I recently asked historical costumier Ninya Mikhaila about the availability and use of cotton in sixteenth century England, as I’d read conflicting information online. Ninya’s very thorough response is published here with her kind permission.
The answer to your question regarding the use of cotton in the sixteenth century is not very straightforward I’m afraid! Cotton as a raw fibre had been used as a stuffing material since the 14th century, but the technology to spin it into a yarn strong enough to use as a warp on a loom did not exist in England at that time. Yarn made from cotton was used as the weft, but the warp had to be of something stronger such as worsted or linen. Therefore you get fabrics such as fustian which were woven from a mixture of cotton and wool or cotton and linen.
To further confuse things there was a fabric called cotton which was a woollen fabric. The reason for the name is that it had a fluffy surface which was created by a process called ‘cottoning’ where the woollen fibres were raised up. The fabric was loosely woven and soft, like raw cotton fibre. Finally, there were some imported 100% cotton fabrics toward the end of the C16th, these were usually called calico rather than cotton, so if you see the word cotton in a period document in association with a woven fabric it will be wool.
Thanks for clarifying, Ninya!
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