Sharkskin
Encyclopedia
Sharkskin is a smooth worsted
fabric with a soft texture and a two-toned woven appearance.
Typically, sharkskin fabric is made with the use of rayon
or acetate
or as a blend of the two, and its two-toned woven appearance is achieved by basketweaving, thereby creating a pattern where the colored threads run diagonal to the white fibers. Because both fabric options already have a relatively smooth texture, the combination results in the finish that sharkskin fabric is known for.
The finest "natural sharkskin" fabric has been historically made of all natural fibers, being some mixture of mohair, wool and silk.
More expensive variations, often demarcated by fabric content labels bearing "Golden Fleece", "Royal" or the like, indicate an extremely rare and costly "sharkskin" of yester-year. Those fabrics, produced in small quantities, were manufactured in South America (Peru and Argentina: by transplanted German/Italian weavers) from the 1950s and 60s and are known to include in some instances even small percentages of vicuna
, guanaco or alpaca in such blends: inclusion of silk (then a very costly fiber) was even more common among the "natural sharkskins". Whereas, "artificial sharkskin", a much less costly substitute, is a fabric variant that is more often found from that period and can contain synthesized or synthetic fibers that were developed contemporary to those eras.
Artificial sharkskin variants used for suiting first appeared in the 1950s and rapidly garnered world-wide appeal in artificial sharkskin (costing much less than its "natural" counterpart: which most consumers were not aware existed, so far out of their price range it remained) attaining broad popularity in the early 1960s, followed by brief fashion resurgences witnessed in the mid-1980s, mid-1990s and enjoying occasional fashion popularity throughout the 2000s: its variations often contain some wool percentage blend. More recently, such artificial sharkskin fabrics have undergone technological improvements and have attained new desirability, even among "fabric purists" who would have conventionally rejected out-of-hand any "artificial sharkskin" substitutes for the real item containing a majority percentage of mohair.
In fact, today's best and most costly sharkskin fabrics some percentage of synthetic fibers, and can thereby feature a heightened metallic-like sheen, with added flexibility (often owing to a mere 2% Lycra blend), which had been seldom otherwise achievable, even in the ranks of the elite "Golden Fleece", "Royal" fabrications of yester-year owing to newly engineered synthetic fiber blends. Recently, as of 2010, innovative use of tight ring-spun Pima and/or Egyptian cotton fibers added to blends (developed using AUTO-CAD fabric modeling by Italian engineers), have resulted in a new breed of ultra-dense, lightweight and resilient "Super-Sharkskin(s)" that boast all the best attributes of former generations of the fabric's variants - many at half the cost, while still using some mohair, silk, wool or other "natural, synthesized and/or synthetic fibers blends" {multiple percentage combinations exist in the market}.
Moreover, today, use of ultra-high thread counts -- not formerly attainable -- that achieve e.g., over 300 to 1000 threads per square inch thereby impart heightened shimmer and sheen, having been formerly somewhat attained (with less luster and sheen) by the addition of artificial e.g., nylon, acetate, orlon, polyester (this latter fiber appearing in the 1980s variants), as has been long used in most lower cost "artificial sharkskin" fabrics of the 50s, 60s ... and later in the 80's that dominated the market; many, using small percentage ratios of such fibers, with the largest percentage of fibers used, these days, being conventional wool or the coveted Marino wool fibers spun to new specifications.
The addition of the other otherwise rare and august "noble natural fibers" mentioned above (vicuna, guanaco, alpaca, silk), married to re-engineered synthesized or synthetic fiber blends have resulted in new "Super-Sharkskin" products, which many fabric experts argue rate as superior products to any of yester-year, and are much more accessible to a broader budget base; however, the "Super-Sharkskins" still costs more, than synthetic low end substitutes.
Many attribute the "fading in and out of fashion" of sharkskin of any sort to the fact that many of the ubiquitous "artificial sharkskin" variants had "created an indelible public impression that all sharkskin ought to be deemed "tacky", to be eschewed, as it is in Lisa Birnback's Official Preppy Handbook c. 1979, which reflected, and in itself, in-turn, influenced, many consumers' misgivings regarding its social status.
