Since the XIth century at the latest, it was possible in this country to give raw woollen fabrics a firmer, denser texture through the subsequent treatment of fulling and a more even, more beautiful appearance and thus a considerably higher value through shearing in combination with dyeing. Such refined fabrics were given the name cloth as opposed to ordinary woolen fabrics, which were then called loden*. They were produced by specially trained weavers, the cloth weavers, so that a distinction was made between linen weavers, loden weavers and cloth weavers. Over time, however, the terms became so blurred that in today’s common parlance, refined, high-quality fabrics are referred to as cloth, as opposed to more simply produced fabrics. The garment to be produced ultimately determines the tailor’s decision as to which textiles are best suited for the respective application.
*The term loden originally only referred to the unfinished raw fabric before the fulling process. Nowadays, the term loden is used as a collective term for dense woollen carded fabrics, which have always been highly valued for their wind and rain resistance.
