Part 12
=Haircloth=—an elastic, resilient material woven of cotton or linen warp with a weft or filling of hair from the manes and tails of horses; employed as a stiffening interlining in coats, etc.
=Hairline=—in weaving, a narrow striped color effect on clothes of any description.
=Half a warp=—see Warp.
=Half-and-half-bound=—in tailoring, an edge finish where the braid is applied evenly, back and front covering the edge, and stitcht only along the outer edges of the braid.
=Half-and-half braid=—see Silk b.
=Half-and-half sleeve=—a coat s. of which the two parts are of nearly equal width; an old style of s. with a seam showing in front, and is seldom now used.
=Half back=—trade term for a class of woolens combining some of the characteristics of both thru-and-thru and backt goods.
=Half blood=—wool classification term. See Wool.
=Half-boot=—an ankle boot.
=Half hose=—men’s stockings; socks.
=Half lined=—tailoring term applied to garments that are partially lined or partially “skeleton”.
=Half mitts=—gloves with half length fingers and thumbs.
=Half mourning=—black mitigated by lavender, gray or other subdued colors or white.
=Half-peg=—trade term for trousers on the peg-top order, but not cut quite so full. See P. top. and Full p.
=Half round=—trade term for buttons shaped like a half sphere.
=Half Scotch=—see Scotch edge.
=Half skeleton=—tailoring term for coats with unlined back, the side-bodies being lined.
=Half sole=—repairing term for worn shoes, boots, etc.—a new s. applied to the tread or forepart of the s.
=Half top pocket=—set at a shorter angle from the vertical than the top p.; almost a side p.
=Haling hands=—heavy gloves or mittens of colonial days worn by sailors and workmen (hauling—h?).
=Hall-boy’s suit=—plain cloth, single- or double-breasted blouse or sack coat, with regular lapel collar (or with standing military collar if single-breasted, ornamented, if at all, on cuffs or shoulders or both; side seams of trousers trimmed to match. For clubs or hotels the jacket or blouse may have two or three diverging rows of buttons, but is closed with hooks and eyes, the collar and cuffs sometimes being of contrasting color of cloth, in which case the trousers have a narrow piping of same in the side seams. No waistcoat.
=Hall mark=—(British) the mark placed upon gold and silver by the Goldsmiths’ Company certifying to fineness. A slight variation each year establishes the date of production.
=Halo=—an aurea worn by the head of the house, clearly perceptible to himself and a few satellites, but absolutely undiscernible by anyone else of normal faculties.
=Halstead street=—a street in Chicago having a great number of small and cheap clothing shops (compare South s. and Baxter s.); a local synonym for cheap clothing.
=Hand-fitted=—tailoring term for the linings fitted into a coat one piece at a time, all the sewing being done by hand. Compare Bagged.
=Hand-glasses=—eye-glasses and spectacles were once so called in New York.
=Hand loom=—(1) a more or less primitiv or improved l. operated entirely by h. and foot, as opposed to power l.; usually found in cottages; (2) trade term for goods woven on h. looms; nearly synonymous with homespun.
=Hand made=—made by h. workers: distinguisht from machine made.
=Hand made buttonhole=—not machine made.
=Hand-me-down=—(1) readymade clothes; (2) second-h. clothes; from being handed down from one person to another.
=Hand padded=—tailoring term applied (1) to collars, lapels and coat fronts, meaning that same was made by h. instead of machine; (2) the result of making such parts by h., taking close, even, tight stitches. See next.
=Hand padding=—cloth, canvas, shoddy, etc., sewed together in position and ironed into shape entirely by h. for fashion’s sake or to improve fit.
=Hand shaping=—term generally applied to shoulders and coat fronts, indicating that the interlinings were cut and sewed together by h., being workt into shape during the latter operation, in contradistinction to such work made wholly or in part by machine (vs).
=Hand-to-handmade=—tailoring term meaning made entirely by operators, passing, stage by stage, from one h. to another. See Section work.
=Hand-woven=—(1) made on h. looms; (2) not made in a mill.
=Handball gloves=—g. made of padded leather, with full or cut-off fingers.
