Jacquard loom

A plain-woven, often printed cotton cloth named for Calicut, India, imported to Europe from the 17th century and later mass-produced during the Industrial Revolution for everyday clothing.

A soft, loosely woven fabric, traditionally wool and later cotton, brushed to raise a light nap for warmth; associated with Welsh textile production from at least the 17th century.

A machine patented by Eli Whitney in 1794 that mechanically separated cotton fibers from seeds, dramatically increasing cotton production and, in the American South, entrenching slave labor on plantations.

DuPont's trademark name for spandex, an elastic polyurethane fiber developed by Joseph Shivers and launched in 1958, which revolutionized fitted and stretch clothing from swimwear to leggings.

A semi-synthetic fiber made from regenerated cellulose, developed in the late 19th century and marketed from the 1920s as 'artificial silk' for its lustrous drape at lower cost than real silk.