Part 7
=Cotton=—the soft, wooly fleece or down from the seed boll of the c.-plant. How interesting are the encyclopedias! Look it up.
=Cotton-bale=—a bundle of about 500 lbs., in dimension 54 × 27 × 27 inches.
=Cotton bengaline=—silk b. with cotton warp.
=Cotton cheat=—term used by righteous factors in denunciation of mercerized woolen and worsted fabrics.
=Cotton classification=—the New York commercial classification is (1) full grades: fair, middling fair, good middling, middling, low middling, good ordinary, ordinary; (2) half grades are designated by the prefix “strict”; (3) quarter grades by the prefix “barely”, meaning a point above half grade and the next full grade above, and “fully”, meaning a point between half grade and the next full grade below. Liverpool high grades are higher and low grades lower than those of New York. Classifications for length are short staple (under 25 mm.), medium (25 to 30 mm.), long (30 to 40 mm.), and extra (40 mm. or more).
=Cotton gin=—a machine for separating the seeds from the fiber of cotton.
=Cotton test=—if silk or wool suspected of containing cotton, light a specimen by match; if adulterated will burn until consumed; the more common test for wool is by boiling in caustic soda. See Breaking t., Burning t., Oil t., Sulfuric acid t., Thru-lighting t., Untwisting t., Acid t. There are also microscopic and other tests. See an encyclopedia.
=Cotton velvet=—velveteen.
=Cotton warp=—trade term for suitings and other cloths woven with a warp of cotton and with filling of woolen or worsted.
=Cotton worsted=—stout all-cotton or part-cotton worsted-wove suitings for men’s wear in imitation of honester goods, usually of hard, slippery feel and the despair of the workman who has to “chop” it with shears. See Cottonade; also Manipulated.
=Cottonade=—stout cotton cloth woven in imitation of woolen or worsted trouserings, produced of coarse yarns, the patterns executed in the loom; usually narrow width.
=Cottonette=—an elastic knitted cotton fabric employed for bathing suits.
=Cotts=—see Cotty wool.
=Cotty wool=—the poor fleece of sheep exposed to severe weather or inadequately fed; generally hard, brittle, matted and of little value.
=Cotul=—a moss grown on the rocks in several British isles: basis of the brown dye used in coloring Harris tweeds.
=Count=—in spinning, the number given to any thread or yard (except silk) to indicate its relativ fineness, based on the number of threads required to weigh one pound. See Spinning; also see an encyclopedia.
=Counter=—a peculiarly shaped piece of sole leather used for stiffening or supporting that part of the upper of a shoe immediately around the heel.
=Counterhopper=—a too familiar term for salesclerks in retail shops.
=Counter jumper=—same thing.
=Counterpane=—a coverlet or quilt.
=Counting glass=—a magnifying glass for counting threads, twills, etc., of a fixed focus with an aperture of definit dimensions to serve as a multiple.
=Court coat=—(1) a formal dress c. in European use; resembles c. in vogue in the days of the Georges; cut somewhat like a “cutaway”, with standing collar, deep pocket flaps, braided frogs instead of buttons, braided edges; (2) a house footman’s c.
=Court dress=—(England) velvet tailcoat with steel buttons, silk waistcoat, velvet knee breeches, black silk stockings, buckled low shoes and white gloves, a cockt hat carried under the arm and a small dress sword worn at the side.
=Court livery=—c. coat, silk or satin knee breeches, plush waistcoat, silk stockings, buckled low shoes.
=Court plaster=—silk or cotton gummed with an antiseptic or healing compound, useful after a scrap; originally worn by court ladies in the shape of beauty patches (and pimple hiders?).
=Court tie=—a low shoe with short vamp; a sort of pump.
=Coutil=—a closely woven cotton fabric with a fine herringbone twill, slightly resembling jean, used for corsets. (Included herein because some men wear ’em.) (=Coutille=).
=Cover coat=—a top c.; a covert c.