=Handcuffs=—steel wristlets of temporary wear occasionally seen in the lower walks of life.
=Handjar=—an oriental dagger or short broadsword.
=Handkerchief=—a square of linen, silk or cotton, with hem or selvage; plain, printed, embroidered or otherwise fancified, used for wiping the face or nose, and by country swains to waft a bye-bye to the old folks and one other as the train pulls out.
=Handkerchief bosom=—in shirt making a neglige shirt with a b. made of a fancy handkerchief.
=Handkerchief box=—a receptacle for handkerchiefs.
=Handle=—trade term for the “feel” of textil fabrics as indicativ of working and wearing qualities.
=Handsel=—(1) a gift or token of good will; a votiv offering to Luck; the first sales or earnings, bestowed upon some one; (2) earnest money on a contract.
=Hanger=—(1) a loop sewed into the neck of a coat-lining or waist lining of trousers for the purpose of hanging them up in a way to become shapeless; (2) a chain for the same purpose sometimes used on heavy overcoats; (3) a wooden or metal device over which coats and vests may be hung in a shape-retaining manner or trousers suspended to retain their creases.
=Hanger=—a short cut-and-thrust sword, curved near the point; a sort of cutlass. (17th and 18th centuries).
=Hangnail=—skin partially torn from its attachment near the root of a finger nail.
=Hank=—a bundle of two or more skeins of yarn tied together; also a single skein (qv).
=Hankie=—colloquial for handkerchief.
=Hanselines=—a kind of breeches. (Obsolete.)
=Hard finisht=—same as Clear f.
=Hard press=—same as following.
=Hard prest=—tailor’s term for flat p. lapels, seams, etc. Compare Soft p.
=Hard rim button=—a b. made over a mold, usually covered with cloth matching the garment, but protected by a rim and back of hard rubber, naturally the most durable of covered buttons.
=Hare=—a short-tailed, long-eared rodent of the genus Lepus, the pelt of which is an important staple of hat manufacture and is also largely used in cheap fur garments.
=Hare’s combings=—loose or dead hair removed in cleaning skins, and used as an adulterant in the manufacture of cheap hats.
=Hare’s foot=—see Rabbit f.
=Harlequin check=—a check pattern of three or more different colors.
=Harness belt=—a leather b. of horsey appearance.
=Harris tweed=—a men’s wear fabric made on the island of Harris, one of the smaller British isles; originally woven by very poor people on hand looms, and dyed with natural products. A number of people took an interest in the work, notably the Duchess of Sutherland, and now a considerable trade is done in the cloth, which on account of its excellent qualities and high price, is now widely imitated, the imitations being known by the same name; the genuine is easily identified by its peculiar peaty odor.
=Haslock=—the throat-wool of a sheep; the finest grade.
=Hat=—a formal covering for the head; of various models and worn at various angles of inclination; a frequently remarked characteristic is, that, altho a h. may be satisfactory any day and night, it may not be the next morning.
=Hat band=—a ribbon surrounding the crown.
=Hat block=—a mold on which hats are formed.
=Hat body=—an unfinished h. in any stage of its progress from the forming machine to the stiffening or napping apparatus.
=Hat box=—(1) a round or square carrying case for hats (one or more), usually of sole leather with fancy silk linings, etc.; (2) the same, of paper board.
=Hat brush=—a b. of soft bristles for cleansing and smoothing hats.
=Hat case=—a h. box.
=Hat conformateur=—see Conformateur.
=Hat cover=—a mackintosh or rubber covering for coachmen’s or groom’s h.
=Hat furs=—the principal furs used in the manufacture of hats are hare, rabbit, coney, nutria, beaver, muskrat, seal, mink, etc.
=Hat honor=—doffing the h.; a salute.
=Hat lining=—until the last 10 or 15 years nearly all men’s hats were lined, usually with satin in one or many colors, and often with white satin bearing pictures of sporting scenes, landscapes, etc., and especially portraits of ballet girls, and reproductions of paintings from life.
=Hat manufacturing=—see Carroting, Devil, Forming, Sizing, Stiffening, Stretching, Blocking, Finishing, Soft finishing, Curling, Flanging, etc.
