Clothing material


Historically, clothing is, and has been, made from many clothing materials. These range from grasses and furs to much more elaborate and exotic materials. Some cultures, such as the various people of the Arctic Circle, have made their clothing entirely of prepared and decorated furs and skins. Other cultures have supplemented and replaced leather and skins with cloth. Cloth is either woven or knitted, and can be made from a large variety of fibers, which in turn can be natural, cellulose, or synthetic.
Humans have shown extreme inventiveness in devising clothing solutions to environmental hazards and the distinction between clothing and other protective equipment is not always clear-cut; examples include space suit, air conditioned clothing, armor, diving suit, swimsuit, bee-keeper's protective clothing, motorcycle leathers, high-visibility clothing, and protective clothing in general.

Cloth

Clothing is often made of cloth. There are many different types of cloth, with different names and uses. Main differences between types of cloth include how the cloth is made, what fiber it is made from, and what weight the cloth is. Different types of cloth may be used for different types of clothing.

Examples of clothing materials

Common natural clothing materials are:
Other materials are made from synthetic fibers, primarily from petrochemicals, which are not generally biodegradable. Common synthetic materials include:
Some less common clothing materials are:
Reinforcing materials such as wood, bone, plastic and metal may be used in fasteners or to stiffen garments.