Fashion Word of the Week #1

Worsted, Not the Worst

I’m going to start a fun little weekly fashion vocabulary thing this year. Let’s see how it goes! Let me know if you have any vocab questions!

Fashion Word of the Week: WORSTED

Pronounced woosted, with a short oo sound, more like crooked, less like cartoon.

The term “worsteds” is casually used to mean thin wools like suitings, but that’s not the whole definition.

Worsted wool yarns are the wool version of combed cotton. The wool is combed, pulling away the tiny stubbly bits, leaving behind the longer hairs, which results in smoother, sleeker strands when twisted into yarns.

This extra combing process makes for finer quality and more expensive wool fabrics.

These worsted wool yarns are then either knit or woven into different fabrics. Weaves are tighter (less spaces between yarns), straighter, finer, smoother.

The opposite are woolens. Woolens, used in the more specific “woolens vs worsteds” way includes the short little fibers, and are fluffier, thicker, scratchier, and often less expensive.

The term “worsted” comes from the village named Worstead in England, once famous for its yarn and fabric production.

P.S. Watch my video on worsteds and woolens here.