designed many of the later wallpapers and textiles released by Morris & Co., and contributed background and foliage patterns to tapestry designs featuring figures by Edward Burne-Jones and others. Beginning in his teens as a shop assistant and then design apprentice, Dearle rose to become Morris & Co.'s chief designer by 1890, creating designs for tapestries, embroidery, wallpapers, woven and printed textiles, stained glass, and carpets. Following Morris's death in 1896, Dearle was appointed Art Director of the firm, and became its principal stained glass designer on the death of Burne-Jones in 1898.
  
  Morris's reputation overshadowed Dearle's work throughout Dearle's career: Dearle exhibited early patterns under Morris's name and Dearle designs continue to be sold as Morris patterns. Critical assessment of Dearle's work then underwent a significant change during the final decades of the twentieth century, recognizing Dearle's mature work as having a unique artistic vision of its own. Dearle always remained close to Morris's aesthetic, but from the 1890s onward he incorporated a distinctive set of Persian and Turkish influences. (Full article...)
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  Drawing of a baldachin over a throne, placed on a dais

  
  A baldachin, or baldaquin (from Italian: baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure is more correctly called a ciborium when it is sufficiently architectural in form. Baldachins are often supported on columns, especially when they are disconnected from an enclosing wall. A cloth of honour is a simpler cloth hanging vertically behind the throne, usually continuing to form a canopy. It can also be used for similar canopies in interior design, for example above beds, and for processional canopies used in formal state ceremonies such as coronations, held up by four or more men with poles attached to the corners of the cloth.
  
  "Baldachin" was originally a luxurious type of cloth from Baghdad, from which name the word is ultimately derived, appearing in English as "baudekin" and other spellings. Matthew Paris records that Henry III of England wore a robe "de preciosissimo baldekino" at a ceremony at Westminster Abbey in 1247. The word for the cloth became the word for the ceremonial canopies made from the cloth. (Full article...)
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  A modern industrial knitting machine in action

  
  A knitting machine is a device used to create knitted fabrics in a semi or fully automated fashion. There are numerous types of knitting machines, ranging from simple spool or board templates with no moving parts to highly complex mechanisms controlled by electronics. All, however, produce various types of knitted fabrics, usually either flat or tubular, and of varying degrees of complexity. Pattern stitches can be selected by hand manipulation of the needles, push-buttons and dials, mechanical punch cards, or electronic pattern reading devices and computers. (Full article...)
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  Mascarade à l'éléphant, also known as Elephant (387 x 640 cm. ; 152 x 252 in.)

  
  The Valois Tapestries 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...)
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  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...)
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  Kimono for a young woman (furisode), Japan, 1912–1926

  
  The Khalili Collection of Kimono is a private collection of more than 450 Japanese kimono assembled by the British-Iranian scholar, collector and philanthropist Nasser D. Khalili. It is one of eight collections assembled, published and exhibited by Khalili, each of which is considered to be among the most important collections within their respective fields.
  
  The Khalili Collection of Kimono includes formal, semi-formal, and informal kimono made for men, women, and children, illustrating the evolution of the kimono through cut, construction, materials, and decorative techniques from the 17th through the 20th centuries, with kimono representing the Edo period, the Meiji period, the Taishō period, and the Shōwa period. The kimono within the collection are not on permanent display, but are periodically lent or donated in part to cultural institutions; including the Kremlin Museums in Moscow and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Khalili, who also owns a collection of Meiji-era Japanese art, describes kimono as "one of the wonders of the world." He started the kimono collection with the aim of collecting and cataloguing cultural works that were not already actively being collected. (Full article...)
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  Denim fabric dyed with indigo

  
  Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weave produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. Denim, as it is recognized today, was first produced in Nîmes, France.
  
  Denim is available in a range of colors, but the most common denim is indigo denim in which the warp thread is dyed while the weft thread is left white. As a result of the warp-faced twill weaving, one side of the textile is dominated by the blue warp threads, and the other side is dominated by the white weft threads. Jeans fabricated from this cloth are thus predominantly white on the inside. Denim is used to create a wide variety of garments, accessories, and furniture. (Full article...)
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  Reconstruction of a Saxon sprang hairnet

  
  Sprang is an ancient method of constructing fabric that has a natural elasticity. Its appearance is similar to netting, but unlike netting, sprang is constructed entirely from warp threads. Archaeological evidence indicates that sprang predates knitting; the two needlework forms bear a visible resemblance and serve similar functions but require different production techniques.
  