=Hat pad=—a strip of felt slipt inside the sweatband to make a large h. fit a smaller head—and frequently removed the morning after.
=Hat rack=—a row of hooks to hang hats on for some other fellow to choose from.
=Hat tip=—the gaudy gold label pasted in the crown of a h. by manufacturers.
=Hatchel=—an implement for cleaning flax or hemp, usually consisting of a set of iron teeth fastened to a board, thru which the flax is drawn and broken, removing the woody fiber; a hackel.
=Hatter=—a seller of hats; a friend of Alice in Wonderland, but not, despite the popular impression, always mad in March.
=Hauberk=—a sort of coat of mail, either chain or plate, worn by the doughty warriors of the moldly past.
=Haute nouveaute=—high novelty.
=Havelock=—the light cotton cape or neck covering worn by soldiers and travelers in hot countries, hanging from a cap, behind the neck.
=Haverly hat=—a name given to hats (any style) for a short time during the latter half of the last century because such hats had tickets, good at any and all of Haverly’s theaters or traveling shows, entitling the owner of the h. to admission. (From J. H. Haverly, a popular minstrel “magnate”).
=Haversack=—(1) a soldier’s ration bag, hung from the shoulder; (2) a hunter’s leather ammunition case.
=Hawick=—a town in Scotland famous for tweeds.
=Head=—see Wool.
=Head=—the face or small top part of a collar button.
=Head-and-face-protector=—a sort of leather armor for boxers afraid to take punishment.
=Head carrier=—see Tump line.
=Head harness=—general term for helmets, leather caps, ear guards, etc., worn by slugball players.
=Head net=—a contrivance for warding off insects.
=Headlight=—diamond.
=Headstone=—a memorial tablet at the head of a grave, often highly decorativ (or supposedly so), and emblazoned with a choice compilation of eulogistic lies.
=Health band=—same as Abdominal b.
=Heather=—a flower found in the meadows of the British kingdom; basis of the yellow dye used in coloring Harris tweeds.
=Heather mixtures=—trade name for fabrics of no special pattern but showing a color scheme resembling, tho faintly, a heather meadow.
=Heel=—the pieces of leather put together and placed on the outside of the shoe immediately under the h. of the foot.
=Heel breast=—(shoemaking) the back of the h.
=Heel lift=—(1) an elastic device of rubber, cork and felt to wear within shoes for the purpose of relieving the jar of walking, also to throw up the instep; (2) one of the layers of leather used in forming the h. of a shoe.
=Heel plate=—(1) a metal plate affixt to heels to prevent the leather from undue wear or damage; (2) a metal attachment fastened to the h. of a shoe for securing certain styles of ice skates securely thereto. See Shoe p.
=Heel rand=—see Rand.
=Heel seat wheeling=—a little line of indentations made in the leather around the h. (of a shoe) by a wheel, as one of the finishing operations.
=Heel shaping=—a mechanical process, of course.
=Heel stay=—see H. strip.
=Heel strap=—sometimes called back s. A loop either of leather or woven tape inserted in the top at the back of the shoe and used to draw the shoe on the foot by inserting the finger thru the loop.
=Heel-strip=—a narrow band of leather or cloth sewn inside hems of trousers where they rub on the heel.
=Heeling=—in modern shoemaking an entirely mechanical process, save for laying the leather together and filling with nails the holes in a nailing machine.
=Held-blistered edge=—drawn too tightly with the stay tape. (Tailoring term.)
=Heliotrope=—a “heavy” perfume distilled from or in imitation of the flower of the same name.
=Hemp=—see Kemp.
=Hemstitch=—an ornamental finish for hems, as in handkerchiefs, effected by drawing a few threads parallel to the hem and connecting in groups by stitching, the exposed threads running oppositly.
=Henrietta=—a sort of fine cashmere, usually with a silk warp.
=Hercules braid=—a flat, coarse ribbed worsted braid, of various widths, used for ornament or decoration, largely for uniforms, and often called military braid.
=Hermsdorff=—trade diminutiv for fast-black hosiery, etc., dyed by Louis Hermsdorff, Chemnitz, and used in the sense of being a standard of quality.
