Here are some terms that might be useful in choosing the right fabric for you:

ACETATE: A fabric used primarily in pants and jackets linings. It is silky and thin and allows the garment to move easily without binding on other fabrics.

ACRYLIC: The generic name of a syntheti textile fibre made with acrylic acid. Often blended with wool.Noted for loft and bulk.

ALPACA: The long woolly hair of the Peruvian alpaca mammal, which makes up into cloth noted for its soft feel and resilience.

BROCADE: Rich jacquard-woven fabric with all-over interwoven design of raised figures or leaves. From the French word for "to ornament". used in neckwear.

CAMEL HAIR: Undercoat hair from the Bactrian (two-hump) camel. It is not clipped or shaved, but gathered from the ground as the camel's skin expands seasonally nad hair loosens. usually used in its natural colour.

CANVAS: Cotton, linen, or synthetic fabric used in the construction of a suit to give it shape and body. It is most commonly used in the shoulders and chest.

CASHMERE: An extremely soft, luxurious fabric made from the hair of the cashmere goat - native to Kashmir in northwestern India, Tibet, Turkestan, Iran, Iraq and China. Cashmere is obtained from the animal by combing rather than clipping. Cashmere is more like wool than any other fiber. The fabric is light in weight, wonderful to wear but not known for its durability.

CHEVIOT: Rough woolen suiting and overcoat cloth. Similar to tweed in construction. Name is derived from the fact that hardy wool from cheviot hills of Scotland is used in making the cloth.

CHEVRON: A motif consisting of Vs joining together as in a herringbone e.g. VVVVVVV

CHINO: A cotton fabric with a plain or twill weave made popular as summer wear for the armed forces.

COMBED YARNS: extra smooth, fine and strong. This is due to the combing machine,which removes short fibers after carding. In men's wear this term is often associated with cotton.

CORDUROY: A durable cut-pile fabric with narrow or wide vertical ribs or wales.

DOBBY: Weave forming small repeat geometric patterns. Includes material with small figures such as dots, geometrical designs and floral patterns woven in the fabric.

END-AND-END: Men's shirting fabric with a fine colored yarn usually intermixed with a fine white yarn.

FAILLE: Fabric with a flat ribbed weave. This fabric drapes and wears well, hence is ideal for slacks and dress wear. Faille was originally made of silk but for quality menswear is now most commonly made of fine woolens.

FLANNEL: A light or medium-weight fabric of plain or twill weave, with a slightly napped surface. May be made of woolens or combinations of yarns. A quality flannel is a soft comfortable fabric to wear and is somewhat delicate. This fabric tailors into a luxurious looking pant or suit.

FLAX: A plant that produces the raw material for linen fabric.

GABARDINE: These weaves give the characteristic single-diagonal lines noted on the face of the cloth. There are twice as many threads per inch in the warp than there are in the weft. Because of the twist in the yarn and texture, the cloth wears very well and outlasts similar materials used for the same purpose.

GLEN PLAID: A design that pairs small checks with large checks. Used particularly for men's suits and slacks. Also called Glen Check. Named for Glen Urquhart, a valley in Inverness shire, Scotland.

GORE-TEX: Trade name for rainwear and sportswear fabric with Teflon (registered trade mark) based membrane sandwiched between nylon outer fabric and soft inner fabric. Has many minute pores - nine billion per square inch - that makes it breathable yet water proof.

HARRIS TWEED: A trademark for an imported tweed made of virgin wool from the highlands of Scotland. Spun, dyed and hand woven by islanders in Harris and other islands of the Hebrides.

HERRINGBONE: A broken twill weave giving a zigzag effect produced by alternating the direction of the twill. Same as the chevron weave. Structural design resembles backbone of herring.

HOPSACK: Popular woolen or worsted suiting fabric made from a 2-and-2 or a 3-and-3 basket weave. Generally appear as small squares.

HOUNDSTOOTH CHECK: A small, broken check pattern with hook, resembling a dog's incisor.

INTERFACING: Woven or not woven fabrics used between outer fabric and lining to reinforce or stiffen the outer fabric. Some major types include fusible and non-fusible, non-woven, canvas, haircloth, etc. Used in men's suit jackets, sport coats, pant waistbands and dress coats.

