What Is Gabardine?

How is gabardine made?

Gabardine is made by weaving tightly twisted, tightly packed yarns in a twill, with the warp threads carried on the face and the weft (filling) threads lying entirely at the back. The fibre varies; the structure is what makes the cloth gabardine.

1. Fibre. Encyclopaedia Britannica lists worsted, cotton, silk and mixed gabardines. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s CAMEO materials database adds rayon and polyester.
2. Yarn. In wool gabardine the yarn is worsted. CAMEO describes worsted as made from long, straight, combed wool fibres, and names gabardine as one of the smooth, tightly woven fabrics it produces.
3. Weave. The twill gives the face fine but distinct diagonal cords, in CAMEO’s words. Britannica says the weft lies entirely at the back and cannot be seen from the front.
4. Finish. Britannica says gabardine was originally a waterproofed fabric used to make raincoats. CAMEO says the cloth is sometimes treated with waterproofing for raincoats.

The cloth and the older garment

The cloth borrowed an old word. The Online Etymology Dictionary records gaberdine from the 1510s as a long, loose outer garment, from Spanish gabardina, and dates the sense “closely woven cloth” only from 1904. A gaberdine in a 16th-century text is a cloak-like garment, not this fabric.

The cloth is tied to one maker. Burberry’s own company history says Thomas Burberry, who founded the business in Basingstoke, England, in 1856, invented gabardine in 1879 and patented it in 1888. Both dates come from the company’s own history.

What are the properties of gabardine?

Gabardine is a strong, firm, tightly woven cloth with a smooth face of fine diagonal cords, hard-wearing on the face because only the warp is exposed.

• Strength and firmness. Britannica calls it a relatively strong and firm cloth.
• Wear. Because the weft sits at the back, only the warp surface is exposed to wear. Britannica notes that this lets makers use cheaper filling yarn without losing durability.
• Texture. Britannica says it somewhat resembles whipcord, another twill, but is lighter in texture.
• Creasing. CAMEO describes worsted fabrics as durable and wrinkle-free, which applies to wool gabardine; cotton, rayon and polyester versions behave like their fibres.
• Weather. Burberry describes its original cloth as lightweight, breathable and weatherproof. CAMEO notes that gabardine is only sometimes given a waterproofing treatment, so ask how a particular coat has been made.

Britannica says gabardine is chiefly made into suits and overcoats. CAMEO lists coats, suits, slacks and skirts. Its raincoat origins connect gabardine with the raincoat and the trench coat.

A much lighter variant also carries the name. Britannica describes silk gabardine, or voile gabardine, as an all-silk fabric of far more open and lighter texture.

How is gabardine graded or measured?

Gabardine has no grading scale of its own; it is judged by its fibre, its yarn and how clearly and closely its twill is woven.

Gabardine is a twill, like denim, so a diagonal alone does not identify it: read the fibre content and look for the fine, distinct cords as well.

How does gabardine appear on a clothing label?

Gabardine is a weave, not a fibre, so in the US the required label lists the fibres by generic name and percentage by weight, plus the country of origin and the maker’s name or Registered Identification Number (RN).

• Fibre content. The US Federal Trade Commission requires the generic names and percentages by weight of each fibre. “Gabardine” may appear in a product name, but it does not replace this.
• Small amounts. Fibres under 5 per cent may be grouped as “other fiber” or “other fibers”. Wool is the exception: it must be named with its percentage even below 5 per cent.
• Recycled wool. Reclaimed or recycled wool fibres must be identified as recycled wool.
• Trademarks. A fibre trademark may appear on the content label only next to the generic fibre name.

The percentage tells you which gabardine you have. A garment sold as “wool gabardine” should show wool on the label; if polyester leads the list, the cloth will behave like polyester, whatever the hang tag says.

How do you tell good gabardine from poor gabardine?

Good gabardine shows fine, even, clearly defined diagonal cords on the face, hides its weft completely at the back, and has a label that names its fibres honestly.

1. Look at the face in raking light. Hold the cloth at an angle to a window. You should see fine but distinct diagonal cords. If you can see no diagonal at all, the cloth is not a twill.
2. Compare face and back. Turn up a hem or look inside a pocket. On gabardine the weft lies entirely at the back, so the two sides should look different.
3. Read the fibre content. Check the sewn-in label, not the marketing name. Wool must be listed by name and percentage under US rules, even in small amounts.
4. Crush a corner. Squeeze a fold of the cloth in your hand for a few seconds, then let go. Worsted fabrics are described by CAMEO as wrinkle-free, so wool gabardine should spring back without holding sharp creases.
5. Ask about waterproofing. For a coat, find out whether the cloth has been treated. The word gabardine alone does not tell you.

Red flags: a label that says “gabardine” with no fibre percentages on a garment sold in the US; a “wool gabardine” whose label puts another fibre first; a cloth that looks identical on both sides, since on gabardine the weft lies entirely at the back.

How do you care for gabardine?

Care gabardine according to its fibre and its care label, which in the US must give a washing or dry-cleaning instruction.

• Read the care label first. Under the FTC’s Care Labeling Rule, clothing labels must carry a washing or dry-cleaning instruction, and the maker needs a reasonable basis for it.
• Trust “Dryclean Only”. The FTC says a maker cannot label a garment “Dryclean Only” without proof that washing will harm it. On a wool gabardine suit, take that warning seriously.
• Watch the finish. On a treated raincoat, follow any warning on the label: the FTC requires makers to warn about procedures a consumer might assume are consistent with the instructions.
• Check blends. A wool-polyester gabardine still contains wool, and US rules require the wool to be named on the label; follow the care label rather than the fibre you expect.

Is gabardine sustainable?

Gabardine’s environmental impact depends on its fibre, because the name describes a weave that can be made in wool, cotton, silk, rayon, polyester or blends.

The label is the only reliable guide: it must list each fibre and its share by weight under US rules. For the fibre-level picture, see the entries on wool, cotton and polyester. On durability, Britannica notes that only the warp face of gabardine is exposed to wear. Judge a gabardine garment’s footprint by its fibre content, not by the name of the weave.