Taffeta / Sendal

Crisp finely woven silk.

 

Samite

Silk interwoven with silver and gold thread showing images.

 

Brocade

Silk with raised patterns in gold and silver.

 

Satin

Silk produced by a weave in which the threads of the warp are caught and looped by the weft at certain intervals.

 

Velvet

Closely woven fabric of silk, linen or cotton with a short dense pile, giving it a soft feel.

 

Damask

Linen, silk or cotton woven with flat patterns showing on both sides, often reddish in color.

 

Tussah / Tussore / Tasar –

Coarse silk made from fiber produced by the larvae of the tussore moth.

 

Pintado

Painted chintz from India, prized by Spanish traders.

 

Calico

Plain-woven cotton fabric with an unfinished appearance, named after the trading town Calicut in India, prized by the Portuguese.

 

Linsey-woolsey / Wincey

Tough homespun with a linen warp and a woolen weft.

 

Fustian

Thick, durable cotton or linen fabric.

 

Cambric

Lightweight pure cotton textile, named after Cambrai in France.

 

Tartan

Scottish plaid fabric of varying patterns.

 

Muslin

Plain lightweight sheer to coarse cotton cloth.

 

Sindon

Fine muslin-like linen.

 

Serge

Strong twilled wool fabric with a pronounced diagonal rib.

 

Marten

Fur of the marten, a small Eurasian mammal of the weasel family.

 

Sable 

Fur of the sable, an oriental marten.

 

Ermine

Fur of the ermine, a short-tailed weasel with a white coat in winter.

 

Stoat

Fur of the ermine when the coat is brown.

 

Vair

Fur of various squirrels, used for garment trimming.

 

Canvas

Durable fabric made from hemp, named after the Arabic word cannabis.

 

Cerecloth / Waxcloth

Waterproof cloth infused with wax, used for wagon canopies, bandages and wrapping the dead.

 

Hessian (known as burlap today)

Rough, tough fabric made from jute fibres, used for sacks.

 

Cashmere

Soft wool fabric from the Kashmir goat.

 

Cameline / Camlet

Twilled fabric made from camel hair.

 

Worsted

Wool fabric made from worsted yarn.

 

Bokeram (confused with buckram today)

Costly cotton cloth from Bukhara, an ancient city on the Silk Roads.

 

Merino

Wool fabric from the Italian Merino goat, similar to cashmere.

 

Budge / Buge / Bugee

Lambskin dressed with the wool facing outward, used for lining.

 

Hodden

Coarse fabric of undyed wool, chiefly Scottish.

 

Mohair

Fabric made by the silky hairs of the Angora goat from the city of Ankara in modern-day Turkey.

 

Chamois

Pliant leather from the skin of a chamois, a goatlike bovid.

 

Cordovan / Cordwain

Soft goatskin leather, especially from Córdoba in Spain.