=Herringbone=—general term for patterns, produced in weaving, consisting of short diagonal lines running warpwise, meeting and contrasting with another series turned oppositly, with zigzag repetition; a fishbone pattern.
=Herringbone stitch=—see Padding s.
=Hessians=—high boots, tassled in front, worn early in 19th century.
=Hickory shirting=—(1) a heavy, stout, plain-woven cotton material, resembling gingham, heavily starcht and calendered, used for working shirts. See Osnaburg. (2) Name also applied to a coarse twilled cotton fabric, striped or checkt, also used for working shirts.
=Hides=—trade term for the skins of large animals, as horse, cow, ox, etc. Compare Skins.
=Higgin=—the old-fashioned shoemaker’s pot of water for wetting soles.
=High-band=—trade term for high, turndown or folded shirt collars; also called high-bander. See Meeting folder, Lock front, Fold collar, etc.
=High dutchers=—skates, the blades of which are ornamentally curled in front; those without this ornamentation are called dumps.
=High heels=—a godsend for runts—and surgeons.
=High-pickt=—textil trade term for many threads to the inch.
=High polish=—laundry term for perverted elegance applied to one’s linen.
=High-rise=—term applied to trousers cut high in the waist. See Rise.
=High-shouldered=—having pronounced shoulders of more than normal hight.
=Highwater=—derisiv term for trousers too short for the wearer.
=Highland gaiters=—overgaiters or spats.
=Hilt=—the handle and guard of a sword.
=Himation=—a square or oblong piece of cloth, more or less decorated, worn by the early Greeks draped about the left shoulder and covering the body (more or less) according to its adjustment.
=Hip=—that part of the body between the brim of the pelvis and the free part of the thigh.
=Hip boots=—b. reaching to the hips.
=Hip pants=—see H. trousers.
=Hip pocket=—a p. placed horizontally in the rear portion of trousers, between the waistband and seat; a breeding place of sudden death if fortified.
=Hip-spring=—tailoring term indicating an allowance made for the fullness of the hips in cutting a garment, as a waistcoat.
=Hip trousers=—t. intended to be worn without suspenders, and to be sustained by the hips with or without the aid of a belt; usually cut lower in the waist, and closer fitting there, than when suspenders are to be worn.
=Hirsute appendage=—whiskers.
=Hob nails=—short n. with very broad, heavy heads, used for sporting shoes, working brogans, etc., as a protection to the soles and for surety of footing.
=Hockey glove=—a stout padded leather g. for protecting fingers, joints, etc.
=Hockey leg guards=—see Shin g.
=Hockey shoe=—a laced s. with a strap across instep from side to side of heel.
=Hog=—pigskin.
=Hog wool=—term given, in England, to w. clipt from lambs.
=Hoi polloi=—“gents” who wear “pants” and ready-tied neckwear.
=Hold-all=—a leather or canvas shawl roll or carrier. See Carry-all and Wrap.
=Hold in=—tailoring term signifying, in the making of a garment, the feat of getting a larger part neatly into a smaller opening, or seaming a larger to a smaller part, or to work in an edge to less than its cut dimension, for purposes of shapeliness, style, etc. Compare Stretch.
=Holland=—a fine, stout, compact, plain woven linen cloth, usually unbleacht, sometimes slightly glazed, used as shirtings, suitings, interlinings, etc.; originally made in Holland, whence name.
=Holster=—a carrier for the personal arsenal.
=Hollow ground=—cutler’s term indicating that a blade, as of a razor, is ground concave instead of flat.
=Hombourg hat=—about same as Alpine or Fedora. See Tyrolean h.
=Homespun=—general name for the plain woven woolen suitings made by the peasantry of the British isles, properly from undyed natural colored homespun yarns, with or without an admixture of home dyed yarns, woven on crude hand looms, and of rather loose, tho stout, texture and of enormous durability. Modernly imitated on power looms.
=Honeycomb=—(1) an ornamental pattern, effected in the loom, applied mostly to towelings, giving a resemblance to honeycomb cells; (2) a raised effect in weaving, sometimes employed in worsted suitings.
