WHAT MAKES QUALITY?

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 32, 20 January 1939, Unnumbered Page

WHAT MAKES QUALITY?

Points To Remember About Tweeds |

(From

Our London Correspondent

HE. other day I had a letter from a reader abroad that went straight : to my heart. ‘‘I. want to "buy a camel. eoat,’’ she. wrote, ‘"‘but I’ve no idea what to pay to get a decent one. They seem to vary in price so tremendously. What is the difference, if any?" Now, I have an inquiring mind myself, and always like to know _ what I am getting for my money, Two tweed suits may look very -much the same at first sight, but wear them half a dozen times, be out .in the rain or send them. to the cleaners, and you’ll soon diseover why one costs a couple of pounds more than the other. The. same. thing with two apparently similar sweaters. One will come up as downy and good as new after each ‘washing;- the other: will go hard, or thin, or .the colour will ‘yun so that it’s a-mere' travesty of . its original self. © Trouble .is,-: of. course,’ that. in these. days: ofextravagant descriptions it’s: sometimes . @ifficult; without a little technical :knowledge, to. understand what makes quality, and therefore where ‘the value lies. Pondering on all this, I -went ‘off _to. some textile experts.. I’ve had *a:pretty good training myself, but because this question of "what we get for what we pay" really matters to all .intelligent -women, I determined to take no chances! '. My first question was about that -eamel coat, and here are the hard ‘facts. ‘AH the eamel hair (or fleece) is not of the same quality. There’s as’ much difference’ between the soft, fine umnder-hairs -and the eoarse outer ones as between down

and feathers. The downy hair keeps the animal warm, and obviously’ it performs the same service for us!This under-hair makes the most beautiful, supple cloth, extremely light ‘and warm, with a lovely vel-‘-vety "handle" and superb: tailoring "qualities. Once ‘upon a time, this ‘was ‘the only camel hair used, but ‘awhen the demand for camel coats ‘imereased, manufacturers -lookedround for something cheaper and "gtarted ‘using ‘the’ "coarse, ° dark sguter-hairs, The- cloth made from -them, "though still "camel," is heavier, less warm, darker in ap‘pearance, sometimes ‘has tong, coarse hairs showing, .and: doesn’t have the.same rich "feel." So you . gee, the difference is quite big. Look for. a light-weight, light-coloured -eloth, very soft and velvety, and you'll be getting quality. ‘Camel coats, by the way, seem: to . be- getting: much more: adventurous ~jn cut and style." A year or so'ago, we could only: get classic topcoats,. but. "now, . as "well -as-reefer : and swing-back shapes, you can see the grandest: little "capes ‘(perfect for _ travelling), eamel skirts’ that. posi- > tively. don’t sit-out, and-even camel blouses. Almost as much’ abused u' «m as "eamel" "is that . of "cashmere." You know what a camel looks ‘like, ‘put did "you ‘know that cashmere fleece comes from-a-mountain-soat that lives "way up in the Indian

Himalayas, and that his coat las to come to us thousands of miles, by primitive caravans, across Tibet and China? That-little bit of geographical information explains why cashmere is so wondrously warm (the Himalayas are about the coldest place where fleece-bearing animals -live) and why real cashmere can never be cheap. {t. All Depends As with camel, all the: fleece is by no means of the same quality. Again, the soft, downy hair next the skin’ differs’ vastly from..the coarser outer heirs. Apart, « too, from the’ difference .in’ the-raw material, much. depends on the methods of manufacture. ‘Makers | -of the best cashmere sweaters twist their yarns well in the spinning. to give them strength. A yarn with little twist-on it ‘will feel soft but won’t wear in nearly the same way, for there won't be so much ‘cashmere in it. "Then much depends on knitting, too. A well-twisted elastic ‘yarn ‘will knit up much more smoothly, and give a more’éven appearance. ‘Those‘ of you who knit -yourselves will appreciate ° this. ‘Then ‘ there’s the’ gauge of the needles. "If you use a fine’ wool on big needles, you get 2 much more open garment. For summer, for instance, this: may ‘be wanted,. but a" maker who wants to produce a ‘cheaper article ‘will’ do this and "then brush‘ up the sweater after ‘knitting so’that it looks beautifully soft and fluffy and equal to a ‘thicker, better one. When it comes to washing, though, all this fluff comes away and you’re left with a garment on its way to becoming threadbare.: ‘Look-inside a sweater to see if: it has been.brushed. up ‘there. If so, suspect it as not be‘ing the best quality! Makers : of the highest grades. use only a ‘soft ‘brtsh on the outside; those who attempt to make a less good article look better teazle it up inside. and out Plain styles in cashmere sweaters ‘and cardigans cost less than those in fancy knits. The reason? The more elaborate machines used for the latter have to run slower and go produce less. Colour also may put up price. You only get the lovely high-style: colours in. the more expensive makes, for though there will be only a limited call for these, the trouble and cost: of "dyeing up" specially remains un- * changed.

Pure .cashmere, -by the way, doesn’t shrink, or not appreciably, so long as washed -carefully. ‘That makes it-last for- ages, so in the long run, once again the- best -becomes the cheapest. Tweeds need a whole article in themselves, they’re so much in the fashion picture. Funnily enough, or perhaps naturally, though the world’s finest tweeds are produced inthe British Isles, we know less about. them, and value them less, than they do overseas. In America, for instance, they’ll take as mich pride in the material .as: in’ the mame ofthe model house that makes it up. It seems a pity we're. mot as.-appreciative. here, for ‘if there’s .one thing in which ‘quality: pays handsomely, and shows ‘quiteunmistakably, it’s in tweéds, and. indeed all woollens. Sheep Of The Border "Did -you Know that the "best -tweeds.are still made from native ‘British wool? | Sheep vary tre-' -meéndously in the type of fleece they produce; and though for. worsteds :-and the fine ""drapey" sheer woollens that are so much in the fashion pieture the finest Hmpire ‘wool ‘is: best, it’s the sturdy Httle ‘wool is best, it’s the sturdy Httle mountain: sheep of the Western isles, the Scottish border’ country, ~* Cumberland. and. Westmorland, that Eve? RB EnOw of the. finest tweed wool.