=Covered button=—general term for coat, waistcoat and overcoat buttons made on a wooden or metal mold and covered with silk braid, mohair, lasting, cloth, etc., which see under those names.
=Coverlet=—an outer covering for a bed; a quilt.
=Covert cloth=—a stout twill woven woolen coating, the warp of which is of two twisted yarns of differing colors with a single weft of the same color as the dark strand of warp, producing a pepper-and-salt or mixt effect in the piece, well fulled and sheared according as a smooth or twilled surface is to result. Low grade coverts are sometimes woven with a cotton-and-wool or all-cotton warp.
=Covert coat=—a short top c., properly of covert cloth.
=Couverture pantaloons=—a cloth or rubber lap robe for motoring wear, convertible into over trousers by means of bands, hooks and buttons.
=Cow seal=—trade term for leather made from cowhides stamped in imitation of seal leather but with a large, coarse grain. Compare Pin s.
=Cow-tail=—see Tail.
=Cowboy boots=—b. of fine stout calfskin, the legs of which are decorated with fancy lines and curves stitcht into the leather, and having heels at least 2 inches high curving inwardly with a very small bottom, not as a matter of vanity or daintiness, but as a check against the foot slipping thru the stirrup and as a brace against ground-slipping when roping an animal.
=Cowhide=—(1) thick, heavy boot leather; (2) sole leather; (3) rough boots of ditto and of pleasant memory of boyhood country days; (4) a heavy flexible tapering leather whip used by teamsters and sometimes of unpleasant youthful memory.
=Cowes coat=—see Dinner jacket.
=Cowl=—(1) a monk’s hood; (2) the garment of which it is a part.
=Cowlick=—(1) a tuft of hair turned up over the forehead, as if licked by a cow; (2) a tuft of hair sticking up out of the crown of the head that can’t be brushed down.
=Coxcomb=—a pretentious, conceited dandy.
=Crabbing=—a process in cloth weaving by which yarn is uniformly moistened and stretched. See Cockling.
=Craiganputtach=—a variety of Scotch tweed from the town of that name.
=Crammer=—mentioned by Capt. Gronow: probably a choking neck stock or high cravat.
=Crank=—a fool customer who knows better than the salesman what he wants.
=Crape=—see Crepe.
=Crape-cloth=—a fine quality, light-weight, stoutly woven worsted fabric, with a surface in imitation of silk crepe, much used for dress coats.
=Crash=—(1) coarse linen toweling or suiting; (2) a light-weight “homespun” woolen suiting woven in imitation of linen toweling.
=Cravat=—a necktie or scarf, particularly of the larger, hand-tied varieties.
=Cravat pin=—see Scarf p.
=Cravatings=—silk fabrics designed for neckdressings.
=Cravenette=—a process applied to yarns before weaving, rendering the cloths made therefrom repellent to water and moisture; sometimes applied also to the woven fabric with satisfactory results; a secret process owned by The Cravenette Company and B. Priestley & Co., of Bradford, England. Frequently, the word is most erroneously misused as a name for an overcoat, tho the word strictly refers only to the proofing process, and strictly represents, therefore, neither a garment nor a fabric.
=Crease=—a prest fold.
=Crease=—a large dagger used by the Malays. (Kris.)
=Crease line=—in tailoring (1) the line along which a coat collar is folded; (2) where a lapel or rever is turned; (3) a horizontal line in the center of trousers legs, front and back; (4) any other place where a crease may be necessary or fashionable.
=Credit=—the precious privilege of obtaining goods one day and of paying for them, if you can, some other day.
=Credit clothier=—term specially applied to retail tradesmen who sell clothes on the installment plan, exacting a larger profit for their “obliging” accommodation.
=Creedmore=—a sort of brogan or blucher shoe for farmers, railroaders, etc., made of extra heavy leather, double stitcht and reinforced by rivets, and having commonly an outside sole leather counter.
