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Gabardine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gabardine is a tough, tightly woven fabric used to make suits, overcoats, trousers and other garments. The fibre used to make the fabric is traditionally worsted (a woolen yarn), but may also be cotton, synthetic or mixed. The fabric is smooth on one side and has a diagonally ribbed surface on the other. Gabardine is a form of twill weave.
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The material was invented in the late 19th century by Thomas Burberry, founder of the Burberry fashion house in Basingstoke and patented in 1888. The fabric takes its name from the gaberdine (with an 'e') which is a long, loose overgarment tied at the waist. This was commonly worn in Europe in the Middle Ages by pilgrims, beggars and almsmen, and for some time later by many European Jews.
Burberry clothing of gabardine was worn by polar explorers including Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole in 1911, and Ernest Shackleton, who lead a 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica. A jacket made of this material was worn by George Mallory on his ill-fated summit attempt of Mount Everest in 1924.
Today Gabardine is most well known for its widespread use in the 40's and 50's usually consisting of Rayon acetates and wool mixes. It was made in bright flashy colors either matte or sheen, occasionally with more modern styled abstract and atomic patterns. Some popular colors were pink, red, black, white, baby blue, as well as two tone arrangements. Vintage gabardine is becoming harder and harder to come by now a days and is very valuable. Rock 'n' Roll style in the 50's made gabardine very popular and highly collectible today.
Depending on the type, gabardine either needs to be dry cleaned, as most other wools, or is machine washable and dryable on a low cycle. A warm iron should be used for pressing; ironing it at a higher temperature would mark the fabric.
A reference about a "man in the gabardine suit" was made in Simon and Garfunkel's song "America"
In the William Burroughs novel Queer , the main character Lee describes a model oilman by saying, among other things, "He wears gabardine slacks and a white short-sleeved sport shirt".
In the "The Chinese Woman" episode of Seinfeld, Kramer ceases wearing underwear to remedy a low sperm count problem. Jerry is disturbed by this, remarking to Elaine "The only thing between him and us is a thin layer of gabardine."
— from BBC News Online
