Corduroy Wide-Wale Comeback

Corduroy has come back into fashion in the past 2 years. Wide-wale version specifically, the kind with thick ridges you can feel when you run your finger across the fabric, is showing up in jackets, pants, hats. Bags from brands that wouldn't have touched the material 5 years ago. Tactile richness is the appeal, something that flat fabrics like cotton twill and denim don't provide. Ridges create a subtle visual pattern that reads as warm and autumnal regardless of the color. The faint swish of corduroy legs walking is distinctive enough that you can identify the fabric without seeing it, and the sound is part of why it feels different from synthetic alternatives. I bought a pair of wide-wale cords in a burnt orange color at a vintage shop. The weight of the fabric is heavier than modern pants, which gives them a structure and drape that feels substantial on the body. Comeback cycle for corduroy seems to run about 10 to 15 years. Partly a reaction against synthetic athletic fabrics and partly a craving for something unmistakably natural and textured, the current wave makes sense when you put on a pair and feel what polyester can't replicate.