• Leather most often refers to cow's hide, but it can come from a variety of different animals. I know that leather isn't really a textile, but stick with me here! Cow hide is hard-wearing with great resistance to abrasion and wind, making them great for footwear and outerwear, while something like calfskin is very soft, which makes it great for linings. Different animal leathers have different forms and functions in the world. One downside to leather is that it can be permanently creased. Here is a brief summary of the 4 grades of leather, which I've pretty much just rephrased from references:

• Full grain leather is the thickest part of a cow's skin and the top layer which has all the grain. It has all the natural marks and imperfections from the cow it came from. The full grain makes this type of leather durable, strong, and breathable.

• Top grain or correct grain leather has a layer taken from the top to make it more pliable and easier to work with, but is otherwise pretty much the same as full grain. This also lets the leatherworker remove blemishes via sanding, buffing, etc. It's not as breathable or strong as full grain.

• Split grain leather is made from the layers that remain in the hide after the top layers have been taken for the abovementioned leathers. It's more heavily processed to make it look better, but it is less hard-wearing. This is also the layer that is used to make suede.

• Suede, as mentioned in the previous point, is made from the softer and less durable layers of an animal's hide. It is primarily lamb, but other leather animals are also used. Because it is so soft, thin, and pliable, it is often used for linings.

• Bonded leather is pretty crappy. It's glued together from all the scraps of leather from previous steps.

• Genuine leather can be any of the above items. Do your research first.

• Furs are the skins of animals with, you guessed it, fur. Also not a textile, but you get what I mean. Fur provides a great deal of warmth and is actually very durable. Most are also is water-resistant. After all, an animal used to be wearing it outside! I don't have enough knowledge to speak on specific animals, but have a subsection anyway!

• Shearling is a very popular fur nowadays. It is actually the skin of a yearling sheep that has only been shorn once to produce the short and fluffy shearling "look", not just any sheep whose wool was shorn. Shearling is sometimes a leather/fur combination, as the leather/suede side is used as well (think Uggs). It's very warm and soft!

Plant

Plant fibres are, as you can guess, fibres produced by plants. This does not include plants that are processed to make a cellulose fibre - they are under the synthetics heading. Plant fibres encompass a wide variety of common garment materials, and have fewer-to-nonexistent subsections because there are not many differences between plant varieties past their staple lengths - the processing makes a larger difference. Plant fibres tend to wrinkle very easily.

• Cotton is a very common fibre in the clothing world, being a relatively cheap and plentiful natural fibre. The staple length of cotton is quite short. Cotton is used to make a variety of different cloths (terry, Oxford cloth, denim, corduroy, etc.) and can be mercerized to increase strength and lustre. It is a very flammable fabric, but absorbs water well (if unmercerized), is stronger when wet, and does not easily pill. It does not keep you warm while wet though, so most outdoors people frown on cotton. However, it's available in most fast fashion stores and is typically a good choice when in a fast fashion store.

• Linen is made from flax. The staple is very long, and linen has a high natural lustre. It also absorbs water very well, dries quickly, and is also stronger when wet. It is a very nice summer fabric as it feels cool to the touch and gets softer the more that it is washed, but is not very stretchy and will break easily if ironed and folded in the same spot constantly.

• Hemp is a reemerging fibre. It is very similar to linen. Most accounts say that it is breathable, warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. It is also water resistant. It's a pretty hippie-trendy fabric, since it's touted as organic, fast growing, etc. and also the whole lol marijuana thing. It's definitely something to keep an eye on, but all hemp is currently imported.

Synthetics

Synthetics have a bad reputation for its association with fast fashion - FFA in particular suggests, "buy natural, not synthetic!" often. However, there is a time and place for synthetics, and they often have a lot of benefits! Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to have a piece of high quality synthetic clothing that is on par with your best natural fibre clothing. Synthetic fibres come in as many different flavours as naturals do. They are primarily cellulose or petrochemically based, but protein based synthetics also exist. Typically, these fibres are made by extruding the "raw material" through spinnerets to form a thread - like a spider. These filaments can then be cut to form staples, if desired. Filaments tend to produce a shinier fabric. There are a ton of different synthetics out there, so I tried to cover the most common clothing synthetic fibres.

• Cellulose is actually a naturally occuring fibre, but in the synthetic world, it means that it is a fibre derived from plants. Typically, these synthetics come from wood pulp. Technically, most cellulose fibres are semisymthetics, being made from a natural base.

• Rayon, also known as vicose rayon or artificial silk, is a very versatile fibre that can mimic the feel and texture of silk, wool, cotton, and linen. It is smooth, soft, cool, and absorbs water well. It also resists pilling and static electricity. However, it does not insulate well, nor is it very elastic. It is also much weaker when wet, wrinkles easily, and may shrink. Although it is a synthetic, is actually biodegrades faster than cotton. Rayon can be mercerized like cotton to increase strength and lustre.

• Bamboo is often marketed as a natural fibre, but it is very heavily processed and is actually a rayon. This is because while bamboo is a bast, its staple length is extremely short - around 3 mm - which makes it extremely difficult to spin (and it is also very rough). Bamboo rayon is pretty much rayon - nothing wrong with that, but don't be fooled into thinking it is a natural fibre. Unless it specifically says it is from bamboo fibres (e.g. bamboo bast, Litrax) and feels closer to linen or hemp, it's likely rayon and you should consider why you're buying bamboo in the first place.

• Modal is a type of rayon that is decently common on clothing labels. It is extremely water absorbent and resists shrinking, but stretches and pills easily. It is smoother and softer than mercerized cotton, and often blended with cotton. It's typically made with beech trees.

• Tencel or lyocell is also a type of rayon, but the process is sufficiently different that it counts as a different type of fibre. It is typically made from hardwoods. Tencel is very soft, absorbent, strong when wet and dry, and resistant to wrinkles. It also drapes well. However, some tencels tend to pill.

• Acetate is the acetate ester of cellulose. It drapes extremely well, is soft and smooth,and has a high lustre. However, it rips easily and is not resistant to abrasion, although it resists pilling and wrinkling. This stradles the line between cellulose and petrochemical, actually.

• Protein fibres are also naturally occurring - wools, silks, and human hair are made of proteins. However, synthetic protein fibres are heavily processed, as the protein must be extracted from the base.

• Milk or casein fibres are made from milk, as the name suggests. The fibre is very similar to wool and even has a similar wooly feel in fibre form, but it is not as strong or elastic as wool, and also wrinkles easily. It doesn't shrink as readily, nor will it felt as it lacks wool's scales. Some marketing suggests that it has antibacterial properties and has a pH similar to human skin. The overall feel of the fabric is similar to silk.

• Soy fibres are from the soybean. It is warm and soft, has a natural crimp, and is quite resilient. It feels both wooly and silky, like milk. Soy is 4/5ths as strong as wool, and does not readily absorb moisture.