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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  Hand-made sweater worn by Fred Rogers, on display in the Smithsonian Institution. Rogers' mother Nancy knitted all the sweaters he wore on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

  
  The "sweater curse" or "curse of the love sweater" is a term used by knitters and crocheters to describe the belief that if a knitter or crocheter gives a hand-knit sweater to a significant other, it will lead to the recipient breaking up with the knitter. In an alternative formulation, the relationship will end before the sweater is even completed. The belief is widely discussed in knitting publications, and some knitters claim to have experienced it. In a 2005 poll, 15% of active knitters said that they had experienced the sweater curse firsthand, and 41% considered it a possibility that should be taken seriously.
  
  Despite its name, the "sweater curse" is treated in knitting literature not as a superstition governed by paranormal forces, but rather as a real-world pitfall of knitting that has rational explanations. Several plausible mechanisms for the sweater curse have been proposed, but it has not been studied systematically. (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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  Rug in progress in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca

  
  The textiles of Mexico have a long history. The making of fibers, cloth and other textile goods has existed in the country since at least 1400 BCE. Fibers used during the pre-Hispanic period included those from the yucca, palm and maguey plants as well as the use of cotton in the hot lowlands of the south. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish introduced new fibers such as silk and wool as well as the European foot treadle loom. Clothing styles also changed radically. Fabric was produced exclusively in workshops or in the home until the era of Porfirio Díaz (1880s to 1910), when the mechanization of weaving was introduced, mostly by the French.
  Today, fabric, clothes and other textiles are both made by craftsmen and in factories. Handcrafted goods include pre-Hispanic clothing such as huipils and sarapes, which are often embroidered. Clothing, rugs and more are made with natural and naturally dyed fibers. Most handcrafts are produced by indigenous people, whose communities are concentrated in the center and south of the country in states such as Mexico State, Oaxaca and Chiapas. The textile industry remains important to the economy of Mexico although it has suffered a setback due to competition by cheaper goods produced in countries such as China, India and Vietnam. (Full article...)
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  Woman knitting

  
  Knitting is a method for production of textile fabrics by interlacing yarn loops with loops of the same or other yarns. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine.
  
  Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, they can be either flat or in the round (tubular). There are usually many active stitches on the knitting needle at one time. Knitted fabric consists of a number of consecutive rows of connected loops that intermesh with the next and previous rows. As each row is formed, each newly created loop is pulled through one or more loops from the prior row and placed on the gaining needle so that the loops from the prior row can be pulled off the other needle without unraveling. (Full article...)
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  Batik from Surakarta in Central Java province in Indonesia; before 1997

  
  Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia.
  Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of wax with a spouted tool called a canting, or by printing the wax with a copper stamp called a cap. The applied wax resists dyes and therefore allows the artisan to colour selectively by soaking the cloth in one colour, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple colours are desired.
  
  Indonesian coastal batik (batik pesisir) made in the island of Java has a history of acculturation, a mixture of native and foreign cultures. It is a newer model compared to inland batik, and it uses more colors, though the patterns are less intricate. This is because inland batik used to be made by select experts living in palace areas, while coastal batik can be made by anyone. (Full article...)
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  1950s huipil

  
  
  Huipil [ˈwipil] (Nahuatl: huīpīlli [wiːˈpiːlːi]; Ch'orti': b’ujk; Chuj: nip) is the most common traditional garment worn by indigenous women from central Mexico to Central America.
  
  It is a loose-fitting tunic, generally made from two or three rectangular pieces of fabric, which are then joined with stitching, ribbons, or fabric strips, with an opening for the head and, if the sides are sewn, openings for the arms. Traditional huipils, especially ceremonial ones, are usually made with fabric woven on a backstrap loom and are decorated with designs woven into the fabric, embroidery, ribbons, lace, and more. However, some huipils are also made from commercial fabric. (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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  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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  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 Eskimo-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...)
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  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. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. 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 the 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, back strap 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...)
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  Cloak, 1580–1600 V&A Museum no. 793–1901 Techniques – Red satin, couched and embroidered with silver, silver-gilt and coloured silk threads, trimmed with silver-gilt and silk thread fringe and tassel, and lined with pink linen

  
  Aesthetics in textiles is one of the basic concepts of serviceability of textiles. It is determined by the perception of touch and sight. Aesthetics imply the appearance and attraction of textile products; it includes the color and texture of the material. It is a statement about the end user (consumer) and the target market. When combined with fabric construction, the finish of the clothing material, garment fit, style, and fashion compatibility, colours create an aesthetic comfort. All of these elements work together to satisfy our visual perception. Aesthetics incorporates the role of evaluation (analysing and judging) also.
  
