Lining is the inner cloth between the wearer and the rest of the garment. It is not interlining (the skeleton that shapes a collar or a front). It is not wadding (the lofted fill). Lining slides you into a jacket, hides seams and canvas, cuts cling, and can add a thin air layer. Summer linings are there to be light and to move moisture. Winter linings are there to be kind on wool and to let a coat on and off.
TrimGem samples lining qualities next to the shell program: fibre, construction, gsm. A “red lining” is a colour, not a SKU.
Cupro (Bemberg-type)
Cuprammonium rayon from cotton linters. Tailors still treat good cupro as the suit-lining reference: breathable, inherently low-static compared with polyester, fine drape, more durable than commodity viscose or acetate, biodegradable as a cellulose. Typical suit weights 80–110 g/m² (often ~100), yarns in the 30–75 denier band, plain, twill or satin. Asahi Kasei’s Bemberg is the famous industrial story; the generic is cupro. Use: men’s jackets, better women’s coats and dresses.
Viscose (rayon)
Regenerated cellulose, soft, breathable, mid-price, good drape, weaker wet, more shrink and crease than cupro. Often blended with polyester or cupro. Typical 80–120 g/m². Mid tailoring and dresses.
Acetate
Silk-like at a price below silk and cupro. Light (60–90 g/m²), decent drape, less durable than polyester, water-spots, usually dry-clean. Mid jackets.
Silk
Luxury: slide, lustre, climate, drape. 60–80 g/m² typical. Not a workhorse. Water-spots, careful clean, evening and ceremonial.
Polyester
The volume lining. Durable, crease-resistant, cheap. Plain taffeta / polyester pongee in about 50–70 g/m² is the default jacket and down-proof inner. Slippery, a little bright, poor moisture, static unless anti-stat finished. Washable. Honest on a supermarket coat; stingy on a canvassed suit unless the hand is upgraded (peach, dull yarn, better drape).
Cotton
Matte, breathable, kind on skin, 100–160 g/m². Casual and summer jackets. Less slide, more crease, can grab. Not a tuxedo lining.
A buyer’s grid
| Fibre | Breath | Durability | Hand | Typical gsm | Home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cupro | high | high | silk-slide | 80–110 | better tailoring |
| Silk | high | medium | luxury | 60–80 | ceremonial |
| Viscose | good | medium | soft | 80–120 | mid dresses, jackets |
| Polyester | low–mid | very high | bright-smooth | 50–70 | volume outerwear |
| Acetate | mid | medium | silk-like | 60–90 | mid dry-clean jackets |
| Cotton | high | medium | matte soft | 100–160 | casual / summer |
Natural (cotton, silk), regenerated (viscose, acetate, cupro), and synthetics (polyester, polyamide) plus blends (including traditional viscose/filament “beautiful silk” types) all appear. Polyester and nylon slide and static. Viscose and acetate shrink and lose wet strength — pattern must allow it. Cotton is kind and dull.
Spec line
Write fibre, gsm, weave, dull or bright, anti-stat, care. Match lining lighter and more flexible than the shell (fur and pile excepted). Do not call a fusible a lining. Do not call a 120 g wadding a lining. The next note is density (T) and tear. This note is what the wearer feels.