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470 entries across tailoring, shoemaking, cloth and craft Reference publication: we sell nothing and rank nobody for payment Every figure carries its source and the date it was checked

Fabric · Fibre

Wool

The default fibre of tailoring, for reasons that are structural rather than traditional.

Wool is sheep's hair, and it is the basis of nearly all tailoring. Each fibre is naturally crimped and covered in microscopic scales, which makes wool springy, insulating, resistant to creasing, and , crucially for a tailor, shapeable with heat and steam. No synthetic yet matches the combination.

Navy worsted wool suiting, close up
Navy worsted wool suiting, close up

Why tailoring is built on it

Four properties, all consequences of the fibre's structure. Wool is crimped: each fibre is naturally wavy, so a yarn made from it is springy, traps air, insulates, and recovers from creasing rather than holding the crease. Its surface is covered in overlapping scales, which is why wool felts when agitated in hot water and why it can be milled deliberately. It absorbs a remarkable amount of moisture vapour, around a third of its weight, without feeling wet, which is why wool is comfortable across a wide temperature range. And it is mouldable: heat, steam and pressure will shrink and stretch it into a permanent three-dimensional shape.

That last one is the tailor's property. Almost everything a tailor does with an iron depends on it, and it is why a synthetic-blend suit cannot be shaped the way a wool one can, whatever else the blend does well.

Worsted and woollen

Two ways of spinning, producing two different materials from the same fibre. Worsted yarn is made from long fibres combed parallel before spinning: smooth, strong, fine, with a clear surface. Almost all suiting is worsted. Woollen yarn is carded rather than combed, so the fibres lie in every direction: fuzzier, loftier, warmer for its weight, weaker. Flannel, tweed and most knitwear are woollen.

The distinction explains a great deal. A worsted suit holds a crease and shows a smooth face; a flannel is soft, hides everything, and does not hold a sharp press. They can be the same wool.

Micron and what it does not tell you

Fibre diameter is measured in microns and it is the single most quoted specification in the trade. Merino suiting wool runs roughly 17 to 21 microns; the very fine wools used for high Super numbers go below 15; coarser wools for tweeds and carpets run above 25.

Finer fibre feels softer against the skin, because fine fibres bend rather than prickling. It is also weaker. A cloth woven from 14-micron fibre is more delicate, holds a press less well, and wears out sooner than one woven from 18-micron fibre, and the trade knows this perfectly well. The habit of treating a higher Super number as a higher quality is the most persistent misunderstanding in menswear, and mills are not in a hurry to correct it.

Staple length, how long each fibre is, matters at least as much and is almost never quoted. Long fibres make stronger, smoother, less pilling yarn.

Weight, and how to read it

WeightMetricSeasonCharacter
7–8 oz220–250 g/mHigh summerVery light; needs an open weave to work
9–10 oz280–310 g/mSummer to mid-seasonThe modern default; drapes moderately
11–12 oz340–380 g/mThree-seasonHangs well, tailors well, holds a press
13–16 oz400–500 g/mWinterSubstantial; the traditional English suiting weight
17 oz +530 g/m +Coats and country clothHeavy; extremely durable
 Ounces per yard against grams per metre. Weight has fallen steadily since the 1950s, largely because buildings are heated; a cloth described as heavy today would have been ordinary in 1955.

Why wool stopped being heavy

Suiting weights have fallen by roughly a third since the 1950s, and the reason is buildings rather than taste. Central heating, air conditioning and cars removed the need for a cloth that could keep someone warm in an unheated office and a cold train.

The cost is that light cloth drapes less well, creases more readily and wears out faster. Anyone who has handled a 1950s suit notices immediately that it hangs differently, and the difference is mostly ounces.

At a glance

Source
Sheep: merino for fine suiting
Fibre diameter
Roughly 15–25 µm for apparel wool; merino suiting 17–21 µm
Moisture regain
Around 30% of its weight without feeling wet
Key property for tailoring
It can be shrunk and stretched permanently with heat and steam
Two spinning systems
Worsted (combed, smooth) and woollen (carded, lofty)

Who works with it

Houses and mills on this site with a documented connection to Wool.

