Wovember is no longer an annual blog campaign, please see update at the bottom of the page.

What is WOVEMBER?

The idea was born out of the need to show our collective appreciation of WOOL by wearing as much of this fabulous fibre as possible, and celebrating WOOL and its unique qualities in stories and pictures throughout the month of November. We hope that through our enthusiasm and creativity raise awareness of WHAT MAKES WOOL DIFFERENT, and jointly create a force for WOOL APPRECIATION strong enough to effect changes in how garments and textiles are described and marketed.

The unique properties of WOOL (warmth, wicking, durability) mean that it is a fibre particularly suitable for winter garments. Precisely because of these properties, the terms WOOL, WOOLLY, and WOOLLEN carry a cachet that the fashion industry — particularly in recent cost-cutting years — has been all too-ready to exploit. By describing fabrics and garments as WOOL that contain little or no WOOL AT ALL, the fashion industry has increased consumer ignorance, profiting from the prestige of WOOL, while damaging ACTUAL WOOL and the livelihoods of those who raise, produce and process it. By reconnecting the words WOOLLY, WOOLLEN and WOOL with the noble animals from which that peerless fibre comes, it is hoped that we will be able to end the widespread abuse of these terms in the fashion industry, and their misapplication to garments which bear no connection to actual sheep. The word WOOL refers to the fibre, yarn or fabric derived from the fleece of THE SHEEP; it does not refer to the fleece of other animals nor to fibres derived from petrochemicals or plants. The cache value of WOOL is evident through its frequent use in product and garment descriptions in which the word WOOL is used to conjure up an idyllic idea of the country, green fields, sheep, and garments whose principal qualities are warmth and cosiness.

However to use the term WOOL to describe products which bear no substantial relationships with either this landscape or these animals is a misleading appropriation of those pleasant associations. Why should it be OK to use the term WOOL when the hard work that really goes into producing WOOL hasn’t been done? We recognise the value of other cache terms such as Champagne – which we expect to refer only to wine made from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France; or Chocolate – which we expect to contain at least some quantity of material found in an actual cocoa bean. So how is it that the term WOOL can be used willy-nilly, as a general descriptor of anything vaguely warm and fuzzy? WOOL is grown over time, through the husbandry, patience and wisdom of farmers and shepherds. Land, diet and a knowledge of different breeds play an important role in the quality and texture of real WOOL. A detailed knowledge of twist, fibre-lengths and spinning processes must also be employed in order to manufacture good quality yarns for knitting and weaving. By allowing the word WOOL to be applied indiscriminately to anything soft, the specific skills, crafts and labour associated with WOOL and its production become devalued.

Instigated in 2011 by Drs Kate Davies and Felicity Ford in response to their frustrations at the misuse of the words “WOOL” and “WOOLLEN” in garment descriptions and joined by Tom van Deijnen in 2012 and 2013. Louise Scollay joined Felix in 2014 and the blog campaign continued until 2017

Each year we continued the blog with the original aims of the Wovember mission: to reinstate the true value of those terms by linking them with the animals and people who raise, produce and process our WOOL. We were joined by fellow Wovemberists across the world who love wool as much as we do.

WOVEMBER is about…

* recognising that WOOL is a premium textile which comes from an actual sheep, and

that – as such – the terms WOOL, WOOLLY and WOOLLEN should only be applied to real WOOL and not, for instance, to polyester or viscose.

* celebrating the important heritage and contemporary value of WOOL through our 100% WOOL stories, blog posts, pictures, textiles, and garments.

* educating and informing the wider public of the wondrous qualities of WOOL.

* creatively pushing the idea that the word WOOL should refer to sheep’s WOOL only.

*reconnecting the idea of WOOL to the animals and people involved in its creation and manufacture.

* campaigning for a clarification of trading standards to prevent further misuse of the term WOOL.

To involve yourself with WOVEMBER, you can…

* endeavour to wear as MUCH WOOL AS POSSIBLE throughout the month of WOVEMBER, and tell everyone about the unique qualities of WOOL.

* TALK ABOUT WHAT WOOL MEANS TO YOU throughout WOVEMBER on your blogs, sites, facebook pages, twitter feeds, and other social media.

* PUBLICISE WOVEMBER by sharing our button (below) and linking to this site.

* Have fun WITH WOOL!!!

UPDATE: This post has been slightly amended. Please read our final blog post about all of the ways in which you can take Wovember forward yourself as a month of woolly awareness each November.