The Corduroy Appreciation Club
The Corduroy Appreciation Club‘s members meet, dressed in corduroy naturally, and have lively discussions about wale widths. They also discuss the latest in corduroy fashions. And they debate the origin of the word “corduroy.”
The club was founded by Miles Rohan. Miles was feeling lonely. He thought he’d like to belong to a social club, perhaps the Shriners or Elks. But then he decided instead to form his own club — but what club? He noticed that he wore a lot of corduroy and liked it. Why not a club for corduroy lovers?
Miles formed the Corduroy Appreciation Club in 2005. Miles has made the right choice, at least that’s my opinion. I’d rather belong to a corduroy club, and wear corduroy than belong to the Shriners and have to wear one of those red fezzes. I don’t feel silly wearing corduroy; I would feel silly wearing a red fez. Moreover, that tassel, always falling in my face, would be a bother.
And I’d rather wear corduroy at the Corduroy Appreciation Club than belong to the Elks and have to wear antlers.
If you like corduroy as much as I do, I recommend that you join The Corduroy Appreciation Club. It’s easy to join. Simply click on their website’s “join” page and fill in the blanks. There are only a few blanks to fill in. And membership is free.
You will be asked to list your favorite corduroy items so you may wish to give this a think before you begin filling out the form.
When the club had its inaugural meeting in 2005, the meeting was held on November 11 — 11/11 the day of the year that resembles corduroy more than any other day of the year.
While all wales are welcome — the club’s slogan in fact is “All Wales Welcome” — members usually have their preferences. Rohan himself at first will give the diplomatic answer, “I like them all.” But, when pressed [pun intended], he admits he leans towards a medium wale. “I feel more neat and together in a medium wale,” he says. “Fine wales I like, but they can often be mistaken for velvet. I love a wide wale during the holidays. Thanksgiving seems like an especially wide-wale holiday.”
At inaugural meeting the guest speaker was Chris Lindland from San Francisco, the creator of Cordarounds, which are trousers made of horizontal corduroy. I think they invited him as they want to see the club’s membership expand. Horizontal corduroy makes people look fatter.
The origin of the word “corduroy”? The prevailing view is that it came from France in the seventeenth century where courde du roi means the royal cloth.
