Fustian

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  1. Batley Royston:

    Technically speaking ‘fustian’ fabric is slightly more comnplex stuff; it was originally a linin warp (threads running down the cloth) with thicker cotton wefts (threads running across the piece) which cover over the warp and fill in the gaps. Cotton Velvets, Corduroys and Moleskins are types of Fustian.

    These became popular in the late 18th and early 19th C as work wear because the Industrial Revolution enabled them to be made cheaply, and being cotton they could be washed more easily.

    Thus, it’s an inexpensive cloth with a surface of soft fibre covering the gaps between the cheap base threads, and, by extension, speech which is all surface show and little substance.