=Creepers=—a baggy sort of dress for children learning to move about; usually bifurcated.
=Creole=—a stout shoe similar to a Congress gaiter, but with tops and uppers cut in one piece and without caps.
=Crepe=—generic name for semi-transparent fabrics of silk, wool or cotton, or combinations thereof, having a weave effect characterized by a crinkly surface of minute irregular ridges or sometimes of small twisted knots or puckers, usually produced by making the weft or warp (or both) of hard twisted threads, each alternate group twisted reversely, which by loom spacing and tension, relax and untwist when the fabric is taken from the loom, resulting in the peculiarity described. Black silk c. is used almost entirely for mourning.
=Crepe=—a species of thrown silk. See Throwing.
=Crepe cloth=—see Crape c.
=Crepe de Chine=—a fine, soft, thin silk fabric slightly crinkled; used for neckwear, mufflers, etc.
=Crepe de sante=—a light-weight cotton or linen fabric, resembling momie in weave, used for undergarments, pajamas, etc.
=Crepele=—French word meaning crepe-effect.
=Crib=—a small bed; a berth or bunk.
=Cricket=—a small footstool.
=Cricketing=—general name for fine twilled flannel suitings (from popular British use).
=Crispin=—a shoemaker. See St. Crispin.
=Crispin cloak=—see Houppelande.
=Croat=—a cravat; such as was worn by the Croatians in the French army in 1636.
=Crocheted tie=—a slimsy thing on a level with colored shoe laces; usually a souvenir of a misguided sweetheart.
=Crock=—to blacken, or stain, or lose color, as a dye that is not fast.
=Crocus finish=—a superior glaze or polish given to knife blades, etc.
=Crofter=—a peasant worker in (British) woolen or linen mills; a linen bleacher; a worker at crude hand looms.
=Crofting=—the bleaching of linen or cotton fabrics on grass or bleaching grounds.
=Croise=—weaving term indicating that the warp threads cross each other on the back of the fabric, as velvet, broadcloth, etc., forming a sort of twill.
=Crop=—a short wooden riding or hunting whip with a leather loop instead of a lash at one end and usually a handle at the other.
=Crop=—a growth of hair or beard; a wig.
=Cropping=—technical term for nap-shearing.
=Cross dyed=—trade term for fabrics in which, in weaving, a skein-dyed decorativ thread of a dark color, usually black, is woven into the fabric in the gray, and the whole piece afterward dyed a lighter color, permitting the dark decoration to show thru. Also called resist dyed (qv).
=Cross-gartered=—see Malvolio in “Twelfth Night”.
=Cross-legged=—the manner in which journeymen tailors work, whence their inclination to parenthesis of the legs.
=Cross pockets=—regular p. (qv).
=Cross stitches=—threads crossing one another, either singly (in the middle) or doubly (in the ends), something like a snake fence; used for staying the edges of velvet on collars, but often used for ornament only.
=Cross stripes=—in weaving, s. running across the width instead of along the length; horizontally.
=Crossbred=—the best sheep for mutton tho producing coarse wool.
=Crossbreed=—wool classification term. See Wool.
=Crotch=—juncture of the two halves of a trouser.
=Crotch piece=—a triangular piece of goods sewed onto the inner legs of trousers at the crotch when cut from goods not wide enough to permit of unspliced chopping.
=Crotch seam=—the fork s. See Stride.
=Crown=—(1) the upper part of a hat, particularly the flat or table part thereof; (2) the top piece of a flat crowned cap.
=Crown=—a decorativ circlet or covering for the head, worn, carried or displayed as a mark of kingly or sovereign power; unknown in U. S.
=Crown=—the upper pyramid of a diamond. See Brilliant cutting.
=Crown-piece=—see Crown.
=Crow’s-foot tack stitch=—in tailoring, an ornamental tack for ends of pockets, vents or inverted plaits. The tack is first laid out in a triangle and the threads laid in from base to apex-sides, alternately from one side and then the other, until the threads meet at the base. This is the most common form; there are variations, not differing greatly in effect or method.