  1. An illuminated Ermenegildo Zegna sign Zegna Brand · Biella · 1910

    Zegna began as a wool mill in 1910 and is now one of the world's biggest luxury menswear companies, still weaving cloth and owning Thom Browne.
  2. A Harris Tweed weaver at a treadle loom Harris Tweed Cloth maker

    Harris Tweed is not a company but a legally protected cloth, pure wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides and hand-woven in islanders' homes.
  3. Vitale Barberis Canonico Cloth maker · Biella · 1663

    Vitale Barberis Canonico is Italy's largest fine-wool mill, and if you own a mid- or upper-market Italian suit, its cloth may well be in it.
  4. Fox Brothers Cloth maker · 1772

    Fox Brothers is a Somerset mill that has woven since the eighteenth century and is the go-to name for English flannel, a heavy cloth that tailors beautifully.
  5. Holland & Sherry Cloth maker · 1836

    A London cloth merchant of long standing, now with a mill of its own and a very large book.
  6. Huddersfield Fine Worsteds Cloth maker

    Huddersfield Fine Worsteds is a Yorkshire cloth merchant offering several old English ranges of sturdy, well-behaved smooth wool suiting.
  7. Lanificio Drago Cloth maker · Biella

    A Biellese weaver known for fine, light cloths and a very large seasonal range.
  8. Caccioppoli Cloth maker · Naples

    Caccioppoli is a Naples cloth merchant whose light, soft fabrics are standard in Neapolitan tailoring workshops and have spread abroad along with that style.
  9. Hardy Minnis Cloth maker

    Hardy Minnis is a London cloth merchant best known for Fresco, an open, airy wool suiting that people who wear suits in heat reorder for decades.

Cloth makers and merchants

All mills →
  1. Vitale Barberis Canonico Biella · 1663

    Vitale Barberis Canonico is Italy's largest fine-wool mill, and if you own a mid- or upper-market Italian suit, its cloth may well be in it.
  2. Fox Brothers 1772

    Fox Brothers is a Somerset mill that has woven since the eighteenth century and is the go-to name for English flannel, a heavy cloth that tailors beautifully.
  3. Harris Tweed

    Harris Tweed is not a company but a legally protected cloth, pure wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides and hand-woven in islanders' homes.
  4. Holland & Sherry 1836

    A London cloth merchant of long standing, now with a mill of its own and a very large book.
  5. Huddersfield Fine Worsteds

    Huddersfield Fine Worsteds is a Yorkshire cloth merchant offering several old English ranges of sturdy, well-behaved smooth wool suiting.
  6. Lanificio Drago Biella

    A Biellese weaver known for fine, light cloths and a very large seasonal range.
  7. Caccioppoli Naples

    Caccioppoli is a Naples cloth merchant whose light, soft fabrics are standard in Neapolitan tailoring workshops and have spread abroad along with that style.
  8. Hardy Minnis

    Hardy Minnis is a London cloth merchant best known for Fresco, an open, airy wool suiting that people who wear suits in heat reorder for decades.

What it is used for

  1. A charcoal double-breasted overcoat The overcoat

    An overcoat is a long coat worn over a suit jacket, and it needs to be roomy, long and heavy enough to hang properly.
  2. A navy suit on a valet stand The suit

    A suit is simply a jacket and trousers, sometimes with a waistcoat, made from the same cloth at once so they match exactly.
Last reviewed: September 2026 Report an error on this page

Sources

  1. Wool fibre specifications and standards , The Woolmark Company.

Where a figure is disputed or a house has not published it, the page says so rather than choosing a number.

Related

FabricMerino wool Start hereUnderstanding fabric GuideHow to choose cloth FabricSuper numbers Glossary termWorsted AccessoryCaring for tailoring Glossary termMicron Start hereCaring for fine clothing Start hereChoosing your first serious suit Glossary termSuper number GarmentThe overcoat GarmentThe suit
Picture credits 5
  1. Navy worsted wool suiting, close up: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
  2. Front of the Ermenegildo Zegna Global Store (52039067673): Photograph · Chris Rycroft from Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
  3. Harris Tweed Sakko - Ausschnitt mit Lederknopf - Bild 001: Photograph · Lupus in Saxonia · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
  4. A charcoal double-breasted overcoat: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art
  5. A navy suit on a valet stand: Original art · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale · Il Sartoriale original art

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