In Her Web She Still Delights
Authentic
posted Saturday, 31 December 2005
Some of the reverse snobbery in the SCA really ticks me off. "Oh," the costuming lists say, "how can you tell the poor newbies that linen is better than cotton?" Easy: it is.
Don't believe me? I'll prove it. I'll take some objective points and rate each of the two fabrics on a 1-10 scale. Then I'll add 'em up. The one with the highest score wins. Sound fair?
My points are: authenticity, ease of use, ease of obtaining, expense, durability, and comfort when worn. For all these, I assume a Western European persona, pre-1600.
Authenticity
Linen was ubiquitous, worn by everyone from serfs to emperors, getting it a 10. Cotton was rare-to-unknown, and so expensive that Elizabeth I, not a lady known for her self-denial, did not wear her cotton shift at the very very (in fact, definitional) end of period. It gets a 2 here, because I am being generous and assuming that, say, a Crusader might have had something made of cotton, imported from India, that he got while in the Middle East.
Totals: Cotton 2, Linen 10
Ease of Use
Both fibers are pretty easy to work with. 6 each.
Totals: Cotton 8, Linen 16
Ease of Obtaining
Cotton rules here, though check the end of the bolt to be sure there's no polyester. 10. Linen's tougher, but you can find it in season and if you're reading this and have two brain cells to rub together you can obtain it; 5.
Totals: Cotton 18, Linen 21
Expense
You can get cotton very cheap, though caveats about getting what you pay for apply for a 9. Linen can be slightly more expensive, but again the fact of reading this demonstrates that you have access to it at affordable prices. Hence, 7.
Totals: Cotton 27, Linen 28
Durability
Linen wears like iron, especially in heavy weaves, and seems to have a pretty high ignition temperature, so it gets a 9. Cotton, especially cheap cotton, is kinda fragile, getting a 6 for garment-weight stuff; you're not going to be making a cotehardie out of duck or canvas.
Totals: Cotton 33, Linen 37
Comfort
Linen can be stiff at first, but after a few washings becomes delightfully soft. Cotton is also quite nice, though I personally prefer the feel of linen. Linen has better properties when wet, giving it a 9 and cotton an 8.
Totals: Cotton 41, Linen 46
The things that make it that close are availability and expense; take out availability and you get 31-41. Removing expense makes it 22-34. Given the Internet for online shopping, I gently suggest that if $5 is going to make the difference between eating and not eating that you have better things to do with your money than buy fabric.
R.S.V.P.