One of the AskOkey team recently picked up a dark blue gabardine suit, year of birth around 1950. This prompted the question – what is so great about gabardine, in particular the heavy gabardine that you used to be able to get?
Gabardine is a worsted twill weave, with close, raised “twills” or ribs. The weave is tight, giving the fabric a slight shine, and rendering it effectively waterproof. It was commonly used for coats – raincoats are made of a type of gabardine – and for suits. Usually plain (without checks or stripes), it is extremely durable and holds a crease well, as well as its shape, for years.
Legend has it that modern gabardine was invented by Thomas Burberry (whose name was given to the raincoats made by his company). The British War Department needed a fabric that could be used for coats and uniforms, and gabardine was chosen. The rest is history, with Burberry’s making raincoats for the men in the trenches during WW1, and for explorers, who found the fabric strong and warm enough for the windy slopes of Mt Everest and the Antarctic.
It can be made in wool, cotton or synthetic fabrics. Chinos are essentially cotton gabardine – the twill weave with close diagonal ridges – and have similar strength and finish. Gabardine was popular in the 1950s in Hollywood jackets and Ricky jackets, often used for front or shoulder panels with other parts of the jacket in a different weave and contrasting colour (see the next post).
No longer available (at least not easily) in heavy weights, wool gabardine is well worth requesting for its strength and, possibly more importantly, its fantastic drape.