Fabric Focus: Chambray

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt [...] Without no seams nor needlework’. So sang Simon & Garfunkel in Scarborough Fair/Canticle, a song whose origins can be traced back centuries. Like the folk duo’s rendition, most versions of the medieval song tell a tale of unrequited love in which a man and a woman demand the other complete several impossible tasks. And it’s no coincidence that one of these centres on a cambric shirt.

According to legend, chambray fabric was invented by a weaver named Jean-Baptiste of Cambray at the beginning of the 14th century. Whether that’s historically accurate is murky. But over the following centuries, the French town of Cambrai (a later spelling of Cambray) became widely known as the home of this weave. Given its popularity throughout Europe – and because it was so greatly valued – cambric’s status as a potential MacGuffin in a neo-medieval ballad shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Traditionally made from linen, cambric weighed little and had low opacity; qualities that made it useful for a great variety of ends. One of its main roles was in making luxurious clothes, some of which developed into popular symbols of aristocracy. You’ve probably seen, for instance, paintings of 16th-century nobility, such as Queen Elizabeth I, wearing translucent cambric ruffs around their necks.

In the 19th century, the fabric was developed into chambray. Unlike cambric, chambray is distinguished by the mixing of a white weft with a coloured (traditionally light blue) warp. And in place of linen, it’s normally made from 100 percent cotton or a cotton blend.

Chambray lacks the diagonal pattern of denim, the twill fabric with which it’s often confused. Instead, it’s a plain weave fabric, meaning the warp and weft threads are woven over and under each other in regular, alternating succession. Rather than the sea of minute waves that appears to surface on denim upon close inspection, traditional chambray looks more akin to blue water, extensively dappled with spots of light. The 1x1 construction of the fabric lends it a soft texture, and it’s both thinner and lighter than denim, with great breathability for the summer. It’s typically used for making garments like shirts and dresses.

Americans first laid eyes on chambray while travelling in France. Shortly thereafter, they transported it across the Atlantic, and chambray found its calling as the perfect fabric for work shirts. Not only is it soft and breathable, it has moisture-wicking properties and is very durable. The term “blue collar” – first coined in a 1924 edition of Alden, Iowa’s The Times newspaper – came from the chambray and denim shirts worn far and wide by manual labourers and industrial workers.

From 1901 until World War II, chambray was even adopted by the US Navy as part of its official uniform, evidently standing the test of time. And certain heritage brands, including Buzz Rickson’s, continue to produce chambray shirts to the original specifications from over a century ago.

Today, Thomas Pink makes chambray shirts in a variety of colours: a classic blue and white slub, an all-occasions neutral, and an unmissable pink, each conveniently in the summer sale. The contrasting threads add visual depth to the fabric and tend to affect a stylishly relaxed look. And chambray can develop an attractive fade over time, as the white wefts become more perceptible. It is, in short, the perfect fabric for elegant summer attire.