=Crow’s-foot=—a three-pointed embroidery stitch sometimes used in finishing pockets. See above.
=Crow’s-toe=—same as Crow’s-foot.
=Cruiser=—a waterproof moccasin boot with a sewed-on sole and a medium heel, both studded with small hob nails.
=Crush hat=—the collapsible opera h.
=Crush opera=—same as O. hat.
=Crusher=—a soft felt hat, not hurt if stuft into a bag; much loved of travelers.
=Crutch=—the crotch or fork; (properly crotch).
=Crutch=—a walking prop for cripples and invalids.
=Ct.=—abbreviation for carat.
=Cue=—see Queue.
=Cuff box=—a receptacle for cuffs; usually of leather.
=Cuff button=—wrist jewelry.
=Cuff links=—cuff buttons. See Links.
=Cuffs=—(=1=) ornamental finishing to coat sleeves; (=2=) separate or attacht bands as a finishing for shirt sleeves.
=Cuirass=—defensiv armor covering the entire upper part of the body.
=Culet=—see Collet point.
=Cummerbund=—a broad, soft sash.
=Cup button=—bowl shape.
=Curl=—a cute little kink.
=Curled yarn=—weft y. commonly composed of two or three threads of contrasting colors, characterized by loops or curls at intervals, variously effected.
=Curling=—a process in hat manufacture whereby brims are shaped to conform exactly to a model.
=Curling iron=—a machine that had better be left altogether to women, who have hair to burn.
=Currier=—one who curries or dresses leather.
=Curtain=—the waist lining of trousers.
=Custom made=—made in the mode; to order and to measure.
=Custom tailor=—one who makes clothes to order only. Compare Merchant t.
=Customer=—an individual highly prized by the proprietor and patronized by the salesperson; sometimes called an “Indian”.
=Customer’s labels=—in the readymade clothing trade (wholesale) a name given to woven silk labels, bearing retailer’s names, sewed into neck of coats.
=Customs inspector’s uniform=—coat, vest, trousers and cap of dark blue cloth, the coat 4-button double-breasted in winter with 2 lower pockets with flaps, 1 outside welted breast and 1 inside breast pocket; in summer to be 4 buttons, single-breasted, square cut. Inspectors of passenger’s baggage wear red cap instead of blue. Insignia indicating rank worn on front of cap. All coat and vest buttons of flat bone, to be covered with shells when on duty.
=Cut=—a coil of two hanks of yarn.
=Cut goods=—trade term for hosiery knitted on a round knitting machine, the tubular, unshaped product being cut into required lengths, then footed, shaped, etc., by cutting out and adding other pieces as needed; the cheapest process of manufacture.
=Cut mark=—a mark fixt on the warp during dressing or beaming, to indicate a certain length and serve as a point for separating two adjoining pieces of cloth when woven.
=Cut-off cuff=—a sewed on or special c.
=Cut-off vamp=—same as Short v.
=Cut pile=—having a pile made by cutting the loops of the warp or floats of the filling on certain fabrics, as velvet, plush, etc.
=Cut velvet=—see Velvet.
=Cut wig=—see Wig.
=Cutaway frock coat=—a single-breasted f. c. with the skirts cut in a slanting line from a point near the waist. See Frock c. Occasionally—and whimsically—this c. is made double-breasted, but such an order is the despair of the tailor because of the difficulty of obtaining a smart appearance.
=Cutlas=—a heavy, curved short sword with one cutting edge and a bowl-shaped guard, used mostly in hand-to-hand naval engagements; latterly being discontinued.
=Cutler=—a dealer in knives, scissors, razors, table cutlery, surgical instruments, etc.; a manufacturer or repairer of same.
=Cutlery=—cutting instruments collectivly.
=Cuts=—trade term for less than a bolt or full piece of goods; short lengths.
