Lawn

Lawn is a fine, crisp, semi-sheer plain weave, originally the linen of the French town of Laon and now most often a high-count combed cotton. It is the crisp one among the fine cottons, where batiste is the soft one: lawn holds a press and a clean edge, which made it the cloth of bishops' sleeves, handkerchiefs, and summer dresses. Liberty of London built a fabric empire on printed Tana Lawn, and the bishop's lawn sleeve is why high Anglican vestments are still said to be lawn.