=Hood=—a cloth covering for the head; sometimes attacht to overcoats and capes, also to academic gowns, ornamentally so in this latter case.
=Hood overcoat=—any o. with an attacht or detachable hood; a military o.
=Hoods=—scholastic h. are made of the same material as the gowns; lined with the official colors of the college or university conferring the degree, or with which the recipients of academic honors from other institutions may be connected, and are trimmed with velvet, the color being distinctiv of the faculty to which the degree pertains. Thus: Arts and Letters, white; Theology, scarlet; Law, purple; Medicin, green; Philosophy, dark blue; Science, gold yellow; Fine arts, brown; Music, pink; Pharmacy, olive; Dentistry, lilac; Veterinary, gray; Forestry, russet; Library science, lemon.
=Hook-and-eye=—a small h. of double wire and an appropriate e. to engage it; a garment fastening device.
=Hook-in=—to shorten, as of the gorge of a collar.
=Hop gloves=—white lisle g. in contradistinction to white cotton or Berlin g. (West Point colloquialism.)
=Hop stick=—a crutch.
=Hopsacking=—a coarse, open-wove, woolen fabric, with a square or checkered mesh in imitation of bagging, made in suiting and overcoating weights.
=Horace Greeley hat=—a tall, felt “plug” h., later known as the (Grover) Cleveland h.
=Horned alligator=—a leather characterized by its peculiar sharp ridges or protuberances (the spinal ridge of the critter?).
=Hornoid=—trade name for a composition used for buttons in imitation of real horn.
=Horns=—unseen articles of decoration sometimes worn by married men.
=Horse-shoe collar=—trade term for coat collars not made on a straight line, but curved and twisted to fit corresponding hollows carved into the neck of the coat. This is a c. that is easily made by machinery and is a characteristic of most readymade clothing and cheap tailoring. Compare Straight c.
=Horse show=—once a parade-show of horse-flesh and accomplishments; nowadays a raree show of the frills and fripperies of human “fashion” and vanity.
=Horsey=—applied to a straining after coaching or stable effects in attire by those who think it smart.
=Hose=—general term for stockings, long, short and otherwise; anciently, a sort of tights.
=Hosen=—obsolete plural of hose.
=Hosier=—British for “gent’s furnisher”.
=Hosier=—one who deals in hosiery and other knit goods. (Mostly of British use.)
=Hosiery=—broadly comprehending stockings, tights and all branches of the hosier’s business.
=Hot-water bag=—an article of temporary wear in illness.
=Houppelande=—(1) a kind of cloak or overgarment worn alike by men and women in France in the 15th century, resembling somewhat a modern dressing gown or kimona; (2) a name given in France, in the early part of the last century, to a single-caped frock coat, sometimes called a crispin cloak (qv).
=House coat=—a fancy lounging c. or jacket.
=House slippers=—homely solid comfort.
=Housemaid’s collar=—“British” for the highband folded or double shirt c. (men’s—not women’s, mind you!).
=Hovie=—a mantle of state, worn about the time of the crusades, quite a gorgeous affair and often hung with silver bells.
=Huckaback=—a heavy, coarse, rough linen or cotton toweling of a birdseye, honeycomb or armure weave; commonly shortened to huck.
=Huddersfield=—a manufacturing town in Yorkshire and the chief seat of the English cloth and woolen manufactures; a name commonly given in this country to clay worsteds from the best coming from that town from the mills of J. & B. Clay.
=Humeral veil=—an oblong scarf of the same material as the chasuble, worn over the shoulders by sub-deacons at high mass and by priests when giving the benediction or carrying the sacrament in procession.
=Humidor=—a casket designed to maintain a certain degree of moisture or humidity in cigars kept therein.
=Hunting boot=—an extra heavy and high shoe of stout, waterproof leather, foxt and double soled, with hobnails in sole and heel.
=Hunting cap=—a close-fitting, velvet c., with short visor.
=Hunting-case=—a watch-c. having the dial side as well as the back protected by a cover or lid.
=Hunting coat=—a short, red cutaway—English, you know.
