Men’s Tailoring Glossary of Terms

This is a quick and easy to understand guide to help you learn more about men’s suits and shirts and terms that you may have heard before but not fully understood.

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Alteration hand	Tailor who specialises in making alterations and adjustments to clothing in the final stages of preparation
Baste	Garment loosely assembled for first fitting
Balance	Adjustment of front and back lengths of a jacket to harmonise with the posture of a particular figure.
Bemberg	Somewhat strong fabric used for lining of outer garments
Bespoke	A garment custom – made from scratch to a customers specific measurements and requirements. Its origin dates back to the days when a customer ordering a garment would select and reserve a cloth that was then “bespoken” or “spoken for”
Blazer	Casual jacket made from woollen cloth. Can be single or double breasted, originally navy in colour it can now be brightly coloured or striped
Block	Heavy, dense block of wood used in pressing to set or seal the steam
Body canvas	Pure wool, and sometimes linen, canvas used in the structure inside a gentlemen’s jacket, waistcoat or overcoat to give substance and assist in shaping
Button down collar	A shirt collar, usually narrow, that buttons over the tie. Not suitable for formal occasions
Button gimp	Used when making buttonholes for suits
Button twist	Yarn used to make buttonholes
Cabbage	Term for material left over from astute cutting of a garment that is traditionally retained by the cutter for his own use
Canvases	The inner material used in a garment to give it shape. Canvasses include linen, horsehair, hemps, jutes, meltons and many more
Cashmere	Luxurious fibre from the undercoat or under layer of the Asiatic Falconeri goat
Cavalry Twill	A firm warp faced twill, originally used for heavy weight fabrics but now used for a range of fabrics. Used for items such as raincoats
Chambray	A plain weave lightweight cotton fabric primarily used for shirts
Classic collar	Most popular style of shirt collar where the wings are cut straight and point downward
Cloth	A general term applied to fabrics
Coat maker	Tailor who specialises in making jackets
Cuff	A turned up hem, as found at the bottom of the leg of trousers or at end of shirtsleeve
Cummerbund	A broad waist sash, usually pleated, which is often worn with black tie
Cut-away collar	Style of shirt collar that is more cutaway towards the shoulder- the degree varies. Also referred to as Windsor collar
Dinner suit	Worn for semi-formal evening occasions including weddings (black tie), usually black with jacket featuring silk facings over collar and lapels
Dolly	Fabric covered wooden structure used in tailoring as base for pressing
Double cuff	See French cuff
Drape	The way a fabric hangs in folds
Dye	The use of a substance to add colour to fabrics or fibres
Dyeing	The process of applying colour to a textile product by soaking it in a coloured solution
Fabric	Yarns or fibres coming together in long lengths
Fibres	Fine hair like structures, which can be natural or synthetic or regenerated, long (filament) or short (staple)
Flannel	Derived from the Welsh name for wool, flannel is made from woollen yarn that is slightly twisted in the spinning and of open texture
Floating	Misnomer used by the ready to wear industry to imply a certain canvas quality of make in their jacket construction
Four cord	Term commonly used in the tailoring trade to describe four strands of thread that are twisted together and sealed with beeswax for sewing on buttons. Linen thread is sometimes used as a substitute
Foreman	Tailor who is in charge of production in a tailoring workshop
Fusing	Use of chemicals and heat to weld the interlinings to the outer fabric of a garment, as distinct from the superior methodology of stitching used by bespoke tailors
French cuff	Style of cuff on a dress or formal shirt, which is folded back and then closed with cufflinks rather than buttons. Also known as double cuffs
Gabardine	Name given to a woven twill fabric, originally made from wool. Usually used for outerwear
Gimp	A special thread used to support and raise buttonhole stitching
Gorge	The point where the collar is attached to the lapel forming the notch
Haircloth	Cloth made from horsehair. Used as an inner material to give shape to the chest of jackets, waistcoats and overcoats
Handle	The feel of textiles when handled
Harris Tweed	Name given to a type of woven tweed fabric, woven on the Isle of Harris in Scotland. Key characteristics are its subtle colours and hard handle
Hem	The fabric turned up at the bottom of a garment, such as the bottom of the trouser leg, or the bottom edge of a jacket
Hounds Tooth check	A textile design of small broken checks
Inlay	An extra piece of fabric in a bespoke garment’s seam, to allow for future alteration
