THE AMATEUR WORD NERD: Clothing often named for where it originated

By Barbara McAllister

Word of the Day: Cambric
Cambric is a finely woven white cotton or linen fabric first made in Cambrai, France. Cambric tea is an old-fashioned beverage consisting of very weak tea with lots of milk and sugar. Favored by invalids, it is also known as children’s tea because it is more sugar and milk than tea. Cambric tea is so called because it is white and thin, like the fabric.
Many textiles and cloths are better known than the places they came from. Calico is a material from India’s city of Calicut. Madras, India produces the distinctive plaid material. Kashmir is a region in India known for the manufacture of the soft, fine fiber. While we may think of denim as an all-American fabric, it is named after Nîmes, France. The original name serge de Nîmes, was Anglicized and shortened to denim. Damask is from Damascus, Syria, and muslin was named after Mosul, Iraq. The material called Jersey is from the Isle of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy. Duffel, as in duffel bag and duffel coat, is a named for Duffel in Belgium, the town where it was manufactured.
Clothing items are also named for places. There are obvious ones like Bermuda shorts, Capri pants and Hawaiian shirts, and less obvious ones like the Fez, named for Fez, Morocco. It was a hat developed for Muslim worshippers needing a head covering that wouldn’t interfere with their bowed heads during prayers. The tuxedo jacket was a just a dinner jacket before becoming popular at an elite country club in Tuxedo Park, New York. Jodhpurs are riding breeches named for a state in India. Jeans started out as a heavy trouser manufactured in Genoa, Italy. The French called the twill fabric jene fustian or Genoese fustian which became anglicized and shortened to jeans. The Ulster, named for Ulster, in Northern Ireland, and the Inverness from Inverness, Scotland, are similar all-weather coats with shoulder capes designed to protect against the damp British weather. Closer to home, a Mackinaw is a coat named after Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw), in Michigan, where they were made from a heavy, densely woven wool developed to provide warmth in cold and sleet. Lastly, there’s the Maine hunting shoe, made by L.S. Bean. In Maine, they’re just called Bean boots.