What is Crinkle Cotton?

Crinkle refers to a textured fabric that has been treated to create a crinkly effect. The fabrics that are prepared in this way include cotton, silk, velvet, and wool. Crinkle wool is produced by chemical treatment with sodium hydroxide. Crinkle velvet and crinkle silk, also called plissé, may be chemically treated or mechanically produced. Crinkle cotton is either woven to create crinkles or they are created by rolling the cotton fabric in a bag that is sold along with the product along with a how-to guide for storage to maintain the effect.

Crinkle cotton is an easy to care for material. The pressure from sitting may temporarily reduce crinkles, which will return when the garment is washed. Air drying is often recommended, and some manufacturers recommend twisting or a three-step process of rolling, twisting, and tying before drying to maintain the look.

Crinkle cotton fabrics may be gauze, and when dealing with such a fragile fabric, it is especially important to make sure it is of high quality. This is true whether you are buying it off the bolt by the yard or as a finished piece of clothing. Fair trade crinkle cotton is available, for those who seek it.

The material comes in a wide range of colors, including white and pastel shades of pink, yellow, and blue. Deeper shades and patterned designs, including Indian patterns and other ethnic designs, exist as well. Embroidered and sequined crinkle cotton is also available.

Crinkle cotton has a wide range of uses. It can be an ideal material for travel clothes and is also used for capris, sleepwear, unstructured shirts, gathered skirts, and circle skirts. It can also be used to good effect in period costumes for museums, reenactments or theatres. It is also used for bedspreads.

Although there has been a resurgence of interest in crinkle cotton in the first decade of the twenty-first century, it is not a new fabric. Crinkle cotton bedspreads were advertised for sale in the late 1920s and this seems to be the major early use. Gowns of crinkle cotton crepe begin to be mentioned in the 1940s and then pajamas and robes. In 1966, Swiss crinkle cotton is mentioned as being “all the rage since early spring in Paris” in the New York Times. And by the 1980s, the fabric was being used for boys’ shorts and stadium jackets. In 1991, the Dick Tracy yellow double-breasted crinkle cotton trenchcoat made a hit.

Crinkle cotton was again “all the rage” in 1995, and a 2006 New York Times style article is actually titled “I Am So Excited About Crinkle Cotton.” Given its enduring presence and its ability to be cause fashion excitement repeatedly over a forty-year span, it appears that crinkle cotton is here to stay.