Corduroy (also called “cord” or wale) is a sturdy, reliable and thick fabric that are being widely applied in Autumn/Winter collection. They are made of twisted fibers. The fibers are parallel to one another in ridges when it is woven. Therefore, they have a clear stripe pattern and look like they are combined with different cords.
This fabric is being widely used in the fashion industry. You can easily find corduroy pants, caps, shorts or shirts. Not only to keep you warm, they are also very durable.
Sizes of Cords
Yet, there are different sizes for corduroy as well. They are measured by the number of ridges per inch (wale size). Thus, the lower the wale number, the thicker the width of the cords. Wale number can vary between 1.5 to 21. However, we usually make trousers or furniture with thicker wale (lower wale number) while make tops with finer and thinner wale (higher wale number). Traditionally, corduroy clothes have wale number in between 10 to 12.
Due to the texture of corduroy, it is difficult to apply pattern or print on the fabrics. Thus, they usually come with embroidery as details or decorations. Polar Skate Co have their signature Big Boy embroidery on the 93′ cords; forét embroidered its brand name and logo on their cap and shorts respectively.
Quality
How to tell the quality of a corduroy product? The easiest way is to feel is with your hand. The fine one usually has a soft and silky touch. They allow you to wear comfortably without irritating your skin. Furthermore, you can take a closer look at the surface of the fabrics. If you find cord or wale with uneven width, they usually have lower quality control.
Also read our previous article about zimbabwe cotton.