  Although examples of sprang have been unearthed from as early as the Bronze Age, sprang was almost entirely undocumented in written records until the late nineteenth century when archaeological finds generated interest in Europe. Museum examples of sprang had been misidentified as knitting or lace until discoveries of ancient examples prompted reexamination of newer pieces. Subsequently, sprang has been identified in a variety of cultures and traditions across several continents. Its practice as a folk art waned during the twentieth century and sprang traditions have disappeared in most locales. Knitting has largely supplanted sprang. (Full article...)
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  Commercial machine embroidery in chain stitch on a voile curtain, China, early 21st century

  
  
  Machine embroidery is an embroidery process whereby a sewing machine or embroidery machine is used to create patterns on textiles. It is used commercially in product branding, corporate advertising, and uniform adornment. It is also used in the fashion industry to decorate garments and apparel. Machine embroidery is used by hobbyists and crafters to decorate gifts, clothing, and home decor. Examples include designs on quilts, pillows, and wall hangings.
  
  There are multiple types of machine embroidery. Free-motion sewing machine embroidery uses a basic zigzag sewing machine. Designs are done manually. Most commercial embroidery is done with link stitch embroidery. In link stitch embroidery, patterns may be manually or automatically controlled. Link Stitch embroidery is also known as chenille embroidery, and was patented by Pulse Microsystems in 1994. More modern computerized machine embroidery uses an embroidery machine or sewing/embroidery machine that is controlled with a computer that embroiders stored patterns. These machines may have multiple heads and threads. (Full article...)
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  Lady Jane Allgood displays her embroidery of an anemone and tulips worked in long-and-short stitch, part of a set of 18th century chair covers and screens which survive at Nunwick Hall, although now much faded.

  
  
  English embroidery includes embroidery worked in England or by English people abroad from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. The oldest surviving English embroideries include items from the early 10th century preserved in Durham Cathedral and the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, if it was worked in England. The professional workshops of Medieval England created rich embroidery in metal thread and silk for ecclesiastical and secular uses. This style was called Opus Anglicanum or "English work", and was famous throughout Europe.
  
  With the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, the focus of English embroidery increasingly turned to clothing and household furnishings, leading to another great flowering of English domestic embroidery in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. The end of this period saw the rise of the formal sampler as a record of the amateur stitcher's skills. Curious fashions of the mid-17th century were raised work or stumpwork, a pictorial style featuring detached and padded elements, and crewel work, featuring exotic leaf motifs worked in wool yarn. (Full article...)
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  Weaving at Finlayson factory in Tampere, Finland in 1951

  
  Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods such as clothing, household items, upholstery and various industrial products.
  
  Different types of fibres are used to produce yarn. Cotton remains the most widely used and common natural fiber making up 90% of all-natural fibers used in the textile industry. People often use cotton clothing and accessories because of comfort, not limited to different weathers. There are many variable processes available at the spinning and fabric-forming stages coupled with the complexities of the finishing and colouration processes to the production of a wide range of products. (Full article...)
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  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...)
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  William Perkin (1838–1907)

  
  Sir William Henry Perkin FRS (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907) was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying to synthesise quinine for the treatment of malaria, he became successful in the field of dyes after his first discovery at the age of 18.
  
  Perkin set up a factory to produce the dye industrially. Lee Blaszczyk, professor of business history at the University of Leeds, states, "By laying the foundation for the synthetic organic chemicals industry, Perkin helped to revolutionize the world of fashion." (Full article...)
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  Smocking on the collar of a sixteenth-century garment

  
  
  Smocking is an embroidery technique used to gather fabric so that it can stretch. Before elastic, smocking was commonly used in cuffs, bodices, and necklines in garments where buttons were undesirable. Smocking developed in England and has been practised since the Middle Ages and is unusual among embroidery methods in that it was often worn by labourers. Other major embroidery styles are purely decorative and represented status symbols. Smocking was practical for garments to be both form fitting and flexible, hence its name derives from smock — an agricultural labourer's work shirt. Smocking was used most extensively in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto generated)

• ... that Liberian paramount chief Tamba Taylor worked as a tailor and claimed to have sewn clothes for Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie and Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah?
• ... that Church Clothes 4 deals with Christian hip hop artist Lecrae's faith deconstruction and reconstruction?
• ... that pioneering Daily News camerawoman Evelyn Straus had her clothes custom-made to carry her film and flashbulbs?
• ... that during the Second World War, the British government's campaign Make-Do and Mend encouraged the public to fashion men's clothes into womenswear?
• ... that after being criticized for dressing "like a doll" at an important meeting, pioneering Russian feminist Anna Filosofova replied that "clothes do not make the woman"?
• ... that during a renovation of 4 Park Avenue, workers found a sealed room with women's clothes and shoes that was not in the building's blueprints?

