What Is Chambray?

Where does chambray come from?

Chambray takes its name from Cambrai in France, the same town that gave its name to cambric, a lightweight plain weave. Merriam-Webster gives the word’s first known use in English as 1787. Cotton Incorporated, the US cotton industry body, dates chambray to the mid-1500s and says it was once another name for cambric; that earlier date comes from this one source and is not given by the dictionary.

In North America chambray was worn as a working cloth by the early 20th century. The Museum at FIT has shown a Canadian work ensemble from 1912–1915 in linen chambray, which the museum calls “a close relative of denim”. Cotton Incorporated connects the denim trousers and chambray shirts of early 20th-century American labourers with the phrase “blue collar”.

How is chambray made?

Chambray is made by dyeing the warp yarns (the lengthwise threads held on the loom) and weaving them in a plain weave with white, undyed weft yarns (the crosswise threads). In a plain weave, each weft yarn passes over one warp yarn and under the next, and each new row alternates.

• Fibre: most chambray is cotton; Cotton Incorporated describes it as typically 100% cotton. Other fibres are possible, as the linen ensemble at the Museum at FIT shows.
• Colour: traditionally light blue, but woven in many other colours. Whatever the warp colour, the weft stays white; that is part of the dictionary definition.
• Surface: plain weaves that are not printed or surface-finished have no right or wrong side, so the coloured warp and white weft show on both faces.

What are the properties of chambray?

Chambray is a light, thin, soft cloth that creases easily and softens as it is washed. The details depend on the fibre, but for the usual all-cotton version the sources agree on these points:

• Weight and handle: lighter and thinner than denim, with a softer texture. Cotton Incorporated calls it “lightweight and airy” and suited to summer.
• Creasing: chambray wrinkles easily, as plain weaves in general tend to.
• Structure: the many over-under crossings of a plain weave mean it does not ravel easily.
• Absorbency: Britannica notes that plain weaves are less absorbent than other weaves.
• With washing: all-cotton chambray softens with each wash and releases stains and odours more easily in the wash, according to Cotton Incorporated, which also advises cold washing to avoid shrinkage.

What is the difference between chambray and denim?

Chambray is a plain weave and denim is a twill: both pair a coloured warp with a white weft, but the way the yarns cross changes the surface, the weight and which side shows white. Denim is warp-faced, so the blue warp dominates the front and the white weft appears on the reverse.

The Museum at FIT describes denim’s blue warp as traditionally dyed with indigo by a process called rope dyeing. Dictionary definitions of chambray specify only a coloured warp, not a particular dye.

How is chambray graded or measured?

Chambray has no grading scale of its own: unlike a fibre such as cashmere, it is a weave, so it is identified by its structure and judged by its yarns and fibre content. Three features define it: a plain weave, a coloured warp and a white weft.

A cloth that lacks any one of them is something else, whatever the swing tag says. A blue cloth with a diagonal rib is a twill such as denim. A cloth woven with blue yarn in both directions is a solid blue plain weave. Dictionaries call chambray lightweight without giving a figure, so the useful comparison is relative: chambray should feel lighter and thinner than denim from the same maker.

How does chambray appear on a clothing label?

Chambray is a cloth description, not a fibre name, so the legally required content label lists the fibres, such as “100% cotton”, rather than the weave. What that label must show depends on where the garment is sold.

United States

Under the FTC’s Textile Rules, the label gives the generic fibre names and percentages by weight in descending order of predominance. Fibres under 5% are usually listed as “other fiber”. A 3% tolerance applies to fibre percentages, but none applies when the label states a single fibre, so “100% cotton” must be exactly that. Imported garments must name the country where they were made.

European Union

Under Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011, only the fibre names in the regulation’s Annex I may be used, for example “cotton” and “flax (or linen)”. Every constituent fibre must be named with its percentage by weight. “100 %”, “pure” and “all” are reserved for products made of one fibre only.

If the label shows a second fibre, the handle and care advice for all-cotton chambray may not apply. Follow the care label.

How do you tell good chambray from poor chambray?

Good chambray shows its three defining features clearly up close, behaves the same on both sides and carries a complete fibre label. Four checks:

1. Tilt the cloth towards a window. A regular twill shows diagonal lines, usually rising from left to right at about 45°. Chambray shows a fine grid with no diagonal.
2. Turn the garment inside out. The inside of chambray should match the outside. A noticeably whiter inside points to denim, whose white weft appears on the reverse.
3. Look at both yarn directions. Find a loose end on an inside seam allowance or at the hem. The lengthwise yarns should be coloured and the crosswise yarns white. Blue in both directions means a solid-coloured cloth, not chambray.
4. Read the fibre-content label, not the marketing copy. It should name every fibre with a percentage. In the US it need not be permanently attached, so it may be on a tag rather than sewn in. In the EU, “100 %” or “pure” on the label means one fibre only.

Red flags

• A shirt sold as chambray with a visible diagonal or a white inside: it is denim or another twill.
• No fibre content on the label, which both US and EU rules require.
• An imported garment sold in the US with no country of origin on the label.

How do you care for chambray?

Wash cotton chambray in cold water and tumble dry on a low setting to avoid shrinkage, then press it with a hot iron on the cotton setting, with steam. Expect creases after every wash; that is the plain weave, not a fault.

Labels reading pre-shrunk or Sanforized do not replace the care instructions; follow the care label. An all-cotton shirt will soften with each wash, and Cotton Incorporated says stains are easier to remove from 100% cotton.

Is chambray sustainable?

Chambray is neither sustainable nor unsustainable in itself: it is a weave, so its footprint depends on what it is made from and how it is made, not on the weave name. The weave tells you nothing about how the cotton was grown or how the warp was dyed.

Start with the fibre label, which must name the fibres. A chambray in organic cotton or linen changes the fibre, not the weave. For the wider questions of production and use, see sustainable fashion.