Importantly, whether "natural" or "artificial", today the line between the two has been blurred by the advance of innovative blends. Nonetheless, "natural sharkskin" from the 1950s and 1960s men's and women's suits remain highly sought in the vintage clothing market, commanding extraordinary prices online. The most desired sharkskin colors feature a peacock iridescent palette.
Likewise, aware of this, manufactures today offer "Super-Sharkskin" suitings that often feature those colors. A current trend is the highly "metallic" look, only attainable by today's blends. Ever coveted in vintage and popular in current suitings are teals, bright/dark turquoises, bright/dark greens, bright/dark reds, blacks and grays sweep the markets.
The first "Super-Sharkskin" men's and women's suits appeared in the mid-to-late 1990s in high-end Italian designs, often commanding over $2,500 per suit "off-the-rack"; Hong Kong tailors' custom offerings were soon to follow. Many natural fiber purists are hard-pressed to reject the new hybrid Super-Sharkskin fabric variants, many of which incorporate high percentages of natural fibers: the best that engineering has ever offered on record. Goat-silk is an experimental new fiber currently being tested for the advent of emergent "Mega-Sharkskin" for military use, and rumored to debut for commercial/civilian use in 2012.
in her prize-winning memoir about her childhood, The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World uses the imagery of the white sharkskin suit to evoke the glamorous evening life in Egypt in the 50's.
Worsted
Worsted , is the name of a yarn, the cloth made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from the village of Worstead in the English county of Norfolk...
fabric with a soft texture and a two-toned woven appearance.
Typically, sharkskin fabric is made with the use of rayon
Rayon
Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulose fiber. Because it is produced from naturally occurring polymers, it is neither a truly synthetic fiber nor a natural fiber; it is a semi-synthetic or artificial fiber. Rayon is known by the names viscose rayon and art silk in the textile industry...
or acetate
Acetate
An acetate is a derivative of acetic acid. This term includes salts and esters, as well as the anion found in solution. Most of the approximately 5 billion kilograms of acetic acid produced annually in industry are used in the production of acetates, which usually take the form of polymers. In...
or as a blend of the two, and its two-toned woven appearance is achieved by basketweaving, thereby creating a pattern where the colored threads run diagonal to the white fibers. Because both fabric options already have a relatively smooth texture, the combination results in the finish that sharkskin fabric is known for.
Uses: History, Status & Future
Sharkskin fabric's lightweight and wrinkle-free properties make it ideal for curtains, tablecloths and napkins. Sharkskin fabric is popular for both men’s and women’s worsted suits, light winter jackets and coats. Sharkskin is commonly used as a liner in diving suits and wetsuits.The finest "natural sharkskin" fabric has been historically made of all natural fibers, being some mixture of mohair, wool and silk.
More expensive variations, often demarcated by fabric content labels bearing "Golden Fleece", "Royal" or the like, indicate an extremely rare and costly "sharkskin" of yester-year. Those fabrics, produced in small quantities, were manufactured in South America (Peru and Argentina: by transplanted German/Italian weavers) from the 1950s and 60s and are known to include in some instances even small percentages of vicuna
Vicuña
The vicuña or vicugna is one of two wild South American camelids, along with the guanaco, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes. It is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to share a wild ancestor with domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their fibre...
, guanaco or alpaca in such blends: inclusion of silk (then a very costly fiber) was even more common among the "natural sharkskins". Whereas, "artificial sharkskin", a much less costly substitute, is a fabric variant that is more often found from that period and can contain synthesized or synthetic fibers that were developed contemporary to those eras.
Artificial sharkskin variants used for suiting first appeared in the 1950s and rapidly garnered world-wide appeal in artificial sharkskin (costing much less than its "natural" counterpart: which most consumers were not aware existed, so far out of their price range it remained) attaining broad popularity in the early 1960s, followed by brief fashion resurgences witnessed in the mid-1980s, mid-1990s and enjoying occasional fashion popularity throughout the 2000s: its variations often contain some wool percentage blend. More recently, such artificial sharkskin fabrics have undergone technological improvements and have attained new desirability, even among "fabric purists" who would have conventionally rejected out-of-hand any "artificial sharkskin" substitutes for the real item containing a majority percentage of mohair.
