History and use

The fabric was known as fustaneum or fustanum in Late Latin and as pannus fustāneus or tela fustānea in Medieval Latin. It may have been named after the Egyptian city of Fustat near Cairo, which produced this material.

This fabric includes plain twilled cloth called jean and cut fabrics similar to velvet, such as velveteen, moleskin, and corduroy. The original medieval fustian was a strong but decent fabric made with cotton weft and linen warp. Over time, the term became less specific and was used for a rough fabric made of wool and linen. During the reign of Edward III in England, the name was applied to a woolen fabric. By the early 1900s, fustian was usually made of cotton dyed in many colors.

In a petition to Parliament during the reign of Mary I, "fustian of Naples" was mentioned. In the 13th and 14th centuries, priests’ robes and women’s dresses were made of fustian. In the early 1900s, some dresses were still made from fustian, but it was mostly used for workers’ clothing. From the mid-1600s to the mid-1700s, fustian was often used for bed hangings.

By the 1860s, fustian referred to any cut weft cotton fabric. Its production was common in towns near the Lancashire cotton region, such as Congleton in Cheshire, Mow Cop in Staffordshire, and Heptonstall in Calderdale. Wilmslow in Cheshire was a major place for cutting fustian. From 1800 to 1850, it was often called Baragan Fustian and widely used in Australia.

Manufacture

Fustian cutting was a hard process that used a special tool called a fustian cutting knife. This tool was about 50 centimeters (20 inches) long and looked like a long spike. About 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) from the tip, the top edge was sharpened into a blade. The knife was placed along the fabric next to two warp threads and under the raised weft. As the knife moved forward, the blade cut through the weft. In corduroy, there were seven ridges in each inch. On a 31-inch (790 mm) bolt of fabric, this meant about 320 cuts needed to be made.

In the 1860s, the fabric was stretched over a table that was 22 yards (20 meters) long. Cutters walked the length of the table as many times as needed to complete the cuts. In more recent times, the fabric was stretched over a 6-foot (1.8 meter) table. All the cuts were made on this table, and then the fabric was released. The next two yards of fabric were then stretched onto the table for cutting. Over a 60-hour workweek, a cutter was expected to produce 500 yards (460 meters) of corduroy with 7–8 ridges per inch. Velveteen was cut in the same way, but it had 32 ridges per inch. This meant production of velveteen was slower compared to corduroy.

Cutting was only one part of the process. Before cutting, the yarn was sized, and the fabric was woven with many weft threads compared to warp threads. The ridges were cut by hand, and the fabric was sent to be finished. It was cleaned to remove the sizing, then brushed to raise the nap. Next, the fabric was passed over a gas flame to remove loose fibers. It was then bleached or dyed and brushed again. After this, the fabric was stretched to adjust its width to a standard size. The fabric was originally woven at about 31 inches (790 mm) wide, but it shrank to 27 inches (690 mm) during processing. Stentering helped keep the width steady at 28 inches (710 mm). To add stiffness, the back of the fabric was filled with a glue-like mixture made from boiled bones. Each manufacturer used different methods for this step. Once finished, the fabric was ready to be sent to the warehouse for sale.

Political significance

Fustian was a type of clothing worn by workers in the 19th century. During this time, some members of the British working class chose to wear fustian jackets to show their connection to their social group. This practice was common during the Chartist era. A historian named Paul Pickering described the wearing of fustian as "a statement of class without words."

The word "fustian" is also used to describe speech or writing that is overly boastful or filled with unnecessary words. This meaning began during the time of Shakespeare because the fabric was often used as padding. Similarly, the word "bombast" refers to speech or writing that is exaggerated and meaningless, and it also relates to padding made from plant fibers.