Tweed

{{Short description|Rough, unfinished woollen fabric, of a soft, open texture}}

{{About|the cloth|the river in Scotland and England|River Tweed|other uses}}

File:Harris tweed.jpg woven in a herringbone twill pattern, mid-20th century]]

Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained by mixing dyed wool before it is spun.{{cite web|url=http://www.harristweed.org/harris-tweed/the-cloth.php|title=Harris Tweed - The Cloth|website=The Harris Tweed Authority|access-date=1 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815164058/http://www.harristweed.org/harris-tweed/the-cloth.php |archive-date=15 August 2015 |url-status=dead}}

Tweeds are a staple of traditional Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and English clothing, being desirable for informal outerwear,{{cite web |last=Fashion Institute of Technology |author-link=Fashion Institute of Technology |website=The Museum at FIT |title ="The Tailor's Art" {{!}} Menswear Fabrics - A Glossary |date=2006 |url=http://www3.fitnyc.edu/museum/TailorsArt/MenswearFabricsGlossary.htm |access-date=24 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070602205340/http://www3.fitnyc.edu/museum/TailorsArt/MenswearFabricsGlossary.htm |archive-date=2 June 2007 }} due to the material being moisture-resistant and durable. Tweeds are made to withstand harsh climates{{cite web|url=https://www.cadandthedandy.co.uk/2015/11/20/tweed-jackets-a-closely-woven-thing/|title=Tweed Jackets {{!}} A Closely Woven Thing |website=Cad & the Dandy |access-date=19 March 2019 |date=20 November 2015}} and are commonly worn for outdoor activities such as shooting and hunting. In Ireland, tweed manufacturing is now most associated with County Donegal but originally covered the whole country.{{cite book |last=Corrigan |first=Vawn |date=2020 |title=Irish Tweed: History, Tradition, Fashion |publisher=O'Brien Press |url=http://www.obrien.ie/irish-tweed |isbn=9781788492010 }} In Scotland, tweed manufacturing is most associated with the Isle of Harris in the Hebrides.

Etymology

File:Tweed making at the Leach family woollen mill at Mochdre.jpg, Wales, 1940]]

The original name of the cloth was tweel, Scots for twill, the material being woven in a twilled rather than a plain pattern. A traditional story has the name coming about almost by chance. Around 1831, a London merchant, James Locke, received a letter from a Hawick firm, Wm. Watson & Sons, Dangerfield Mills about some "tweels". The merchant misinterpreted the handwriting, understanding it to be a trade-name taken from the River Tweed that flows through the Scottish Borders textile area. The goods were subsequently advertised as Tweed and the name has remained since.{{cite book|last1=Kirkpatrick|first1=Betty|title=Treacle, Toast and Tweed ... English Word Origins for Language Lovers|date=2015|publisher=Crombie Jardine Publishing Ltd. |isbn=978-1326384067}}

Traditions and culture

File:Bike in Tweed Stockholm 2013.jpg 2013]]

Traditionally used for upper-class country clothing such as shooting jackets, tweed became popular among the Edwardian middle classes who associated it with the leisurely pursuits of the elite.{{cite journal

|author= Edward Minister and Son|date=August 1872 |journal=Gazette of Fashion, and Cutting-room Companion |title=The Norfolk Jacket |publisher=Simpkin, Marshall & Co |volume=27 |issue=316 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7SIGAAAAQAAJ&q=Norfolk+jacket&pg=PA31}} Due to their durability, tweed Norfolk jackets and plus-fours were a popular choice{{Cite web|title = How to wear a tweed suit in the 21st century|url = http://www.asuitthatfits.com/offthecuff/wear-tweed-suit-21st-century/|website = A Suit That Fits|author = Dutton, Edward|date = 22 August 2014|access-date = 26 January 2016|language = en-US|archive-date = 28 March 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190328053919/http://www.asuitthatfits.com/offthecuff/wear-tweed-suit-21st-century/|url-status = dead}} for hunters, cyclists, golfers, and early motorists, hence Kenneth Grahame's depiction of Mr. Toad in a Harris Tweed suit.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118172/|title=Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (1996)|author=loopy_lucy14|date=31 October 1997|work=IMDb |access-date=27 July 2011}} Popular patterns include houndstooth,Dunbar, John Telfer (1984). The Costume of Scotland. London: Batsford. {{ISBN|0-7134-2534-2}}. associated with 1960s fashion, windowpane, gamekeeper's tweed worn by academics, Glen plaid check, originally commissioned by Edward VII, and herringbone.{{cite web |website=Ralph Lauren |title = The RL Style Guide {{!}} Glossary {{!}} Herringbone |url=http://style.polo.com/glossary/default.asp?letter=H |access-date=24 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919045512/http://style.polo.com/glossary/default.asp?letter=H |archive-date=19 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}

During the 2000s and 2010s, members of long-established British and American land-owning families started to wear high-quality heirloom tweed inherited from their grandparents, some of which pre-dated the Second World War.{{cite web|url=http://www.greyfoxblog.com/2012/02/nigel-cabourn-db-tweed-jacket-rare.html|title=Nigel Cabourn DB Tweed Jacket - Rare Classic Quality? |work=Grey Fox |date=5 September 2012 |access-date=17 October 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/richard-bath-in-defence-of-tweed-1-1354816|title=Richard Bath: In defence of tweed|work=The Scotsman |date=25 July 2009 |author=Bath, Richard |publisher=JPIMedia Ltd. |access-date=17 October 2013}}