In fact, today's best and most costly sharkskin fabrics some percentage of synthetic fibers, and can thereby feature a heightened metallic-like sheen, with added flexibility (often owing to a mere 2% Lycra blend), which had been seldom otherwise achievable, even in the ranks of the elite "Golden Fleece", "Royal" fabrications of yester-year owing to newly engineered synthetic fiber blends. Recently, as of 2010, innovative use of tight ring-spun Pima and/or Egyptian cotton fibers added to blends (developed using AUTO-CAD fabric modeling by Italian engineers), have resulted in a new breed of ultra-dense, lightweight and resilient "Super-Sharkskin(s)" that boast all the best attributes of former generations of the fabric's variants - many at half the cost, while still using some mohair, silk, wool or other "natural, synthesized and/or synthetic fibers blends" {multiple percentage combinations exist in the market}.
Moreover, today, use of ultra-high thread counts -- not formerly attainable -- that achieve e.g., over 300 to 1000 threads per square inch thereby impart heightened shimmer and sheen, having been formerly somewhat attained (with less luster and sheen) by the addition of artificial e.g., nylon, acetate, orlon, polyester (this latter fiber appearing in the 1980s variants), as has been long used in most lower cost "artificial sharkskin" fabrics of the 50s, 60s ... and later in the 80's that dominated the market; many, using small percentage ratios of such fibers, with the largest percentage of fibers used, these days, being conventional wool or the coveted Marino wool fibers spun to new specifications.
The addition of the other otherwise rare and august "noble natural fibers" mentioned above (vicuna, guanaco, alpaca, silk), married to re-engineered synthesized or synthetic fiber blends have resulted in new "Super-Sharkskin" products, which many fabric experts argue rate as superior products to any of yester-year, and are much more accessible to a broader budget base; however, the "Super-Sharkskins" still costs more, than synthetic low end substitutes.
Many attribute the "fading in and out of fashion" of sharkskin of any sort to the fact that many of the ubiquitous "artificial sharkskin" variants had "created an indelible public impression that all sharkskin ought to be deemed "tacky", to be eschewed, as it is in Lisa Birnback's Official Preppy Handbook c. 1979, which reflected, and in itself, in-turn, influenced, many consumers' misgivings regarding its social status.
Importantly, whether "natural" or "artificial", today the line between the two has been blurred by the advance of innovative blends. Nonetheless, "natural sharkskin" from the 1950s and 1960s men's and women's suits remain highly sought in the vintage clothing market, commanding extraordinary prices online. The most desired sharkskin colors feature a peacock iridescent palette.
Likewise, aware of this, manufactures today offer "Super-Sharkskin" suitings that often feature those colors. A current trend is the highly "metallic" look, only attainable by today's blends. Ever coveted in vintage and popular in current suitings are teals, bright/dark turquoises, bright/dark greens, bright/dark reds, blacks and grays sweep the markets.
The first "Super-Sharkskin" men's and women's suits appeared in the mid-to-late 1990s in high-end Italian designs, often commanding over $2,500 per suit "off-the-rack"; Hong Kong tailors' custom offerings were soon to follow. Many natural fiber purists are hard-pressed to reject the new hybrid Super-Sharkskin fabric variants, many of which incorporate high percentages of natural fibers: the best that engineering has ever offered on record. Goat-silk is an experimental new fiber currently being tested for the advent of emergent "Mega-Sharkskin" for military use, and rumored to debut for commercial/civilian use in 2012.
Sharkskin Dinner Suit in Middle East
British Diplomat Sir Terence Clark in the 50's served in Bahrain. He reminisces that the requisite winter evening wear for a diplomat was a white sharkskin dinner jacket. Lucette LagnadoLucette Lagnado
Lucette Lagnado is an American journalist and memoirist. She is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.Lagnado attended P.S. 205 in Bensonhurst, New York City, and is a graduate of Vassar College...
in her prize-winning memoir about her childhood, The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World uses the imagery of the white sharkskin suit to evoke the glamorous evening life in Egypt in the 50's.