After looking at the history of chiffon last week, I thought it would be fun to take a peek at the history of other fabric names…and given that we’d firmly into autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere, I decided to start with some cozy, autumnal fabrics. So today, let’s take a look at the history of corduroy.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve heard a rumor that the “du roy” part of the word means that it’s taken from the French, meaning “of the king.” But…as it turns out, that’s just lore, not history, evidenced by the fact that French word for the fabric is something entirely different–velours à côtes. So then, where does it come from?
The “cord” part is as obvious as it seems–what the fabric resembles. But in fact, the duroy part of the name was first given to a different coarse fabric made in England, dating to the 1600s. By the 1770s, corduroy was a name given to a particular thick fabric with a corded surface.
Are you a corduroy fan? I admit that the 1980s soured me on it, LOL, though I’ve worn it now and then in recent years when it’s particularly cold outside.
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Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads, she now spends her time writing fiction, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years, as well as a fantasy series and contemporary mysteries and romances. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 
