Plate No. 090fabric
Combed yarn gives the clean, lean twill of suiting.
- First documented
- 1100s
- Origin
- Worstead, Norfolk, United Kingdom
- Fiber
- wool
- Weave
- twill or plain, from combed long-staple wool
- Family
- twills
Plate No. 090 · fabric
Worsted
Worsted is wool made smooth: the fibers are combed straight and parallel before spinning, the short ones combed out, so the yarn is fine, strong, and lean, and the cloth shows a clear weave and a crisp finish instead of a fuzzy nap. It is the opposite of woolen, where the fibers are left jumbled and lofty. Most tailored suiting is worsted, which is why a good suit holds a sharp line and a pressed crease; the cloth takes its name from the Norfolk village of Worstead, a medieval wool town.
Named for
Named for Worstead, the Norfolk village whose Flemish-settled weavers made the smooth combed-wool cloth.