SUMMERTIME AND THE LINEN’S EASYby William PhipsTo appreciate linen you need to see it worn in
SUMMERTIME AND THE LINEN’S EASYby William PhipsTo appreciate linen you need to see it worn in its natural environment. For years I knew it as something a senior manager would wear to work on a Friday in the summer to announce that he’d be leaving at three to spend the weekend in the Hamptons. The fabric always seemed out of place in an office tower in New York City – too rumpled for a buttoned-up office and impractically light for a dirty metropolis. But once you’ve reached your weekend destination and sit down to enjoy a cold drink, linen is just the thing.Linen is meaningfully different from the wool and cotton that make up the majority of a man’s wardrobe. Unlike cotton, which comes from a seed pod, linen comes from the stem of the flax plant and its unique qualities mostly follow from that.Linen has a long staple (staple being the length of an individual fiber) while cotton has a relatively short staple, since the stalk of a plant is longer than the fluff that helps disperse the seeds. This means that fewer linen fibers need to be spun together for a given length of yarn, which leads to cloth that is naturally smoother, except for the nodes placed at odd intervals where the stem of the plant is interrupted by emerging branches. These nodes can’t be fully broken down during processing so linen is left with characteristic nubs throughout.Linen is a bast fiber, which means that it comes from the inner bark of the plant. Bast fibers contain a natural wax that helps protect the inner parts of the stem and gives linen a slight sheen. The wax also allows linen to quickly wick water away without feeling damp. The same happens, to some extent, with dye. Linen will therefore fade faster than cotton.Bast fibers also give structure to plant. They’re meant to flex a bit but not bend. This makes linen a bit brittle and likely to eventually break in areas that are frequently creased. It also gives the cloth the characteristic wrinkles which aficionados will tell you is part of its charm.Linen, then, is a cloth with visual interest that wears cool. It’s noticeably refined but still relaxed. It isn’t very well suited to the rigors of everyday life and isn’t ideal for conservative offices, but it’s perfect for somewhere with a sea breeze and nothing much to do but enjoy life and look good doing it.Quality content, like quality clothing, ages well. This article first appeared on the No Man blog in July 2014. -- source link