There was a time in which practically every house had a sewing machine so everyone knew what role fabrics played in their lives. Some would use it to make clothes from scratch, others would use them to just fix the hem or shorten that sleeve that would be too long.
With the advent of fast fashion, that has pretty much changed. Because of this, we have lost the culture of textiles (or fabrics) and we’ve stopped understanding their role. Alongside with this understanding of the role of fabrics, we’ve also lost the culture of appreciating clothing, meant to actually last. That’s also why reading that label on the clothes we buy is so important.
Three kinds of fabrics
There are three main kinds of fabric:
- Natural. Like the name says, they’re derived from nature and they’re processed without changing their structure. The most known ones are cotton, wool and linen. Today these make up only 40% of the world’s textile production.
- Artificial. They’re derived from natural fibres which are then made soluble, filtered and threaded in order to achieve soft and silky textiles like viscose.
- Synthetic. They’re derived from oil, like plastic, and so from the sustainability perspective they are a cause of great concern. Some of them are polyester, nylon and acrylic.
The role of fabrics in shaping your silhouette
Whatever fabric you choose to wear, try to make sure there is a small percentage of elastane (also known as spandex or lycra). This will make your clothes a bit easier to put on and also a little bit comfier to wear. Also, to avoid “burning” it, make sure to air dry these clothes. Tumble drying can make your next wearing experience slightly more complicated.
Fabrics do have an optically shaping effect, even if what you are wearing isn’t tight. It depends a lot on how they reflect light as well, colour aside. You might wear a black dress made of silk. Now because it’s silk, it reflects light more than cotton does, so it looks more dilating than thinning. If you wear cotton though, the black will give you its slimming power because it doesn’t reflect a lot of light.
The rule is this: shiny fabrics tend to reflect light and so regardless of colour they dilate. They can create or highlight any curves. Matte fabrics tend to absorb light and so they tend to slim or shrink if they are dark. This is a sort of optical illusion.
Another thing you might not have paid attention to is the lines your clothes create when you’re wearing them. If you see any horizontal lines, it’s too tight and you will need to buy at least half a size bigger. If you see vertical lines, the piece of clothing you are wearing is too large and you will need to size down or get your piece altered from a tailor.
The last thing you will want to consider is what kind of silhouette you have as well. A thin and more “spiky” one should go for more structured fabrics, like linen and velvet. A “softer” silhouette should prefer lighter textiles, like jersey and cady.
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