In 1918 the new Ford Model T automobile uses hard-wearing, luxurious corduroy as upholstery.Ĭorduroy continues its popularity in 1920s and 30s fashion with suits, trousers, caps and jackets being worn not just as workwear but as practical fashion material for the modern, sporty age. The Women’s Land Army also wore corduroy breeches. Some schools in America and French Scouts adopt it in uniforms.Ĭarrying on its traditional use for sporty and military wear, it is also worn as trousers by mountain climbers, car drivers and in soldiers’ uniform trousers in World War I throughout Europe. 20th Century corduroyĬorduroy becomes popular as a children’s fabric in the early 20th Century. Strangely, French adverts from the early 19th Century used the English translation of ‘corde du roi’ to sell the cloth in France as ‘kings-cords’. The Oxford English Dictionary cites 1774 as the earliest date of use of the word ‘corduroy’.įrench-manufactured textiles have a great reputation in England at this time. This is perhaps to promote an image of royal quality and to give the English-manufactured cotton cloth an air of French prestige. The word corduroy is coined in England around the l ate 18th Century as an early form of branding using the French translation of ‘cloth of the King’ (corde du roi). In the 17th Century, French royal servants were known to wear a fine but durable woven velvet fustian-style fabric made from silk. Used by workers, artists and students it has the image of ‘poor man’s velvet’. By the 19th Century corduroy is being mass-produced in factories all over Europe and America. Until it becomes fashionable again in the 20th Century corduroy is firmly fixed as a signifier of class for decades. However, by Victorian times, corduroy starts to be seen as the urban working man’s uniform due to its inflexibility for fashionable-shaped tailoring and its durability. 19th Century working class uniformīy the turn of the 19th Century the ribbed corduroy fabric is very popular with both country gentlemen and farmers alike. Fustian starts to become known as ‘cotton velvet’ and ‘corduroy’ in England. White fustian is also adopted for ladies’ dresses at this time. It becomes especially popular amongst schoolmasters and those in ink-based trades (an image that still is associated with corduroy today). Towards the end of the 18th Century fustian once again becomes a purely practical, protective textile used in working garments. Ribbed fustian becomes widely available which more closely resembles the corduroy we recognise from the 20th Century. Dandy highwayman Dick Turpin orders new fustian garments especially for his execution in 1739.įustian is also commonly used for servant’s livery and undergarments as well as outerwear and competes with wool garments for popularity. The cheaper fustians are considered modest yet popular sporty garments for use in riding horses and the military. This more expensive Naples fustian continues the elite reputation of the textile worn by King Henry VIII in the 16th Century. Slightly more expensive is a longer brushed pile and the most expensive versions were a true-cut pile made using the original technique. Cheaper versions of fustian are produced in brushed pile. It is warm, dries quickly and is hard-wearing. In 18th Century England, the cloth is manufactured as a modern, practical choice of outdoor textile. 18th Century corduroy and royalty-inspired fashion By the 18th Century fustian becomes commonly known as a cotton and linen mix woven fabric with a raised and sheared nap. From the mid to late 16th Century fustians are being manufactured in the UK in London, Norwich, Lancashire and Ireland using a cotton and wool blend or linen and cotton blend. Fustian becomes a more general name for any textile that looks like the original cotton-based woven product. Imitation fustian textiles are manufactured throughout Europe from 14th-16th centuries. It becomes a sought-after exotic fabric amongst royalty and wealthy Europeans. It becomes more popular with the growth in the cotton trade from the 12th – 14th centuries, distributing the fabric throughout Europe via Italy.įustian is part of the family of tufted velvety textiles originating in the East and exported throughout Europe. The fabric becomes known as ‘fustian’ in 12th Century Europe. It is being used and manufactured in 200 AD in Egypt, in a city called Fustat near Cairo (the capital of Arabian Egypt at this time).
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