Bombazine

Black bombazine with lace edging and beading
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Bombazine, or bombasine, is a fabric originally made of silk or silk and wool, and now also made of cotton and wool or of wool alone. Quality bombazine has a silk warp and a worsted weft. It is twilled or corded and used for dress-material, and was commonly used for dresses, skirts, and jackets. It was a heavy and dense fabric, with a fine diagonal rib that ran through the weave of the fabric. Black bombazine was used largely for mourning wear in 16th century and 17th century Europe,[1] but the material had gone out of fashion by the beginning of the 20th century.[2]

The word "bombazine" is derived by etymologists from an Anatolian word in Greek: βόμβυξ ("silkworm"), via Latin bombyx ("silkworm") and the obsolete French term bombasin, applied originally to silk but afterwards to tree-silk or cotton. Bombazine is said to have been made in England in Elizabeth I's reign (r. 1558–1603), and early in the 19th century it was largely made at Norwich.[3]

  1. ^ Taylor, Lou (2009) [1983]. "Appendix 1: A selection of popular mourning fabrics". Mourning Dress: A Costume and Social History. Routledge Revivals. Routledge. p. 247. ISBN 9781135228439. Retrieved 21 January 2023. Bombazine or Bombasin[:] A fabric with a silk warp and worsted weft with a twilled finish, with worsted on the face side to give the fabric the dull finish required for mourning.
  2. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bombazine". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 190.
  3. ^  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bombazine". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 190. Bombazine is said to have been made in England in Queen Elizabeth's reign, and early in the 19th century it was largely made at Norwich.