Fashion encyclopaedia

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  • Abstract patterns

    Objects, which are not portrayed in a realistic-concrete way, but shown stripped back to their most important characteristics

  • American Sportswear

    Style of clothing, which orientates itself on American team sports

  • Angora

    Fine and light hair of the Angora rabbit. The yarns or fabrics from this hair is particularly soft

  • Animal-Print

    Term for animal patterns and print patterns, which look like animal furs and skins

  • Anorak

    Casual jacket with hood, quite often made from weatherproof materials. Originally in form of a slip-over jacket

  • Aubergine

    Colour of the aubergine fruit. Colour mixed from violet and brown

  • Badges

    Decoration of clothing. Often eye-catching, printed or embroidered labels

  • Baggy trousers

    Wide trousers (often jeans or cord) with extremely large pockets

  • Bandeau form

    Top with straight décolleté, as if produced from one band. The band can be gathered in the centre to emphasise the décolleté

  • Basic

    Name for basic items in fashion, which can be combined and coordinated with other items

  • Batik

    Designs, which are similar to patterns used with wax batik technique. In case of the original, the fabric will be covered with wax, whereby the wax is broken during colouring. As a result, the patterned areas are blurred, with characteristic colour veins running through them

  • Beach fashion

    Casual clothing, which is mainly worn at the beach or the promenade

  • Boat neckline

    Shallow oval neckline that leaves the top of the shoulders exposed and tapers near the collarbones

  • Black Tie

    Request on an invitation to wear a dinner suit at a certain event

  • Blazer

    One- or double-breasted hip length jacket with collar and lapel. In its classic form also with gold buttons and sewed-on pockets

  • Blue

    Blue is the colour of the sky: the light luminous Ultramarine of the day and the dark almost black shade of the night. Since the end of the13th century, the colour has been linked to the world power by the blue in the king’s coat of the French kings and became as the court colour of Louis 14th in the second half of the 17th century the general fashion colour in France. On the other hand, blue, with the growing significance of black for official robes since the 16th century, became the characteristic of the lower classes. Blue clothing was worn by servants, tradesmen, orphans, and paupers. Blue work clothing, which was worn in the factories of the 19th century, maintained its significance during the 20th century, with the overall being added in the Twenties. The jeans, which the Austrian Levi Strauss had produced in America since 1850 from hardwearing blue cotton fabric, was discovered by American College students as leisure wear in the Thirties, becoming accepted every-day clothing between 1960 and 1970.

  • Boarder style

    Sporty casual clothing in the style of snowboarders and freestylers

  • Bodywear

    Name for corsetry and lingerie

  • Boiled wool

    Fabric or knitwear from wool is boiled to achieve a slightly felted look.

  • Bolero

    Short, very tight, button-less jacket with or without arms

  • Bomber jacket

    Term for traditional and socially accepted men's clothing for business and social events.

  • Boot Cut

    Trousers with lot of foot width, so that boots fit underneath. Often also referred to as boot leg.

  • Burberry check

    Clearly defined checks in white, black, and red on a beige ground

  • Button-down collar

    Shirt collar, which is buttoned to the lapels at the front of the shirt

  • Cable pattern

    Cables are usually done in stock stitching, with a reverse stocking background. They are created by transferring selected stitches on a knitting machine onto another needle.

  • Camouflage

    Term for fashion in a busy patchy camouflage print in natural colours

  • Canvas (Drell, Drill, Drillich)

    Canvas is a typical linen fabric which is often used for work clothes, kitchen towels and tablecloths. Sometimes it has been mixed with linen or cotton. It is often produced as twill, very frequently in herringbone pattern. It is very robust, H4 and hardwearing. This is achieved by the high density of the woven fabric and by the use of extremely hardwearing natural fibres just as linen and cotton.

