I read a fine article on words by Stephen Bayley when I was in London. He was talking about the English language having so many words, compared to other languages, and I know we have discussed that before.

Yet, there is always a word that we don't have. He mentioned the word la grinza, literally meaning a "wrinkle" in Italian. It describes that beautiful puckering effect achieved when handstitching fine materials, he says. With an Italian suit of superfine wool, there is a great deal of grinza, thus expressing the comfort and luxury of an exquisite fit, giving it a rich feel. He then contrasts that with the terrible effect of cheap machine-made suiting in stiff, unyielding synthetics.

He says we don't have words either for that luxurious feel of clothing, nor that cheap feel of clothing. Can you come up with something?

He did take a stab at the cheap feel of clothing, saying that Paul Fussell has a description of the gap between the collar and neck, calling it the "prole gap," which is new to me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
He says we don't have words either for that luxurious feel of clothing, nor that cheap feel of clothing. Can you come up with something?

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"Grinzatic," of course.