Why are we so fickle about corduroy?

For a simple design, corduroy has a complicated legacy. Since reaching the height of its popularity in the 1970s, the heavy, ribbed fabric has had a decidedly retro appeal. To some, it might conjure images of a vintage clothing catalogue or a stuffy professor — someone Cher Horowitz would deem "ensembly challenged." Despite the flak, cords hold a rotating residency at fashion's proverbial popular table. But when it comes to trends, no textile is quite as contentious — why?

Various style authorities have hailed corduroy's return every autumn for the last few years. It was a staple of the Fall 2022 collections, featured by labels like 6397, Khaite and Rachel Comey, and continues to appear in the Fall 2023 collections including Kenzo and Lovechild 1979. Pinterest Canada reported a recent spike in searches for corduroy pants, skirts, jackets and entire outfits. Vogue went as far as to ordain it a "cool girl" style. But even when corduroy is back in fashion's good graces, it feels conditional. Rules outlining the right and wrong ways to wear it imply that one faulty styling choice could make you look dorky, dated or just plain tacky.

Alanna McKnight, a Toronto-based scholar and fashion historian, argued that it comes down to one (very loud) reason. "There's an auditory sensation of wearing corduroy," she said. (Growing up, the swish-swish sound from her textured pants rubbing together led to merciless teasing.) "It announces your arrival, basically.…

"We have gotten so used to, in the postmodern era, having clothing that doesn't have noise associated with it. Our clothes are very silent. And in the past, big silk dresses … would [rustle], and you would hear those coming a mile away." It's also become an emblem of working-class utilitarianism, which might be at the heart of the fashion world's fickle treatment of the textile.

Though typically associated with the 1970s, the first form of corduroy dates back to ancient Egypt. The fabric we know today, with its signature ribbed design, was born in 18th-century western England, where its sturdy, durable material made it a favourite among the working class. McKnight called it velvet's "spiritual cousin", as both materials have practically the same background stories and are made in similar ways. "With the rise of industrialization in the 19th century, people needed durable clothing — especially working-class people," she said. "Having something warm was also important." So while velvet has had a "regal luxury status" from early on, corduroy became a more functional fabric.

Corduroy became fashionable again as a symbol of the anti-establishment ideals of the 1960s counterculture movement and peaked the following decade. After resurfacing during the grunge era of the 1990s, the regard for corduroy has waxed and waned. Because of its utilitarian past, corduroy was sometimes seen as less attractive, McKnight noted.

She says fashion tends to favour exclusive styles over accessible ones, otherwise known as conspicuous consumption. "It's to show people … that you have a certain level of wealth and taste and cultural understanding of what is appropriate and what people should have." Despite how many times it's reimagined, corduroy just can't shake its working-class image.

It seems, however, thanks to TikTok, that's begun to matter less. On the app, where new fashion trends are born every day, corduroy has appeared within a series of viral esthetics. One of them is Dark Academia, a quintessentially autumnal style that channels vintage collegiate dressing and romanticizes slouchy school-appropriate looks. Often paired with chunky sweaters and combat boots or mixed with other heavy statement pieces like wool, corduroy has been embraced on the gen-Z-dominated platform as a key textile for cold-weather outfits, sound effects and all.

Though it's tentatively back in vogue, McKnight said corduroy will keep falling in and out of fashion, just like it always has. "But I think we won't have to wait as long to see it again," she said. "I think the time between resurgences is getting shorter."

Perhaps corduroy always finds a way because it's both practical and symbolic. Either way, it has endured for centuries, and for that alone, it deserves a little more respect.

Natalie Michie is a Toronto-based writer who covers the intersection of fashion and pop culture. Find her on Instagram @nataliemichie and on TikTok @natalie_michie.

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