=Hunting costume=—those who ape British modes will please wear a “pink” (i.e. vivid scarlet) frock coat with round-cornered bell skirt (or “pink” morning coat), white corduroy or leather breeches, fancy waistcoat, neck stock, top boots, and tall silk hat; appareled thus you are fit to join William Waldorf Astor and other near-Britons.
=Hunting cuffs=—a finish on coat sleeves consisting of buttoned open vents with, usually, a row or two of stitching in simulation of cuffs.
=Hunting frock=—a single-breasted f. coat with short full skirts.
=Hunting hat=—a silk h. with cord or guard to prevent loss.
=Hunting hood=—a knitted wool h. covering entire head (except face), neck and upper shoulders, worn in cold countries by hardy hunters, explorers, etc.
=Hunting sack=—a name given to single-breasted s. coats designed for shooting purposes; usually with a turned down collar closing at the throat and capacious patch pockets.
=Hunting shirt=—(1) a deerskin, blouse-like garment, in use amongst trappers and frontiersmen; sometimes very ornamental; (2) any stout woolen, cotton or linen s. of inconspicuous color.
=Husking cloth=—a heavy cotton ticking used for farmers’ gloves and mittens.
=Husking glove=—a g. used by harvest hands for husking, etc.
=Hustling suit=—see Jepson.
=Hymeneal knot=—a style of k. that, with a little practise, is one of the easiest tied and untied.
=Hyperion curls=—found in novels and in portraits of Roscoe Conkling.
I
=Ice-cream hat=—a light-colored, soft felt h. on the telescope order, extreme in some detail of color, shape or trimming, affected usually by college boys and other irresponsibles.
=Idiot fringe=—football hair; bangs.
=Imitation=—not genuin; deceptiv; fraudulent.
=Imitation fur=—textil achievements, usually on a stockinet body, often quite deceptiv; near-fur.
=Imitation haircloth=—a stiffening interlining fabric not made with horse hair, but entirely or nearly so of heavily sized vegetable fibers, tho some of the “better” grades have variously alternated real horse hairs inserted. For tailoring purposes these poorer grades are practically worthless. See Istle.
=Immaculate=—spotless.
=Imp=—one length of twisted hair in a fishing line.
=Imperial=—a cravat tied in a small, close knot and with long, wide, flowing ends or apron.
=Imperial=—a pointed tuft of hair on the chin just under the lower lip; so called because worn by Napoleon III.
=Imported=—“from the old world”, or elsewhere.
=Imprime=—French for printed; generally used in speaking of warp-printed silks.
=In-and-out flap=—in tailoring a f. made the same size as the pocket so it can be turned into same; the opposit of laid-on f., which may be larger than the width of the pocket opening; the former the distinctiv pocket f. of sack coats, the latter more often seen on frock coats.
=In-the-drag=—tailors’ term indicating that one is behind in his work and has to “pull out”.
=In the flannel=—see Flannel.
=In the grease=—term for fleece marketed as clipt from the sheep; unwasht.
=In the gum=—silk that has not been “boiled off”.
=Inauguration cloth=—a variant of coronation c., used in this country during the vogue of the former and about the time of a presidential inauguration.
=Inch tape=—a t. measure.
=Incline measures=—m. taken by tailors to ascertain if a customer is erect or stooping, carries his head forward or backward, has large or flat blades, etc., and how much.
=Incroyable=—a name given to politicians and dandies (imagine, politicians!) of the time of the (French) Directorate (1795–99), who made extremity in dress a cult—they wore the highest collars, the chokingest cravats, the most pretentious canes and were otherwise much like the precieuses ridicules of Moliere’s time.
=India silk=—a soft, thin, untwilled s. fabric, woven like fine muslin.
=Indian gown=—see Banyan.
=Indian tanned=—name given to a slow process of preparing leather for the market, by curing the raw hides with salt and repeated immersions in bark solutions, usually requiring as many weeks to complete as acid tanning (qv) does days, but resulting in a softer, more pliable and more durable leather.
=Indigo=—a deep blue dye obtained from several plants of the genus Indigofera, native of India and Asia and also found in Africa and South America; known from the most remote times; a permanent color.