  • Capri trousers

    Three quarter long slim trousers with short side slits

  • Cardigan

    One- or double breasted, buttoned V-neck jacket without collar

  • Cargo pants

    Wide trousers in work clothing style. Typical are the large sewn-on pockets on the trouser legs.

  • Cargo style

    Extremely wide tops and trousers in work clothing style. Typical characteristics are the large sewn-on pockets.

  • Carrot fit jeans

    Carrot trousers describe a fit with a rather unflattering shape: The trouser legs taper down to a very narrow ankle and are quite wide at the top, where they are rather baggy at the bottom. In the current fashion, this jeans shape is not particularly popular.

  • Cashmere

    A fine, tight undercoat of hair, which the Cashmere goat loses once a year. Due to the great global demand and a shortage in the market, high-quality Cashmere yarns are often subject to significant price increases.

  • Casual

    English for informal, sporty, and comfortable, however, not sloppy fashion in contrast to formal clothing

  • Chanel style

    Style, which was invented in the Fifties by Coco Chanel for suits, overcoats, dresses, etc. This style is not only still used today by the House of Chanel, creating new variations all the time, but is also varied by other manufacturers as the Chanel look.

  • Changeant

    Fabric with different coloured cross and longitudinal threads. Depending on the incidence of light, a glittering impression is created.

  • Chasuble

    Long waistcoat, which can be varied in accordance with the length of a dress.

  • Chimney red

    Fire brick red

  • Cigarette trousers

    Slim straight-cut trousers. Very often with pleat

  • Classic designs

    Traditional patterns in men’s fashion such as pinstripe, dogtooth check or shepherd check

  • College style

    Sportswear style, orientating itself on the clothing style of American universities

  • Colorit

    Another term for colouring and for colour combinations for colourful designs

  • Colour blocking

    Blocking colour. This means opposing different coloured areas to create striking colour contrasts.

  • Comeback

    Term for something, which went out of fashion, but is now at the height of fashion again.

  • Cool

    In fashion, this is a term for a trend, where the – mainly young – wearer feels completely "in" and superior with respect to other target groups.

  • Cotton

    Natural fibre from seed hair of the subtropical cotton plant, which can be processed into various fabrics. Untreated cotton breathes very well and is tear proof

  • Crocodile leather optics

    Structure and look of crocodile skins

  • Cultivated silk / Mulberry silk

    Cultivated silk is produced by mulberry spiders. These are raised in large cultivated farms. The cocoons are collected and killed before hatching. That way, the silk thread can be unspooled from the cocoon in one go. If the butterfly had already hatched the thread would be torn and unspooling would no longer be possible as the butterfly would have eaten a hole into the cocoon for hatching.

  • Dark Denim

    Mainly dark, evenly coloured Denim wear, where the yarn is fully penetrated with dye. No bleaching is used.

  • Denim

    Jeans fabric with blue longitudinal and cross treads. The warp threads may have other colours apart from blue; due to the white weft threads, the back looks almost white.

  • Destroyed Denim

    This is Denim, which may be torn through mechanical influence and may also have holes

  • Diagonal

    Fabric with well recognizable pattern, which is achieved by weaving or colour patterns.

  • Dirty Denim

    Slightly dirty looking Denim optics, which is achieved by using a brownish colouring that will not wash out.

  • Donegal

    Carded yarn tweed with hand-woven character from boucle yarns. Traditionally, the warp is lighter and the weft is darker.

  • Drainpipe trousers

    Slim, occasionally tight-fitting trousers without a crease

  • Drapé

    Softly falling pleats, also gathered pleats

  • Drawstrings

    Round, elastic cords with stoppers, which regulate the seam widths of tops and bottoms.

  • Easy-Care

    Stain resistant and iron-free. Easy care applies to washing machine and tumble dryer programmes.

  • Ecru

    Unbleached shades, natural white, crushed white

  • Elastan

    Collective term for elastic threads from Polyurethane (PU), which provides fabrics and knitwear with elastic recovery, thereby making them less prone to creases.

