What exactly is jersey?

Peri

Is it like that slinky knit material that is used in the Chicos travelers collection, or is it any knit? Except you wouldn't call a T shirt jersey...would you?

12 years ago

General

2 replies

Latest reply was from Gaylene

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Sure, a T is jersey. It's a stretchy knit, and can be made with lots of different fabrics -- anything from wool to cotton to silk to polyester. We usually mean silk or polyester jersey when we talk about it these days (e.g. a DVF wrap dress). But there are also double knit jerseys that have less stretch and more structure (e.g. the dread crimplene from the 70s but maybe ponte now?)

12 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

Suz is exactly right. The name "jersey" actually comes from the Isle of Jersey, one of the Channel islands between England and France because that's where the fabric was first produced. Single-knit jersey is very stretchy and is characterized by a smooth surface on one side and little bumps on the reverse side. Double-knit jersey sandwiches the bumpy sides in the middle so both the front and back are smooth. The original wool jersey was used mainly for undergarments, but it was Coco Chanel (along with other designers) who started using the fabric made in other fibres like silk and cotton because she liked the way it draped and handled. Those fabulous, slinky, bias-cut gowns worn by stars like Jean Harlow in the 30s and 40s were often made of silk jersey.

12 years ago

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