=Cutter=—(1) in tailoring, the man who takes the measurements and drafts and cuts the paper patterns, which, in the larger establishment are turned over to “choppers” (qv) who “make the lay” on the cloth and cut the cloth; (2) in ready-to-wear clothing manufacturing the “cutter” is the man who lays out the pattern on the cloth and cuts the cloth, either by shears, electric cutting machine or long knife—corresponding to the “chopper” of the merchant tailor; (3) in shoe manufacturing, one who lays the patterns on the leather and cuts therefrom the vamps or other parts of a shoe.
=Cutters-up=—manufacturers of various articles of apparel. See Cutting-up trade.
=Cutting knife=—a long, tapering k. (24 to 30 in. blade) working in a groove or slot, used for cutting cloth, linings, etc., in large shops. As many as 75 layers of cloth may be cut at one stroke.
=Cutting machine=—an electrically operated m. for cutting several thicknesses of cloth at one operation, moved about by hand and controlled at will of the operator. There are two principal styles (1) a straight knife 5 to 6 in. long, and (2) a circular or wheel knife 3½ to 4½ in. in diameter, which will cut thru about 30 layers of heavy cloth and about 45 of light cloth; the straight knife will cut several more layers.
=Cutting-up trade=—indicativ of the trades that buy yard goods for purposes of manufacturing, as clothiers, tailors, shirt makers, etc., as distinguished from the jobbing trade.
=Cutty=—a short-stemmed pipe.
D
=Dalmatic=—a wide sleeved tunic reaching to the knees, worn over the alb or cassock at mass and communion by deacons; also a medieval state or coronation robe. As an ecclesiastical vestment it was originally white with wide perpendicular stripes of purple; as now worn it follows the color of the day with stripes of embroidery.
=Damascened=—see Damascus blade and Jowhir.
=Damascus blade=—general term for swords famed for the quality and temper of the metal as well as the beauty of the jowhir or watering of the blades.
=Damask=—a twill woven fabric of linen, cotton, silk, etc., with loom-figured all-over patterns.
=Damask=—steel workt in the Damascus style, showing the wavy lines of the different metals; also called watered and twisted.
=Dame fashion=—a fetich.
=Damier=—large square checks.
=Dancing clog=—a laced leather low shoe with wooden sole (very noisy).
=Dancing pump=—a low-heeled, low shoe with short vamps, with or without ornamental bow at instep.
=Dandified=—dandyish; foppish.
=Dandy=—a beau; not quite a dude.
=Dandy=—something out of the common; first-class.
=Dandy trap=—a loose stone, which slips when trodden on, and, in wet weather, throws up the mud under it, to the great detriment of the clothes of the victim.
=Darbies=—cant for irons or handcuffs.
=Darning stitch=—a s. peculiar to darning or embroidery.
=Dart=—a place in a garment from which a tapering piece or V has been cut to make it fit the figure, as at the waist. Same as fish.
=Dauber=—a small brush or other arrangement for applying blacking or polish to shoes, incidentally soiling the hands.
=Day dress=—generally, single and double-breasted frock coats, as contrasted with swallowtails and Tuxedos for evening dress and sack coats for day business and lounge wear.
=De Joinville=—a neck dressing, a plain, flat strip of satin or silk which must be folded before it is put on, and is passed thru a flat (gold) clasp or “scarf ring”, having a hinge at one side and a spike or projection on the inner side of the rear part for engaging and keeping in place the adjusted tie; sometimes this clasp is made with a hinged pin; also the scarf is frequently tied as an ascot, puff, once-over, waterfall, etc.
=Dead gold=—unburnisht.
=Dead hairs=—see Kemp.
=Dead horse=—(nautical commerce) wages paid before they are earned.
=Dead wool=—fleece taken from pelts of sheep that have died. Same as Kemp.
=Debeige=—see Beige.
=Decoration=—trade term for the white or bright-colored threads used to lighten up worsted and other otherwise plainish fabrics; usually employed when the “decoration” is of silk or mercerized threads.