LAMB'S WOOL: Wool from young sheep after first shearing. Noted for its soft hand.

LINEN: Linen is woven from fibers produced by the flax plant, and the term "linen" cannot be applied to any other kind of fiber except that of natural flax. Among the properties of linen are rapid moisture absorption, fiber length of a few inches to one yard, no fuzziness, soil-resistance, natural luster and stiffness. The fabric unless specially treated tends to crease considerably. Most appropriately used in cool sportswear.

LYCRA: The elastic fiber made by Dupont. This fiber adds stretch and comfort to many clothing fabrics.

MERCERIZING: Treatment for cotton yarns and cotton goods to increase luster and improve strength and dye affinity.

MERINO: High quality wool yarn made from fleece of merino sheep which is short, fine, strong, resilient and takes dyes well.

MICROFIBER: picture the finest fiber you can imagine, then divide it in half and that is what is called a microfiber. Half of the thickness of silk and 100 times finer than a human hair. A microfiber is the tiniest man-made fiber ever created. Fabrics made of microfiber are wrinkle resistant and easy to care for.

MODAL: British generic fiber category for manufactured cellulose fabrics having a high breaking strength. Often mixed with other fibers.

MOHAIR: Obtained from the angora goat, this is one of the oldest textile fibers. It is both durable and resilient.

MOLESKIN: A heavy, strong fabric woven with coarse, carded yarns. The fabric is made with a short nap and then sheared. The surface is smooth and solid, often suede-like.

NAPPING: A finishing process that raises the fibers of a cloth to the surface for a fuzzier finish. An example of a fabric with a nap finish is flannel.

PIMA COTTON: Fine quality, long staple cotton, raised in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and California.

PIQUE: Pronounced pee-kay is a cotton used in many polo shirts and is generally distinguished as a waffle weave. It is slightly thicker and is valued by golfers, as this fabric does not show perspiration stains readily.

POLYNOSIC: A high-modulus, dimensionally stable rayon staple fiber. It is a natural fibre originating from wood pulp, cellulose and rayon. Finer quality than the regular rayon yarns, it has high resistance to stretching under wet conditions. Used blended with other yarns in modern and sophisticated fabrics. Often found combined with high quality microfibre yarn to create a very luxurious microfibre garment.

POPLIN: Medium weight, durable fabric made of cotton or cotton blend yarns. A tightly woven, strong fabric that is often finished with a water repellant coating. In men's wear most commonly used for trench coats, pants and sometimes shirts.

RAMIE: An important fiber from the ramie plant also known as "rhea" or "china grass". Ramie resembles flax but it is coarser. The cost of production in making the yarn is high. Ramie has great strength, lustre, body and appearance.

RAYON: Generic term for man-made fibers derived from regenerated cellulose (originating from trees, woody plants, etc. Originally known as artificial silk. Rayon fabrics are used primarily because of low cost. Characteristics include a silky hand, shiny lustrous appearance, good dyeability and drapability.

REVERSE TWIST: A plain weave worsted fabric using yarns twisted to the right and yarns twisted to the left. Has somewhat more bulk than regular twists. Tailors well.

SATIN: Satin cloths were originally made of silk and simulations but are now made from different types of yarns. The fabric has a very smooth, lustrous face-effect while the back of the material is dull. In menswear commonly used on tuxedo lapels and trimmings.

SAXONY: Soft, pliable, lightly napped wool or worsted fabric of high quality with a clear, concise finish. Derived from the sheep-growing province of Germany.

SEERSUCKER: Lightweight cloth, often striped, made of cotton, nylon, silk and other yarns. A puckered or crinkled effect is created by releasing the tension at intervals on the warp yarns. The effect is permanent and won't wash out.

SERGE: popular staple, diagonal worsted cloth.

SHATNES: Shatnes, the combination of wool and linen in a fabric, is of concern to many of our customers. Upon request we will gladly assist any customer to insure that the garment he purchases is shatnes free. We will have the garment inspected at no charge for shatnes by a local, respected, authority. We will gladly provide you with his contact information upon request. When merchandising our site we verify fabric content with the manufacturer to ensure that all garments are shatnes free. This verification is performed by reviewing mill labels identifying fabric content. Although we review this information diligently, it is not a foolproof technique of determining the absence of shatnes from clothing as contents provided by fabric mills may by law exclude trace amounts of up to 3% of any fiber. We therefore recommend that garments be individually checked by a competent authority.

