Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or

homespun Home spun literally refers to hand spinning, see spinning (textiles). Homespun may refer to: * Homespun fabric, especially that worn by American colonists who were boycotting British goods * "Homespun", pseudonym of Benjamin Franklin in ''The Ha ...

, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained by mixing dyed wool before it is spun. Tweeds are an icon of traditional Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English clothing, being desirable for informal outerwear, due to the material being moisture-resistant and durable. Tweeds are made to withstand harsh climates and are commonly worn for outdoor activities such as shooting and hunting, in England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland, tweed manufacturing is now most associated with County Donegal but originally covered the whole country. In Scotland, tweed manufacturing is most associated with the Isle of Harris in the Hebrides.

Etymology

Tweed making at the Leach family woollen mill at Mochdre

The original name of the cloth was ''tweel'', Scots for twill, the material being woven in a twilled rather than a plain pattern. A traditional story has the name coming about almost by chance. Around 1831, a London merchant, James Locke, received a letter from a Hawick firm, Wm. Watson & Sons, Dangerfield Mills about some "tweels". The merchant misinterpreted the handwriting, understanding it to be a trade-name taken from the River Tweed that flows through the Scottish Borders textile area. The goods were subsequently advertised as Tweed and the name has remained since.

Traditions and culture

Traditionally used for upper-class country clothing such as shooting jackets, tweed became popular among the Edwardian middle classes who associated it with the leisurely pursuits of the elite. Due to their durability tweed

Norfolk jacket A Norfolk jacket is a loose, belted, single-breasted tweed jacket with box pleats on the back and front, with a belt or half-belt. It was originally designed as a shooting coat that did not bind when the elbow was raised to fire. Its origin is un ...

s and plus-fours were a popular choice for hunters, cyclists, golfers and early motorists, hence Kenneth Grahame's depiction of

Mr. Toad Mr. Toad, of Toad Hall, is one of the main characters in the 1908 novel ''The Wind in the Willows'' by Kenneth Grahame, and also the title character of the 1929 A. A. Milne play ''Toad of Toad Hall'' based on the book. Inspiration The inspiration ...

in a Harris Tweed suit. Popular patterns include houndstooth, associated with

1960s fashion In a decade that broke many traditions, adopted new cultures, and launched a new age of social movements, 1960s fashion had a nonconformist but stylish, trendy touch. Around the middle of the decade, new styles started to emerge from small vil ...

, windowpane, gamekeeper's tweed worn by academics, Glen plaid check, originally commissioned by Edward VII, and herringbone. During the 2000s and 2010s, members of long-established British and American land-owning families started to wear high-quality heirloom tweed inherited from their grandparents, some of which pre-dated the Second World War. In modern times, cyclists may wear tweed when they ride vintage bicycles on a Tweed Run. This practice has its roots in the British

young fogey "Young fogey" is a term humorously applied, in British context, to some younger-generation, rather buttoned-down men, many of whom were writers and journalists. The term is attributed to Alan Watkins writing in 1984 in ''The Spectator''. However t ...

and

hipster subculture The 21st-century hipster is a subculture (sometimes called hipsterism). Fashion is one of the major markers of hipster identity. Members of the subculture typically do not self-identify as hipsters, and the word ''hipster'' is often used as a pe ...

s of the late 2000s and early 2010s, whose adherents appreciate both vintage tweed, and bicycles.

Musical instruments

Some vintage Danemann upright pianos have a tweed cloth backing to protect the internal mechanism. Occasionally, Scottish

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

were covered in tweed as an alternative to tartan wool. The term "tweed" is used to describe coverings on instrument cables and vintage or retro guitar amplifiers, such as the

Fender tweed Fender tweed is a generic name used for the Fender Amplifiers, guitar amplifiers made by the American company Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Fender between 1948 and 1960. The amplifiers are named for the cloth covering, which consists of ...

and

Fender Tweed Deluxe The Fender Deluxe guitar amplifier is a range of non-reverb guitar amplifiers produced by Fender. The amplifiers were originally produced from early 1948 to 1966 and reissues are in current production. Its predecessor was the Fender Model 26 " ...

. Despite the common terminology, these coverings were cotton twill, and not actually tweed.

Types of tweed

* Harris Tweed: A handwoven tweed, defined in the Harris Tweed Act 1993 as cloth that is "Handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...

, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides". * Donegal tweed: A handwoven tweed which has been manufactured for several centuries in County Donegal, Ireland, using wool from locally-bred sheep and dye from indigenous plants such as blackberries,

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are n ...

(whins), and

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

. * Silk tweed: A fabric made of raw silk with flecks of colour typical of woollen tweed. * Saxony tweed: Originated in Saxony, Germany. It is a fabric made from the wool of merino sheep. It is very smooth and soft.

Gallery

File:Harris-Tweed 1.jpg, Logo of the Harris Tweed authority File:Glen plaid.jpg, Glen plaid, Glenurquhart, or Prince of Wales check, frequently used to make

overcoat An overcoat is a type of long coat (clothing), coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment, which usually extends below the knee. Overcoats are most commonly used in winter when warmth is more important. They are sometimes confused with ...

s and sportcoats in the 1950s File:Herringbone.jpg, Example of the herringbone pattern, a popular choice for

suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...

s and outerwear File:Hundtandsrutor.png, Houndstooth, the basis of the keeper's tweed popular among the upper classes from the 1860s until the 1930s File:Tweed jacket edited.jpg, Grey Donegal tweed

sportcoat A sport coat, also called a sport jacket (or sports coat or sports jacket in American English), is a men's smart casual lounge jacket designed to be worn on its own without matching trousers, traditionally for sporting purposes. Styles, fabric ...

File:Sherlock holmes pipe hat.jpg, A

deerstalker hat A deerstalker is a type of cap that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the cap's popular association with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it has become stereotypical headgear for ...

made of district or gamekeeper's tweed (contrasting mustard, green and brown checks) File:Man's silk and wool twill frock coat c. 1820.jpg, Windowpane tweed popular in the late 19th century and again in the 1970s File:The Crown Prince of Prussia and Prince Wilhelm II. at Balmoral Castle. - Oct. 1863.jpg, Frederick III with his young son Wilhelm wearing highland dress including tweed kilt jacket File:Gustav V: fältkikare, sittkäpp, skjorta, slips röd t - Livrustkammaren - 86096.tif, Hunting apparel belonging to

Gustaf V of Sweden Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxem ...

, 1930s. File:Harris Tweed Nike.jpg, Harris Tweed Nike File:Charlie Hunter - 1863.PNG, Charlie Hunter (''left'') watches as

Old Tom Morris Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died t ...

plays a shot in 1863 at Prestwick. Both of the players are wearing the traditional tweeds.

Notes

References

* * *
National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE
(archive films relating to tweed manufacture in Scotland) * Anderson, Fiona (2016). ''Tweed''. London: Bloomsbury Academic Press. .

External links

* {{Authority control Wool Woven fabrics Scottish clothing