In modern times, cyclists may wear tweed when they ride vintage bicycles on a Tweed Run. This practice has its roots in the British young fogey and hipster subcultures of the late 2000s and early 2010s, whose adherents appreciate both vintage tweed, and bicycles.{{cite web|url=http://thechapmagazine.co.uk/2012/09/vintage-garments/|title=#TheChapMag Vintage Garments|work=The Chap Magazine|date=11 September 2012|access-date=8 August 2013|archive-date=25 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025000341/http://thechapmagazine.co.uk/2012/09/vintage-garments/|url-status=dead}}

=Musical instruments=

Some vintage Danemann upright pianos have a tweed cloth backing to protect the internal mechanism. Occasionally, Scottish bagpipes were covered in tweed as an alternative to tartan wool.{{cite web|url=http://thebigclothandme.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/harris-tweed-bagpipe-covers.html|website=The Big Cloth and Me |title=Harris Tweed Bagpipe Covers |author=Price, Richard |date=16 March 2013 |access-date=8 August 2013}}

The term "tweed" is used to describe coverings on instrument cables and vintage or retro guitar amplifiers, such as the Fender tweed and Fender Tweed Deluxe.{{cite news|title=The Fender 5F4 Super Amp|last=Hunter|first=Dave|date=July 2012|work=Vintage Guitar|pages=50–52}} Despite the terminology, many of these coverings were not considered tweed but cotton twill due to the cover's design, which caused this misidentification of the design.

Types of tweed

Harris Tweed: A handwoven tweed, defined in the Harris Tweed Act 1993 as cloth that is "Handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides".{{cite web|url=http://www.harristweed.org/about-us/guardians-of-the-orb.php|title=About Us - Guardians of the Orb|work=The Harris Tweed Authority |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308064228/http://www.harristweed.org/about-us/guardians-of-the-orb.php|archive-date=8 March 2013|access-date=1 August 2015}}
Donegal tweed: A handwoven tweed which has been manufactured for several centuries in County Donegal, Ireland, using wool from locally-bred sheep and dye from indigenous plants such as blackberries, gorse (whins), and moss.
Silk tweed: A fabric made of raw silk with flecks of colour typical of woollen tweed.
Saxony tweed: Originated in Saxony, Germany. It is a fabric made from the wool of merino sheep. It is very smooth and soft.

Gallery

File:Harris-Tweed 1.jpg|Logo of the Harris Tweed authority

File:Glen plaid.jpg|Glen plaid, Glenurquhart, or Prince of Wales check, frequently used to make overcoats and sportcoats in the 1950s

File:Herringbone.jpg|Example of the herringbone pattern, a popular choice for suits and outerwear

File:Hundtandsrutor.png|Houndstooth, the basis of the keeper's tweed popular among the upper classes from the 1860s until the 1930s

File:Tweed jacket edited.jpg|Grey Donegal tweed sportcoat

File:Sherlock holmes pipe hat.jpg|A deerstalker hat made of district or gamekeeper's tweed (contrasting mustard, green and brown checks)

File:Man's silk and wool twill frock coat c. 1820.jpg|Windowpane tweed popular in the late 19th century and again in the 1970s

File:The Crown Prince of Prussia and Prince Wilhelm II. at Balmoral Castle. - Oct. 1863.jpg|Frederick III with his young son Wilhelm wearing highland dress including tweed kilt jacket

File:Gustav V: fältkikare, sittkäpp, skjorta, slips röd t - Livrustkammaren - 86096.tif|Hunting apparel belonging to Gustaf V of Sweden, 1930s.

File:Harris Tweed Nike.jpg|Harris Tweed Nike

File:Charlie Hunter - 1863.PNG|Charlie Hunter (left) watches as Old Tom Morris plays a shot in 1863 at Prestwick. Both of the players are wearing the traditional tweeds.

Notes

References

{{cite book |last=Corrigan |first=Vawn |date=2020 |title=Irish Tweed: History, Tradition, Fashion |publisher=O'Brien Press |url=http://www.obrien.ie/irish-tweed |isbn=9781788492010 }}
{{cite web |url=https://www.ahume.co.uk/what-is-tweed-i31 |title=What is Tweed? |website=A Hume}}
{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Tweed (cloth)|year=1921}}
[http://ssa.nls.uk/search.cfm?search_sort_order=Film.dateRelease%2CFilm.name&search_sort_direction=ASC&search_term=1695+0571&search_fields=1&search_join_type=OR&search_fuzzy=yes&videos_only=1&search_mode=Advanced&submit=Search+%3E%3E%3E National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE] (archive films relating to tweed manufacture in Scotland)
Anderson, Fiona (2016). Tweed. London: Bloomsbury Academic Press. {{ISBN|978-1-84520-697-0}}.

External links

{{Commons category-inline|Tweed (cloth)|Tweed}}

Category:Wool

Category:Woven fabrics

Category:Scottish clothing