More Did you know

• ... that grosgrain ribbons or textiles finished by calendering become the thin, glossy and papery fabric known as moire (pictured)?
• ... that shed is a weaving term for the temporary separation in warp threads so the shuttle with the weft can go through?
• ...that a selvage is the edge of a piece of woven or knitted fabric that won't fray or come unraveled?

Related portals

Selected image

Mrs Charles Willing by Robert Feke

Mrs. Charles Willing of Philadelphia was painted by Robert Feke in 1746 wearing a gown of imported Spitalfields silk brocade designed in 1743 by English textile designer Anna Maria Garthwaite.

General images -

The following are images from various clothing-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  A see-through top worn along with pasties by a model at a fashion show in US, 2017. Such fashion trends get popularised through media. (from Fashion)
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  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)
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  Gross sales of goods vs IP laws (US 2007) (from Fashion)
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  Woman's Bicycling Ensemble, 1898, LACMA (from Fashion)
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  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)
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  14th-century Italian silk damasks (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Ivanka Trump (right) along with Japanese PM Shinzō Abe wearing Western-style business suits, 2017 (from Fashion)
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  Cover of Marcus Clarks' spring and summer catalogue 1926–27 (from Fashion)
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  Haute couture fashion models walk the runway during New York Fashion Week in February 2014, at the Carolina Herrera show. (from Fashion)
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  Minidress by John Bates, 1965 (from Fashion)
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  Slashing at its height: Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, c. 1514 (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Edgar I of England in short tunic, hose, and cloak, 966 (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Textile machinery at the Cambrian Factory, Llanwrtyd, Wales in the 1940s (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  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)
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  The Boxer Codex, showing the attire of a Classical period Filipino, made of silk and cotton (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Liu Wen, supermodel, walks the runway modeling fashions by designer Diane von Fürstenberg at New York Fashion Week 2013. (from Fashion)
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  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)
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  Fur fashion for sale in Tallinn, Estonia (from Fashion)
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  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)
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  A French reinterpretation of Spanish fashion, with elaborate reticella ruff, 1609 (from History of clothing and textiles)
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  Celebrities such as Britney Spears have popularized the concept of wearing underwear as outerwear. (from Fashion)
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  A Mexican sports reporter wearing little black dress and knee-high boots (from Fashion)
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  Estonian national clothes are a fine example of change in clothing after the industrial revolution. They changed a lot during 18th and 19th of 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)
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  Gensei Kajin Shu by Yoshu Chikanobu, 1890. Various styles of traditional Japanese clothing and Western styles. (from Fashion)
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  Bold floral patterned silks, 15th century (from History of clothing and textiles)

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Featured articles Bronwyn Bancroft Inuit clothing Good articles Batik Bed hangings Cora Slocomb di Brazza Dar al-Kiswa English embroidery History of silk Knitta Please William Morris Natural dye Navajo weaving Sprang Featured pictures 17.17-37-1969-Kaukasisk-broderi 17th century Central Tibeten thanka of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra, Rubin Museum of Art Eugène Grasset - A La Place Clichy Khalili Collections A Composite Imaginary View of Japan Featured portals Portal:Clothing

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Textile Arts WikiProject

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Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : Japanese embroidery, Slip stitch crochet, Angelo Testa (see Ostrich leather for example) Assess : Rate unassessed articles for quality and importance Cleanup : Tassel, Burlap, or one of the articles in our cleanup list Copyedit : History of knitting, Drawn thread work Expand : History of textiles and clothing, Casting on (knitting) Photo : Hollie point, Challis (fabric), Mountmellick embroidery, More photos... Stubs : Afghan blanket, Emilie Bach, Candlewicking, Dip stitch (knitting), Elongated stitch (knitting), More stubs... Verify : Clothing, Ply, Bobbinet, Braid, Canvas, Cardigan (sweater), Cotton-spinning machinery, Crocheted lace, Damask, Distaff, Dobby loom, Drawn thread work, Dyeing, Hemline, Ikat, Lace, Natural fiber, Neckline, Oilskin, Overlock, Machine embroidery Other : Help find and upload Requested pictures Place the {{WikiProject Textile Arts}} project banner on the talk pages of all articles within the scope of the project. Place the {{Portal|Textile arts}} portal template in the See also section of associated articles. Improve a top priority textile arts article. Original research removal: Clothing, History of knitting

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