Terminology: What is botany wool?
Botany wool, often known simply as botany (though I find the ‘wool’ part helpful in differentiating it from the general ‘flowers and trees’ type of botany) is an early name for merino wool produced in the Antipodes. (OK, so I’m not 100% sure that suit is made of Botany wool. But it might very well be. And it’s spectacular. And there are only so many images of socks I can show you). In the 19th century it was spun into cloth and used in outer wear, and so the term ‘botany wool’ could mean the fabric, not the raw materials. In the 20th century it has mainly been used in knit sweaters and hosiery, though as late as 1922 you could still buy ‘Botany wool’ serge. According to most dictionaries, the term arose in the 1880s, when the Australian wool industry was established enough to export in reasonable quantities. However, there are advertisements describing cloth as ‘botany’ in New Zealand at the end of the 1870s, so it may be a bit older. It was …