The corduroy overshirt
Released in December 2024
We use organic cotton because so-called "conventional" cotton is a disaster for insects, birds and farmers. More info in this article.
Corduroy made by Velcorex, a mill in the Vosges, in eastern France, that specialises in this fabric (as the name gives away :)
This overshirt is made in Portugal, at the Marfel factory we've been working with since 2023.
The techniques behind the quality
Thick fabric
Fabrics for shirts rarely exceed 200g/m2. For this overshirt, we chose a thick corduroy (385g/m2) that's particularly hard-wearing.
Thick fabric
Metal button
Pre-washed
Metal button
Just like on jeans: tough and not about to come apart at the seams.
Thick fabric
Metal button
Pre-washed
Pre-washed
This overshirt is stabilised and pre-washed at the factory, so it won't shrink at home (with cotton clothing, most of the shrinkage happens during the first wash).
Thick fabric
Metal button
Pre-washed
In France we may be short on oil, but we've got seriously good corduroy.
If corduroy was long used for workwear, it's because it's tough, comfortable and keeps you warm: its thousands of tiny raised fibres on the surface trap air and give it a soft feel. For this overshirt, we chose a nice dense version with wide ribs from Velcorex, a factory in the Vosges, in northeastern France, that has been making this fabric for nearly 100 years.
In detail
Fine-wale corduroy
The wide ribs create subtle tone-on-tone stripes… but in 3 dimensions.
Deep shade
The fabric's colour changes depending on whether it's brushed with or against the grain.
An inside pocket
So you can wear this overshirt like a jacket.
A large outer pocket
You can never have too many pockets.
How to wear it
A few ideas if you're stuck
Composition
100% cotton
Origin and certifications
- Cotton: India
- Spinning: Turkey
- Weaving and finishing: France
- Manufacturing: Portugal
... make it in Portugal and not in France? Of course, producing in Portugal lets us sell at a lower price. But it's also easier to achieve good quality there: in the 80s, when France offshored its industry, Portugal built its own up. That said, others besides us manage to make overshirts that are 100% made in France, like AATISE.
How this product will age
How do we know? We ask our customers what they think of the product one year after they've bought it. And if the product is less than a year old, we give you our predictions based on some spontaneous feedback and on our experience with similar products.
To give you an idea: this overshirt will age like the corduroy clothes in your grandfather's wardrobe. There are 3 main risks:
- The colours fading a little (like all cotton garments): to slow this down, always wash it inside out.
- The dust that clings on: a quick brush should get rid of it, but don't forget to check your trouser pockets for tissues before you start the wash.
- The fabric smoothing out: areas exposed to heavy friction (like the elbows) may take on a more worn, sanded look over time. This can take several years to show, but it's unavoidable with corduroy: that's how it develops its patina.
Care instructions
Before putting your overshirt in the machine, fasten all the buttons, unfold the collar and turn it inside out: this protects the velvet and the collar's folds from friction. It also keeps the velvet's pile from picking up every bit of dust. Wash at 30° (on a gentle spin) and dry it on a hanger, making sure to reshape the collar. If it needs ironing, do it inside out and not too hot, so you don't crush the pile.
And ELBOWS OFF THE TABLE! Because it's more polite, and because that's where the velvet wears out fastest. That said, no need to hold your breath: you'll notice that area becomes smoother as the velvet's pile gets "sanded down" by friction. That's the natural patina of velvet!
Environmental cost
This environmental cost is calculated using the official methodology of the French environmental labelling scheme (in force since 1 October 2025).
The label above shows the product's environmental cost according to the official methodology of the French environmental labelling scheme. It's what its manufacture "costs" nature when you look at its impact on climate change, ocean acidification, its toxicity to freshwater, and so on. Currently rolled out in the textile sector, this label should soon appear on many everyday consumer products (food, cosmetics, furniture, etc.) to help you shop more responsibly.
The corduroy overshirt therefore has an environmental cost of 1394 impact points*.
By comparison, a garment of equivalent weight, made from 100% conventional cotton, manufactured in Bangladesh and sold by a fast fashion brand, has an environmental cost of 5604 points*.
Why this difference? Here are the main reasons:
- The production countries: manufacturing in Portugal or France requires less fossil fuel than in Bangladesh (one of the main producers of low-cost clothing). The result: this more local manufacturing limits the impacts on climate change, ocean acidification and resource depletion.
- The material: organic cotton has a fairly low environmental impact compared to conventional cotton, notably because it uses few pesticides (so low toxicity for freshwater) and because it's biodegradable (so fewer issues with microfibres or end-of-life waste).
- Durability: fast fashion brands drive purchases by refreshing their collections very quickly and offering a huge number of items, and they discourage repairs by charging ridiculously low prices. This increases the number of garments sold per person and reduces the number of times a garment is worn. At Loom, on the other hand, we've chosen business practices that encourage our customers to keep their clothes as long as possible.
Even though we've done everything to keep it as low as possible, the environmental impact of this product isn't negligible. So before you buy, make your clothes last as long as you can.
*Calculations carried out by Loom on 14 September 2026. Click the links to access the simulations from the official Ecobalyse tool and get more details on the assumptions used. Please note: the number of points isn't always exactly the same on Ecobalyse (whose method evolves regularly) as on the official environmental label (based on version 7.0 of Ecobalyse)
Reviews for this product
The standard practice is to send review request e-mails a few days after the purchase. We wait a month, the minimum time needed to form a well-informed opinion
Customer review policy
When do you ask customers for reviews?
We send you a review request one month after you receive your order. We reckon that's the minimum amount of time needed to have worn and washed a garment several times and to really form a well-informed opinion. After that, all your reviews are published within the week, whether they're good or not.
Do you ask for reviews on 100% of the products customers order?
We used to do that at first, then we realised we were starting to send far too many emails to some people who buy from us regularly. In short, we were spamming a bit. On top of that, it was starting to take up way too much of the team's time to reply to reviews - since we want to reply individually and privately to almost every person who leaves us a review. Today, we no longer ask for reviews on products that meet the following two criteria: 1/ There are enough reviews shown on the site for people who want to buy to form a well-informed opinion about the product 2/ We've read enough reviews within the Loom team to understand how to improve the product for the next generation.
Hold your horses: what proves we don't tamper with reviews by slapping 5 stars everywhere?
Honestly: nothing, we're just giving you our word. Same as for everything else, by the way: where we manufacture, where our wool comes from, our lab test scores, and so on. The only times we might touch what you write are if your message contains spelling mistakes (and even then, quite a few slip past us) or if it's racist, homophobic, and so on (but that's never happened so far).
Asking for a review after a month isn't enough to know whether the clothes really are durable, is it?
You're right, which is why we send you another review request email a year after your purchase – we even ask for a photo to see how your garment has aged. The answers help us improve our clothes and provide information about "how this product will age" on our product pages. To avoid bothering our customers needlessly, we don't ask for these reviews on 100% of the products ordered: as soon as we have enough data to understand the areas for improvement, we stop asking for the one-year reviews.