Gabardine is a tough, tightly woven fabric used to make suits, overcoats, trousers and other garments. The fiber used to make the fabric is traditionally worsted (a woolen yarn), but may also be cotton, synthetic or mixed. The fabric is smooth on one side and has a diagonally ribbed surface on the other. Gabardine is a form of twill weave. History The material was invented in the late 19th century by Thomas Burberry, founder of the Burberry fashion house in Basingstoke and patented in 1888. The fabric takes its name from the gaberdine (with an 'e') which is a long, loose overgarment tied at the waist. This was commonly worn in Europe in the Middle Ages by pilgrims, beggars and almsmen, and for some time later by many European Jews. Burberry clothing of gabardine was worn by polar explorers including Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole in 1911, and Ernest Shackleton, who lead a 1914 expedition to cross