Longcloth (or long cloth) refers to a plain
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
cloth
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is n ...
originally made in comparatively long pieces.
The name was applied particularly to cloth made in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. The long cloth made at
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...
was of the length of 37 yards. Longcloth, which is now commonly bleached, includes several various qualities. It is heavier than
cambric, and finer than medium or Mexican. In the early 1900s, as it was used principally for underclothing and shirts, most of the longcloth sold in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
passed through the shirt and underclothing manufacturers' hands who sold it to the shopkeepers. However, there was still considerable if decreasing retail trade-in piece-goods. In the UK in the early 20th century, the lower kinds of longcloth, which were made from American cotton, corresponded in quality to the better kinds of shirting made for the East, but the best longcloths were made from Egyptian cotton and were fine and fairly costly goods.
Nowadays, longcloth designates a cotton fabric which is of high quality, very soft, coarsely woven, and very often used to make underwear, loincloths and
infants' clothing.
Ghati
''Ghati'' was a cloth with a highly glazed surface, refined in texture and strong in strength. It was a particular type of cotton fabric. It was a premium quality long cloth and hence expensive too. Ghati was a lighter ( in texture) than the
Sussi. The material was affordable to wealthy persons only, also called
''ghatti''.
Rahon, a town in the district
Jalandhar
Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...
of
Punjab, India
Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...
, had an excellent reputation for this variety. Its production ceased by the close of the nineteenth century.
Patterns and use
Before English clothes emerged in Punjab, Ghati was used for
sheets,
shirts
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist).
Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. ...
,
pajamas
Pajamas (American English) or pyjamas ( Commonwealth English), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jim-jams, or in South Asia, night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging. Pajamas are ...
and
angarkha.
Then Ghati was available in plain white and also in various patterns of damascene, flowered and
''Chashma-e-Bulbul
'' meaning "Nightingale's eye"
Latha
Longcloth was also termed as
Latha was preferred for Kashmiri artwork, i.e., Amli work with silk threads. Latha was also used in certain dresses.
[''Men ' s dress - Tribesmen normally wear very simple dress which is usually made of coarse cloth or latha cloth .''
Page 16 https://books.google.com/books?id=07IZAAAAMAAJ&q=latha+cloth]
Pauni
Pauni was another coarse variety of cotton cloth from the Punjab region. It was one-third of the length of the Longcloth.
See also
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Calico
Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...
*
Bafta cloth
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Gazzi cloth
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Piece goods
Piece goods were the textile materials sold in cut pieces as per the buyer's specification. The piece goods were either cut from a fabric roll or produced with a certain length, also called yard goods. Various textiles such as cotton, wool, silk, ...
References
;Attribution
*
Woven fabrics
Textile arts of India
{{Textile-stub