Fall Fabrics: The Big Cloth

Alright! Autumn has arrived; the season fashionistas everywhere wait for all year... the most versatile season when equal comfort can be found in a T-shirt and shorts or a lightweight sweater under a blazer (see previous post). Layers can be shown off easily- the weather's right for it, unlike in the winter time when bundling up conceals your carefully selected ensemble.

Out of all the options that open up for dressing during this glorious season, there is one quintessential fabric for fall that we must touch on today; that fabric, my friends, is tweed. The color pallette of tweeds can echo the lovely changing leaves of autumn with rich rust and brown colors (photo 1) or can epitomize the briskness of the air with cool blues and grays (photo 2).




















Tweeds are ideal for layering, available in many weights and thicknesses of fabric. They can keep you warm and wick away moisture, thanks to the amazing qualities of wool, which make up the fabric. Tweed, by definition, refers simply to a weave of wool, but today we will touch (ever so slightly) on the history and heritage that has kept tweed a stylistic staple for many, many years.

In Scottish Gaelic, the name for tweed was an clo mor, which means "The Big Cloth," referring to the layers of various texture and pattern that make up the wool's weave. Designed to be, effectively, one of the earliest forms of camouflage, landowners in Scotland commissioned tweed fabrics to outfit their gamekeepers (and themselves alike) during deerstalking and hunting. The patterns' colors were reflective of rock formations and foilage that decorated the surrounding landscape of landowners' respective estates. Landowners often had gamekeepers run up on the hillside with samples of proposed fabrics to see which one blended in better with nature's decor. This is how the multitude of variances of tweed patterns came about.

One variation of tweed that is quite popular this season, is the herringbone design. The simple twill (twill: a term for a woven pattern created by raising and lowering alternating warp threads in various combinations) of the herringbone design has been around for thousands of years, and looks very much like the skeleton of a fish (get it? Herring... Bone...). Different 2-color combinations can comprise a herringbone pattern, but usually a black or gray and a lighter color combine to create a rich, textured look when viewed up close (photos 3 and 4, below).
As I conclude our very brief history lesson, keep in mind that many popular tweed patterns exist, all with their own history, but focusing on the multitude would turn this post into far too detailed of an essay, which is not what we're trying to achieve here. What I want you to take away is the versatility of the fabric in composing your style. The availability of color and pattern can be the perfect pallette for pairing accessories with an outfit, be the accessory a necktie, a pocket square, a shirt, a zipper-neck sweater as a layering piece... the possibilites, given the variations of tweed prints, are virtually endless.
Take inspiration from the beauty of the season (and the majesty of The Big Cloth), and embrace the possiblities. Until next time,

Cheers!
-Paul