  • Emblem

    Badge

  • Fade-outs

    Optics, which look washed out, irregular bleached or discoloured (mainly with Denim)

  • Fake Fur

    English for fake fur. What is meant is a woven material or any material made of synthetic fibres in high plush quality. Without closer inspection fake fur can hardly be distinguished from real fur.

  • Felt

    Non-woven ware, where the wool fibres are hardened through heat, humidity, as well as by mechanical and chemical treatment.

  • Filigree patterns

    Finely drawn patterns with ornaments, Arabesques, and spiral decorations.

  • Fine quality hair

    Term for high quality wools from Cashmere or Angora goats

  • Finish

    Refining of fabrics, which changes the optics, feel or characteristics

  • Fishermen’s trousers

    Slim, three quarter length trousers, also with turn-ups

  • Five Pocket

    Casual flat-front trousers or jeans without fold with two back and two slanted pockets as well as a small money pocket.

  • Flannel

    Woven fabric from cotton, wool mixture, wool or viscose. The woven fabric can be roughened up on one or on both sides and is therefore particular soft, warm, and snuggly. Flannel is a particular favourite with sportswear clothing and bedding.

  • Flared trousers

    Trousers, which become significantly wider below the knee, i.e. are trapeze-shaped at the bottom. The foot width is very large and “swings” when walking.

  • Flat fabric

    Smooth sportswear fabric, e.g. poplin or fine wool gabardine

  • Flip flops

    Flat sandals, which only support feet by a Y-shaped strap, like a thin thong, that passes between the first (big) and second toes and around either side of the foot.

  • Formal clothing

    Term for traditional and socially accepted men's clothing for business and social events.

  • Frock Coat

    Originally festive coats for men during the 19th century. Today it is back in fashion as a long, slim jacket.

  • Fur velours

    Lamb velours, whose meat side has been finished velour like and whose hair side is on the warming inside.

  • Gabardine

    Very thick coating fabric with a smooth face and a diagonal rib, which is created by twill weave

  • Gaucho trousers

    Trousers similar to culottes, ending a hand below the knee with flared seam

  • Glamour Look

    Rich decorative style in noble optics, often with glitter effects and very sexy

  • Green

    The colour of meadows, of sprouting nature, of spring, and particular the month of May was regarded as the most appropriate colour for the clothing of young people, engaged and newly married women. In some regions, green was also common as wedding colour. The light May green stood in high esteem.

    The dye was a mixture from Woad and Wau. Green was worn for hunting and is still the colour of foresters. Green is a medium and mediating colour, calming, refreshing; the colour of contemplation and of hope.

  • Guipure lace

    Cotton yarn, which is wrapped with coloured silk, which is then processed into silk 

  • Hawaii-Print

    Colourful patterns, which resemble the folkloristic designs of Hawaii

  • Heavy Jersey

    Heavy Jersey with clear, coarse stitch pattern

  • Herringbone

    Fabric pattern with vertical stripes, comparable to the form of a herringbone

  • Hip-Hop-Style

    Streetwear fashion, which has been influenced by American Hip-Hop music. Typical are the wide baggy trousers and casual sweatshirts.

  • Hot Pants

    Extremely short, tight fitting shorts

  • Indigo

    Indigo, whose leaves provide the blue dye, belongs to the family of pulses. It can be found throughout the tropical countries. Indigo was already known during the ancient Greek-Roman culture, however, it did not play a significant role as a dye, because it had to be imported, making it quite expensive.Only after discovering the sea route to India, the dye became a cost-effective and much productive alternative to the native Woad. Since the middle of the 17th century, extensive Indio plantations were developed on French and British estates in West India. By the middle of the 18th century, the British had large plantations in South Carolina. In 1897, the synthetic Indigo by BASF reached the market at an unrivalled price and caused the complete collapse of Indigo culture.