=De soy=—see Sergedusoy.
=Deep mourning=—lusterless black outer garments with crepe and no social intercourse or amusements.
=Deep scye=—a variety of armhole not fitting up close under the arm, as is usual, but where the front and back parts of the coat are cut away in a descending curve to a point a little above the waist, affecting, of course, the style of sleeve also.
=Degage=—easy; unconventional; neglige.
=Delaine=—a name given to combing wools. See Wool.
=Delivery=—getting goods to the purchaser; usually behind promised time.
=Delivery boy=—a pert young imp, hired, in the opinion of customers, to talk back to them.
=Deltoid muscle=—the pons asinorum of tailoring.
=Demi-toilette=—day dress.
=Demi-vest=—see Vest-front.
=Denim=—a heavy, twilled cotton fabric, usually woven with plain colored warp threads, as blue, gray, brown, etc., with white weft; used for overalls, jumpers, etc. Dungaree.
=Denmark satin=—a coarse, worsted fabric, woven with smooth, satin twilled surface; a variety of lasting cloth.
=Dent’s=—trade diminutiv for the general line of gloves made by Dent, Allcroft & Co., London.
=Dental floss=—a lightly twisted antiseptic heavy silk yarn used for cleansing between the teeth.
=Dental powder=—“tooth powder”. See Dentifrice.
=Dentifrice=—any substance or preparation used in cleansing the teeth.
=Dentist’s coat=—a short working jacket of heavy drill or duck, not unlike barber’s c., barkeeper’s c., waiter’s c., etc.
=Department store=—the apotheosis of the junk shop.
=Depilatory=—a chemical preparation for removing hair from face or other parts of the body.
=Deposit=—a tailor’s insurance against loss if you fail to call for your suit.
=Derby jacket=—same as D. sack.
=Derby sack=—a single-breasted s. coat with the regular front, with a short underarm cut terminating in a waistline extending back to the side seam, meeting a body-shaped back part which has a center vent reaching to the made waistline, and finisht with inverted (side) plaits also reaching to the waistline.
=Deshabille=—undress.
=Designer=—one who originates and plans styles for manufacturing; in wholesale clothing manufacturing one who also cuts the (first) paper patterns, which are afterward turned over to an assistant to grade into sizes.
=Detroit cap=—a c., usually of fur, having a round crown, a rolling band highest at the back and sloping to the front, meeting a visor that may be rolled up or down.
=Devil=—a machine employed in hat manufacturing for thoroly mixing furs after carroting.
=Devil=—(woolen manufacture) see Willowing machine.
=Devil’s receptacles=—a nickname given to the wide, long, trailing, slasht sleeves worn by the gay bucks of the 14th century.
=Devon=—a heavy, close-milled overcoat cloth, in character between melton and kersey; one of the old names for a variety of kersey.
=Dew retting=—the decomposition of flax by dew. See Retting.
=Dhotee=—an East Indian concession to modesty. See Waistcloth.
=Diagonal=—general term for worsted fabrics having a diagonal twill produced by raising the warp threads progressivly, from left to right, or right to left, usually at an angle of 45°, in groups of 2, 3, 4, etc., and filling in the weft threads to make them stand out in ridges.
=Diapers=—our first garments.
=Dice=—a square, woven pattern.
=Dicer=—a silk hat.
=Dicky=—originally (about 1809) a stiff, standing collar; latterly a separate shirt bosom, with collar band, worn in place of shirt by the impecunious. (Also Dickey).
=Didies=—see Diapers.
=Digitalia=—the fingered glove of the ancient Romans. See Chirothecae.
=Dimity=—a fine cotton fabric having a stripe or figure raised on the face and deprest on the back.
=Dining jacket=—see Dinner coat.
=Dink=—to dress or bedeck. (Scotch).
=Dinky=—absurdly small, skimpy or insufficient.