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Sateen
A type of fabric weave that produces a smooth, glossy, lustrous surface. This construction is often used to add superb shine to fibers like cotton and silk.
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Satin
A silk fabric featuring a sateen weave in several variations. Possessing extreme luster, satins lend themselves to women’s evening wear and lingerie as well as the most luxurious sheets.
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Savile Row
A term used to describe men’s tailored clothing inspired by the excellence and elegance established by a group of upscale tailors conducting business in shops along a street called Savile Row in the West End of London, the first of which opened for business in 1843.
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Sea Island cotton
A superior, very strong, long-staple cotton that is grown on the islands just off the southeastern United States and in the West Indies and is typically used for fine shirtings.
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Seersucker
A midweight fabric, often made in cotton, that has a characteristic permanent puckered striped effect created through releasing the tension on the loom during weaving. From the Persian word shir-o-shakur, meaning milk and sugar, seersucker usually has white and blue stripes. See also plissé.
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Selvage
Also called “self-edge,” it is the reinforced, outside length of fabric, which keeps fabric from raveling.
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Serge
A pronounced twill that is durable and drapes well. Named after the Latin word for silk, serica, serge was once a silk fabric. Today, it is more often a wool fabric, used for suitings and outerwear.
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Shantung
A plain-weave silk fabric with a characteristic textured surface produced because the yarns it is woven from retains their knots, lumps and other imperfections. Originally woven in Shantung, China, this fabric is now produced worldwide and is most popular in shirtings, women’s suits or bridalwear.
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Sharkskin
A smooth wool in a twill weave that has a characteristic alternating black-and-white steplike pattern for a grayed effect. The surface is said to resemble a skin of a shark, which is perhaps what makes it the ultimate suiting fabric for the competitive businessperson.
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Shearling
A lamb- or sheepskin that has been tanned with the curly wool left on. Offering rugged appeal and the ultimate warmth, shearling is a popular leather for winter coats, hats and gloves.
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Shetland
A term used to describe any soft, shaggy, tweedlike wool, whether or not it has seen the rocky shores of Scotland’s Sheltland Islands, where the sheep that produce this wool originally lived. Often used in sweaters and suitings, shetland wool provides a rustic look that is elegant whether it is worn in the country or the city.
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Silhouette
A term used to describe the contour or outline of a garment when it is worn on the body.
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Suiting
Any fabric used in making men’s or women’s suits; it applies to a wide variety of worsteds and woolens made in many weaves and patterns, which tailor well.
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Swimsuit
A garment designed for sunbathing or swimming in a pool or at the beach. Sometimes also called after its original name, bathing suit, the swimsuit dates back to the 1800s.
For women, its humble beginnings consisted of a wool bodice with a high neck and long sleeves that would be worn with stockings and canvas shoes. Decency issues slowed significant development of the swimsuit during this time; in 1907, for example, swimmer Annette Kellerman was arrested on charges of indecent exposure because her bathing suit was not appropriate for the Thames. By the mid-1900s, however, swimsuits began to take the plunge, the invention of tanktop suits forging new grounds for this ever-evolving garment.
For men, the swimsuit began as a striped knee-length one piece jersey knit. By the early 1900s, this one piece was separated into a trunk and tank top, the top finally waning by the 1930s to reflect the modern look still sported by men today.
See also bandini, bikini, maillot, tankini, trunks.
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