  • Ingredients / Textile ingredients

    The term ingredients (textile ingredients) is the overall term for buttons, twines, zips, cords, drawstrings, braids, passements, hooks, eyelets, buckles or similar. These ingredients should also be compatible with the fabric / garment (also in the washing machine!)

  • Jade green

    Milky green shade in the colour of the Chinese gemstone

  • Jaspé

    Two different coloured twistless roving yarns are spun together, thereby creating a two-tone effect or simple yarns.

  • Jeans

    The term originates from the French name for the Italian port of Genoa, from where the Denim fabric was shipped.

  • Jungle pattern

    Mainly very decorative pattern with exotic flowers, leaves, and animals

  • Khaki

    1. Colour: brown with a hint of olive, yellow with a hint of brown
    2. Fabric for tropical uniforms in Khaki colours

  • Kit system

    Mainly a part of men’s fashion, meaning predominantly suits, where trousers, jackets, and waistcoats are combined in different sizes

  • Lab coat

    Model in the style of a laboratory coat. In the highly fashionable ladies fashion currently in as a particularly light alternative to a coat.

  • Lamb suede

    Velours suede from lamb, whose wool side (hide) is closely sheared and is worn on the inside.

  • Laminate

    Membranes (waver thin foils), which are fitted on outer or lining fabric or as filler material or which are placed as middle layer between outer and lining fabric. They provide water and wind resistance and breathe at the same time.

  • Laminating

    Another term for bonding

  • Laqué

    Fabric with patent leather like coating in shiny up to mat versions

  • Layer-Look

    Playing with different lengths wearing several pieces of clothing on top of each other

  • Leather imitates

    Collective term for micro fibre composites (e.g. Amaretta), coated or especially finished fabrics and woven fabrics with a leather like surface.

  • Linen

    The best fibre, which is produced from the flax plant, has a high strength, a cool feel, and a fine shine. Fabrics from pure linen crease a lot, a reason why linen is often combined with other materials. Linen distinguishes itself by its extraordinary strength. Its cool feel, its smoothness, the slight shine, and the low heat retention make linen the ideal fibre for high-quality summer clothing.

  • Logo

    Company trademark, signet

  • Long jacket

    English for long jacket

  • Loosely woven

    Material from staple fibre thread with a more than 2 mm long fibre pile with nap, which is processed in nap direction

  • Loungewear

    Term for casual, comfortable, fashionable clothing, which is worn at leisure time

  • Lurex®

    Textile metallic material

  • Madeira embroidery

    • Another name for eyelet embroidery in fine batiste

  • Madras check

    • Generous check, multi-coloured, but without white. The typical irregular character is created by different colours and stripes in weft (longitudinal) and warp direction.

  • Make up shades

    • Fashionable pastel colours as in cosmetics. There are crème, beige, light apricot and peach shades.

  • Maritime colours

    • Clear sports colours such as signal red and yellow, royal blue, and navy or white.

  • Maritime style

    • Style, whose colours - traditional white and dark blue - and designs, sometimes fabrics, orientates itself on functional water sports clothing.

  • Marlene trousers

    • Straight cut, wide cut trousers, as they were initially worn by the actress Marlene Dietrich. Typical Details: flat front with folds and turn-ups.

  • Military style

    • Very sporty style, which is inspired by military uniforms

  • Napoleon collar

    • High turn down collar with broad stirrup. Uniforms of the late 18th and early 19th century acted as a model.

  • Naturals

    • Natural colours

  • Needle pull pattern

    • Knitwear pattern with slightly transparent vertical rips, which is created by suspending one or more needles of a knitting machine.

  • New wool

    • The term "new wool" is exclusively used for wool qualities, which come directly from shearing without intermixture. Only this quality is rewarded by the International Wool Secretariat with the woolmark and the description "Pure new wool". Pure new wool adjusts to temperatures, cooling in the summer, and warming in the winter.

