Fabrics For Gentlemen 101 - Wool
Wool is the earliest fabric Europeans clothed themselves with. It is a natural fibre that is collected from domesticated sheep and goats, as well as other animals. For our purposes here, wool includes the hairs sheared, plucked or gathered from various animals.
A short survey of the animals that supply wool and the names given each type are listed:
- Sheep - wool (including merino)
- Goats - both cashmere and mohair
- Rabbits - angora
- Muskoxen - qiviut (an excellent word for Scrabble!)
- Vicuña - vicuña fibre (another excellent Scabble word!)
- Alpaca - alpaca fibre
- Camel - camel hair
- Yak - yak fibre
- Guanaco - guanaco fibre
While some of these wool fibres are quite exotic, and hence very expensive, others are in common use in the production of gentlemenswear. The wool from sheep is the primary source of the wool used to make suits, blazers and trousers. Some of the more expensive wool is used to make accessories likes scarves, gloves and hats, although the cashmere blazer is a fantastic addition to any gentleman's wardrobe!
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