Interlinings	Jacketing lining made of a variety of fibres depending on usage and weight. Often Bemberg, pure silk, twill, satin, rayon or viscose
Linen	Natural vegetable-based fibre
Loom	Machine used to produce cloth by weaving
Lustre	Term used to describe the intensity with which light shines on a piece of fibre
Made to measure	Garment made from a standard pattern that is especially made to fit the customer’s precise measurements
Marcella	Cotton or linen fabric in twill weave
Master Tailor	Individual who employs tailors
Melton	Felt like cloth used to complete the under collar on a jacket or coat
Mercer	A merchant who deals in textiles, especially silks
Merino wool	Fine, silky and super soft it is the finest grade of commercial sheep’s wool available. Most comes from Australia
Mohair	Luxurious lustrous and durable fibre produced by Angora goats
Morning Suit	Morning dress is a daytime formal dress code consisting of tailcoat, waistcoat and striped or hounds tooth trousers. Worn on some formal occasions including weddings
Needle	A thin shaft of steel used for sewing, pointed at one end, with an eye to carry the thread
Nylon	Synthetic fibre also known as polyamide
Off the rack (peg)	Finished clothing item sold in standard sizes
Optima	Fabric, usually cotton, used in tailoring for pocketing, banding and inside sleeve cuffs. Also sometimes used in making of chest on jacket together with hair cloth and body canvas
Pashmina	Fibre sourced from the pashmina goat raised by nomads on the wind swept, icy high plains of Ladakh in the Himalayas. In order to withstand the intense cold the goat grows a thick and extremely fine fleece, which is trimmed rather than sheared, to avoid damaging the delicate fibres that are eight times thinner than the human hair.
Pleat	Fold of fabric generally pressed flat to allow extra room in garment
Pocketing	Fabric used to make pockets for suits and coats
Puckering	Tendency of cloth to gather in runs, often apparent on the lapel and trouser seams and most common in fused apparel (see fusing)
Rayon	Textile fibre or fabric made from regenerated cellulose (viscose)
Satin	Silk fabric with glossy surface on one side
Savile Row	Street in the West End of London that is the home of British tailoring
Scye	Armhole of a jacket
Shirting	Fabric from which shirts are made. Can include cotton, twill, flannel, voile, silk, chambray and linen
Silk	Fabric spun from silk thread, which in turn is sourced from silk worms
Single cuff	Cuff normally found on business and long sleeve casual shirts
Sleeve pitch	Angle at which the sleeve is pitched to the sleeve head. In a bespoke suit the sleeve is pitched to match the angle at which the arm hangs naturally from the shoulder
South Sea Cotton	Exceptionally fine long staple type of cotton grown in the West Indies
Spinning	Process of making fibres into yarns
Stretch	The extendibility of a fibre, yarn or fabric
Tactile property	How a garment fits
Tailor	One who makes, repairs and alters garments such as suits and overcoats. Originates from the Old French taillour, or “cutter”, which itself is derived from the Latin taliare, meaning, “to cut”
Taper	To become narrower, as in a trouser leg that is narrower at the ankle than the knee
Tint	Light wash of colour, usually pale or delicate
Tuxedo	American term for a single or double-breasted jacket for formal or semi formal evening occasions
Trouser maker	Specialist tailor who makes trousers
Tweed	Rough twilled woollen weaves and cloths used for suits, jackets and overcoats originally produced in Scotland
Twill	Strong, woven fabric characterised by a diagonal weave
Vent	Slit in the back of a jacket or coat
Vicuna	Fibre sourced from the animal of the same name, a member of the camelid family from the Andes Mountains of South America. Vicuna is reputed to be the world’s most expensive fabric and is finer, softer, lighter and warmer than any other wool. Primarily used for jackets and overcoats
Voile	Thin semi transparent cotton, woollen or silken material used in the making of shirts
Waistcoat	A man’s sleeveless garment usually worn under a jacket
Warp	Vertical threads of a woven fabric
Weft	Horizontal threads of a woven fabric
Windowpane pattern	A pattern of thin lines forming large squares on a background of a different colour
Windsor Collar	Very cut away style of shirt collar, which also known as a cut away collar
Wool	Natural fibre coming from sheep, goats, alpacas, vicuna etc
Woollen	Cloth woven from both long and short-stapled fibres. Often seen in a flannel cloth
Worsted	Lightweight cloth made of long staple combed woollen yarn, originally named after the village of Worsted near Norwich in England, a centre for worsted weaving
Yarn Count	Term used to denote the size/weight of yarn. Yarn is measured in terms of denier or tex
Yarns	Length of fibres and/or filaments with or without twist