SHETLAND: A soft, light, tweed-like, very nappy fabric made only from the fine undercoat of sheep raised on the Shetland Islands of Scotland. Word is also used (incorrectly) to refer to soft fabric closely related to tweed.

TARTAN: A fabric design similar to that commonly found on a kilt. Associated with Scottish clans, the fabric originated in Spain and was called tiritaña.

TASMANIAN WOOL: A merino-quality type of wool that comes exclusively from the island of Tasmania, off the coast of Australia. The wool is taken only off the shoulders of the sheep, which produces the finest yarns. This quality of wool is used strictly for super 90's, super 100's and super 120's.

TATTERSALL: Fabric with an over check, approximately one half inch square made with colored lines in both directions with a contrasting background.

TEFLON: Trademark of Dupont. Stain resistant, water repellent finish applied to textiles. This treatment gives the fabric a protective coating (without affecting any of the fabric's inherent properties).

TENCEL: A miraculous new way of producing fiber from the wood pulp of trees. The trees are grown especially for this purpose on managed tree farms, which replant and reharvest as they cut down. Processed in a natural, non-chemical manner which is environmentally safe, the use of non-toxic dissolving agents does not pollute the rivers. Fabric is 100% biodegradable. The selected trees are grown on agriculturally poor land and are constantly replenished, so there is no threat to the environment. Tencel was introduced to the world of apparel in 1992 and is the first new fiber introduction in over thirty years. Tencel gives fabrics great color richness, from pale pastels to deep vibrant tones. It also has a subtle lustre found only in luxurious fabrics, and breathes well. Tencel can be finished in a variety of manners to produce unique surface effects. Comfort and strength are two more properties of tencel. Strength means high wash stability, extremely low shrinkage and good tear resistance, which all add up to a longer lasting garment.

TROPICAL: Lightweight fabrics used for warm weather wear. Tropicals have a clear finish, and high-twist yarns are used to make up for the lack of weight and to provide good performance to consumers. The breathability is especially good for slacks.

TWEED: A rough, irregular, soft and flexible, unfinished shaggy woollen named for the tweed river that separates England from Scotland. It is made of a two-and-two twill weave, right-hand or left-hand in structure. Outstanding tweeds include Bannockburn, English, Harris, Irish, Linton, Manx, Scotch and Donegal.

TWILL WEAVE: Identified by the diagonal lines in the goods. It is one of the three basic weaves, the others being plain and satin. Most twills are 45 degrees in angle. Steep twills are made from angles of 63, 70, and 75 degrees while reclining twills use angles of 27, 20, and 15 degrees.

TWIST:A yarn formed by twisting two or more strands together. Different coloured yarns are often used for unusual colour effect..

VELVET: A warp pile cloth in which a succession of rows of short cut piles stand so close together as to give an even uniform surface; appealing in look and with soft handle. When the pile is more than 1/8" in height, the cloth is called plush.

VICUNA WOOL: The finest hair fiber to be found anywhere in the world; it is twice as fine as the finest merino wool fiber. It is found in small flocks in the almost inaccessible mountain regions of Peru. The animals thrive at an altitude of about 10,000 feet. Since the animal must be killed to obtain its fleece, only a very limited supply is readily available.

WALE: In a woven fabric, like corduroy or Bedford cord, the wale is the rib or raised cord that runs lengthwise with the warp.

WARP: The yarn that runs lengthwise in a woven fabric. Also called chain or twist.

WEFT: Yarn that runs widthwise across the fabric. In Britain the word weft is used in the sense of filling.

WOOLEN: As used in the textile industry, fabric using wool fibers of varying lengths. Fabrics are generally softer and bulkier than worsteds. Used in tweeds.

WORSTED: Fabric woven from long wool fibers and combed to eliminate short fibers and twisted tightly there are few fuzzy fibers. The fabric is given a hard press to make them crisp and smooth.

ExecStyle has been selling suits for over 45 years. If you need any advice let us give you a hand. Call us toll free at 1-877-ExecStyle (1-877- 393-2789) or email us at info@ExecStyle.com