  • Nile green

    • Medium plant green with a light hint of yellow

  • Non-Colours

    • Black, white, grey, and the entire range of mud colours

  • Off white

    Broken, not pure white

  • Office fashion

    This refers to the clothing, which is correct for wearing at the office

  • Outdoor

    Weather resistant clothing for outside

  • Over jacket

    Casually cut men’s jacket for wearing on top

  • Parka

    Casual long jacket with a draw cord in waist and seam, often with hood.

  • Pashmina

    Pashmina, which is the finest type of Cashmere wool, is produced from the fluff of the breast of the Changthangi or Pashmina goat, which lives above 3,000 m in the high mountain valleys of the Himalaya. A goat sheds about 50 grams per year. The higher the pastures of the Cashmere goat are situated, the finer is their wool. 

    The mixture of Cashmere and silk is one of the finest fibre combinations. Silk gives extra hold and an elegant sheen.

  • Patina

    Term for an aged look

  • Patten pocket

    Slit pocket, which is covered by a flap

  • Pepper and Salt pattern

    Classic colour woven design in black/white or grey/white with small diagonal step pattern

  • Persian lamb

    Curly fur of young lamb of the Karakul lamb

  • Petrol

    Blue-green shade

  • Pilot shirt

    Slim, tight-fitting man’s shirt with sewn-on pockets and shoulder epaulettes

  • Piqué

    Fabric or knitwear with fine or prominent honeycomb structure

  • Placed print

    Print motif at a certain place of a garment

  • Polo shirt

    Slipover shirt with short button tape. Mainly from knitwear

  • Prime colours

    Clear H4 colours, also called flag colours: yellow, red, blue

  • PU (Polyurethane)

    Coating of fabrics and knitwear, making them relatively weatherproof as a result

  • Pure-Look

    Markedly simple style, pure shapes and materials

  • Purple

    The purple dye can be produced from some snail types from the species Murex, which are at home in the Mediterranean. The secreted liquid changes its colour in the sunlight first to green, then dark violet and later violet blue, which it then maintains.

  • Putty

    As colour: grey covered white, similar to limestone

  • Raglan sleeve

    The shoulder curve is part of the sleeve shape. The sleeve inset seam runs diagonally from the sleeve hole to the neck

  • Retro-Style

    A style, which orientates itself on the fashion of days gone by

  • Retro-Sport look

    Traditional clothing of originally European sports has inspired this style.

  • Reversible

    Can be worn on both sides

  • Rips

    Fabric with prominent diagonal rip pattern

  • Saddle skirt

    Skirt with tight-fitting hip part

  • Safari style

    Style, which orientates itself on the uniforms of former colonial officers and officials. Typical are the belted long jackets with four large sewn-on pockets at the front. The style can be applied to jackets, shirts, and dresses.

  • Safety pocket

    Inside pocket in overcoats or jackets with Velcro, button, or zip fastening.

  • Satin

    Smooth fabric from staple fibre threads in warp atlas thread with quietly shining optics. A sophisticated weaving technique makes it possible to give this valuable fabric two different sides: one completely smooth, preciously shining, which is normally used on the outside, and another one, which is more mat, somewhat more irregular.

  • Second-hand look

    Fashion, which looks as if it had been worn for a long time. Mainly from cotton, but possible also from other raw materials and mixtures.

  • Semi transparency

    Dense and transparent places change in the outfit or in the pattern.

  • Sewing cotton (twine, yarn)

    Sewing cotton is a term for threads where at least 2 yarns are twisted with each other. This increases among others the strength. The more yarns are twisted to one sewing cotton, the higher are tearing strength and diameter.

  • Shirt

    Classic: short-sleeved shirt from Jersey with round neck. Today, this term includes Jersey shirts with the most different neck and sleeve variations.

  • Silk

    Endless animal fibre made from the cocoon of the silkmoth. The fibre is very light and soft, very tear resistant, temperature balancing, absorbent, antistatic, and shows noble luster.