  There are various arts and applications that imparts aesthetic properties in textiles. Additionally, the use of LEDs and optical fibres enables the creation of aesthetic properties such as illuminated textiles. (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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  The Leader of the Luddites, 1812. Hand-coloured etching.

  
  The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers who opposed the use of certain types of cost-saving machinery, and often destroyed the machines in clandestine raids. They protested against manufacturers who used machines in "a fraudulent and deceitful manner" to replace the skilled labour of workers and drive down wages by producing inferior goods. Members of the group referred to themselves as Luddites, self-described followers of "Ned Ludd", a legendary weaver whose name was used as a pseudonym in threatening letters to mill owners and government officials.
  
  The Luddite movement began in Nottingham, England, and spread to the North West and Yorkshire between 1811 and 1816. Mill and factory owners took to shooting protesters and eventually the movement was suppressed by legal and military force, which included execution and penal transportation of accused and convicted Luddites. (Full article...)
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  Naturally dyed skeins made with madder root, Colonial Williamsburg, VA

  
  Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi.
  
  Archaeologists have found evidence of textile dyeing dating back to the Neolithic period. In China, dyeing with plants, barks and insects has been traced back more than 5,000 years. The essential process of dyeing changed little over time. Typically, the dye material is put in a pot of water and heated to extract the dye compounds into solution with the water. Then the textiles to be dyed are added to the pot, and held at heat until the desired color is achieved. Textile fibre may be dyed before spinning or weaving ("dyed in the wool"), after spinning ("yarn-dyed") or after weaving ("piece-dyed"). Many natural dyes require the use of substances called mordants to bind the dye to the textile fibres. Mordants (from Latin mordere 'to bite') are metal salts that can form a stable molecular coordination complex with both natural dyes and natural fibres. Historically, the most common mordants were alum (potassium aluminum sulfate—a metal salt of aluminum) and iron (ferrous sulfate). Many other metal salt mordants were also used, but are seldom used now due to modern research evidence of their extreme toxicity either to human health, ecological health, or both. These include salts of metals such as chrome, copper, tin, lead, and others. In addition, a number of non-metal salt substances can be used to assist with the molecular bonding of natural dyes to natural fibres—either on their own, or in combination with metal salt mordants—including tannin from oak galls and a range of other plants/plant parts, "pseudo-tannins", such as plant-derived oxalic acid, and ammonia from stale urine. Plants that bio-accumulate aluminum have also been used. Some mordants, and some dyes themselves, produce strong odors, and large-scale dyeworks were often isolated in their own districts. (Full article...)
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  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 work of contemporary quilts, fiberarts, and collage. Schulze has been named a “pioneer of the art quilt movement,” and her influence has been compared to that of Robert Rauschenberg’s. 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...)

Did you know (auto generated)

• ... that Church Clothes 4 deals with Christian hip hop artist Lecrae's faith deconstruction and reconstruction?
• ... 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?
• ... that Jacqueline Kennedy did not want to make her clothes the focus of her 1962 goodwill tour of India and Pakistan, but still wore 22 different outfits in the first nine days?
• ... 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 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 pioneering Daily News camerawoman Evelyn Straus had her clothes custom-made to carry her film and flashbulbs?

More Did you know

• ... that the Holy Grail tapestries (detail pictured), depicting scenes from the legend of King Arthur, were designed by Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, and John Henry Dearle?
• ...that Mockado is a woollen pile fabric made in imitation of silk velvet?
• ...that during World War I thimbles were used as currency?

Related portals

Selected image

Madame de Pompadour working at a tambour frame

Embroidery hoops and frames are tools used to keep fabric taut while working embroidery or other forms of needlework. In this portrait, Madame de Pompadour works at a floor-standing tambour frame.

General images -

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

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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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  Edgar I of England in short tunic, hose, and cloak, 966 (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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  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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  Ivanka Trump (right) along with Japanese PM Shinzō Abe wearing Western-style business suits, 2017 (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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  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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  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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  14th-century Italian silk damasks (from History of clothing and textiles)
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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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  Cover of Marcus Clarks' spring and summer catalogue 1926–27 (from Fashion)
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  Bold floral patterned silks, 15th century (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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  Celebrities such as Britney Spears have popularized the concept of wearing underwear as outerwear. (from Fashion)
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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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  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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  Fur fashion for sale in Tallinn, Estonia (from Fashion)
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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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  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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  A Mexican sports reporter wearing little black dress and knee-high boots (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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  Slashing at its height: Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, c. 1514 (from History of clothing and textiles)
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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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  Minidress by John Bates, 1965 (from Fashion)

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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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