  • Skater trousers

    Wide casual trousers from robust materials, which are worn when skateboarding

  • Spice colours

    Colours of the spice range such as Saffron, Paprika, Cinnamon, or Curry

  • Sportswear

    Sporty casual leisure clothing, which H4ly follows sports fashion

  • Tailleurs

    Term for slim, figure hugging feminine suits

  • Tankini

    Just waist length, tight fitting shirt with thin straps from bathing suit fabrics

  • Tanktop

    Sleeveless sweater, under which blouses or shirts are worn

  • Techno Cotton

    Mixed fabric from cotton and polyamide or polyester. The advantage is in its care: this fabric dries faster than pure cotton.

  • Terracotta

    Fashion term for light warm colours, such as natural coloured ceramic

  • Trekking style

    Clothing in the style of functional mountaineering clothing from extremely hardwearing fabrics; with many practical details such as pockets and eyelets.

  • Ulster

    Winter coat with broad collar and large lapels, often made from voluminous wool fabrics. The name originates from the Irish province of Ulster, which was famous for its thick wool fabrics.

  • Used Look

    The used look applies to fabrics and clothing, which although new, look as if they had been worn for a long time.

  • Veiling

    Fur trimming on collars, lapels, arms, front edges or seams

  • Velcro closing

    Self-adhesive closing

  • Velours

    Wool fabric with short upright pile, mainly with nap. Is the pile higher, the fabric is referred to as fleece

  • Velours leather

    Leather with velvety surface; the inner layer of the leather hide (flesh side) has been smoothed and sanded.

  • Velveton

    Velvet imitation with napped and sanded surface to give the appearance of suede. Also called: peach skin or Peau de Pêche, duvetine

  • Velvet

    Special fabric with an up to 2 mm high pile, which is processed against the nap. Velvet has always been one of the most luxurious fabrics in the world of fashion. English term for velvet. Mainly the term for fake velvet, where the pile is formed by material, which has been inserted diagonally. Occasionally this term is also used for genuine velvet, when the pile is produced by the warp.

  • Vintage Look

    A newly created optic of torn, washed out or shredded materials, which are popular in trend fashion (in particular Jeanswear). Vintage look is also a term applied to authentic looks of styles of the past

  • Vichy Gingham

    A two-tone check in cube pattern. Typically in white combined with red or blue, or pastel in white with rosé or light blue. Also called: Bauernkaro, which could be translated as farmer’s gingham

  • Victorian

    Romantic light frilly dresses and blouses which have been adorned with lace

  • Waxing

    Equipment, which makes clothing weatherproof and gives it  waxy feel

  • Winter cotton

    Thicker cotton fabrics, which have a warming effect due to their roughened insides, thereby making them suitable for the winter

  • Wonder-Tee

    Term for pleated shirts in woman’s fashion

  • Worker Style

    Fashion in the style of workers’ clothes with functional details such as pockets, eyelets or solid closures. Often made from rough, more rustic fabrics

  • Wrap blouse/shirt

    Blouse or shirt with sash like cuts, also called ties. These are crossed and wrapped around the waist and then firmly tied. This optic can also be achieved by crossed-over and buttoned front and pack parts.

  • Wrap dress

    Dress with broad fold over panel at the front or by the side; it is closed either with ties or a belt.

  • Yellow

    In particular in the Middle Ages, yellow was a favourite colour for clothing, moreover, as it compared well to the shine of gold. In order to achieve this shade, the dyer mixed yellow wood and Wau, one of the most common substances for dying textiles yellow. Yellow was regarded as negative in pale, pasty shades: yellow as the colour of the gall, of envy, Judas, and the Synagogue. Since the 13th century, fringe groups within society were marked that way.

  • Z-twill

    A diagonal line is formed in twill tissue. If this diagonal line runs from top right to bottom left, one speaks for Z-twill.

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