The corduroy overshirt
To be released in December 2024
We use organic cotton because so-called “conventional” cotton is a disaster for insects, birds, and farmers. Read more in this article.
Velvet manufactured by Velcorex, a factory in the Vosges region that specializes in this fabric (as its name suggests :)
This overshirt is made in Portugal at the Marfel factory, with which we have been working since 2023.
Techniques That Ensure Quality
Thick fabric
Shirt fabrics rarely exceed 200 g/m². For this overshirt, we chose a thick, particularly durable velvet (385 g/m²).
Thick fabric
Metal button
Pre-wash
Metal button
Just like jeans: sturdy and not likely to come apart at the seams.
Thick fabric
Metal button
Pre-wash
Pre-wash
This overshirt is stabilized and pre-washed at the factory to prevent it from shrinking at home (with cotton garments, most of the shrinkage occurs during the first wash).
Thick fabric
Metal button
Pre-wash
In France, we don't have oil, but we do have some very good velvet.
Velvet has long been used for workwear because it’s durable, comfortable, and warm: its thousands of tiny, raised fibers on the surface trap air and give it a soft, plush feel. For this overshirt, we chose a very dense version with wide ribs from Velcorex, a factory in the Vosges region that has been manufacturing this fabric for nearly 100 years.
In detail
300-thread-count velvet
The wide ribs create a subtle tone-on-tone striped effect… but in 3 dimensions.
Deep shade
The color of the fabric changes depending on whether it is brushed in the direction of the nap or not.
An inside pocket
So you can wear this overshirt as a jacket.
A large outside 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
- Manufactured in Portugal
...manufacture in Portugal instead of France? Of course, producing in Portugal allows us to sell at lower prices. But it’s also easier to produce high-quality items there: in the 1980s, when France relocated its manufacturing industry, Portugal strengthened its own. Still, other companies besides ours manage to make overshirts that are 100% made in France, such as AATISE.
How This Product Will Age
How do we know this? We ask our customers for their feedback on the product one year after purchase. And if the product is less than a year old, we provide our predictions based on some unsolicited feedback and our experience with similar products.
To give you an idea: this overshirt will age just like the velvet clothes in your grandfather's closet. There are three main risks:
- The colors may fade slightly (as with all cotton garments): to slow this down, be sure to wash it inside out.
- Dust that clings to your clothes: It should come off with a quick brush, but don't forget to keep a tissue in your pants pocket when you start the washing machine.
- Fabric that smooths out: Areas subject to heavy friction (such as the elbows) may take on a more worn appearance over time. It may take several years for this to become noticeable, but it’s inevitable with velvet—that’s how it develops its patina.
Care Instructions
Before putting your overshirt in the washing machine, make sure to fasten all the buttons, unfold the collar, and turn it inside out: this protects the velvet and the collar pleats from friction. It also prevents the velvet fibers from trapping dust. Wash at 30° (on a gentle spin cycle) and hang it to dry on a hanger, making sure to smooth out the collar. If you need to iron it, do so on the inside and use a low heat setting to avoid flattening the pile
And DON’T REST YOUR ELBOWS ON THE TABLE! Because it’s more polite, and that’s where the velvet wears out the fastest. That said, don’t let that stop you from enjoying life: you’ll notice that the area becomes smoother as the velvet’s nap is “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 labeling system (to be rolled out starting October 1, 2025).
The label above shows the product’s environmental cost according to the official French environmental labeling methodology. This represents what its production “costs” nature when considering its impact on climate change, ocean acidification, its toxicity to freshwater, and so on. Currently in use in the textile sector, this label should soon appear on many everyday consumer products (food, cosmetics, furniture, etc.) to help you make more eco-friendly purchasing decisions.
The velvet overshirt therefore has an environmental cost of 1,394 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 5,604 points*.
Why is there this difference? Here are the main reasons:
- Countries of origin: Manufacturing in Portugal or France requires less fossil fuel energy than in Bangladesh (one of the leading producers of low-cost clothing). As a result, this more local manufacturing reduces the impacts on climate change, ocean acidification, and resource depletion.
- The material: Organic cotton has a relatively low environmental impact compared to conventional cotton, particularly because it uses few pesticides (and thus poses a low risk of toxicity to freshwater) and is biodegradable (and thus causes fewer issues related to microfibers or end-of-life waste).
- Sustainability: Fast-fashion retailers encourage purchasing—in particular by rapidly refreshing their collections and offering a vast number of styles—and they discourage repairs by charging rock-bottom prices. This, in turn, increases the number of garments sold per person and reduces the number of times a garment is worn. In contrast, at Loom, we’ve chosen to adopt business practices that encourage our customers to keep their clothes for as long as possible.
Even though we've done everything we can to minimize it, this product's environmental impact is not insignificant. So before you buy, make sure to get the most use out of your clothes.
*Calculations performed by Loom on August 24, 2026. Click on 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 is not always exactly the same on Ecobalyse (whose methodology changes regularly) as on the official environmental label (based on Ecobalyse version 7.0).
Reviews of this product
The standard practice is to send review request emails a few days after the purchase. We wait a month—the minimum amount of time needed to form an informed opinion.
Customer Review Policy
When do you ask customers for reviews?
We’ll send you a review request one month after we receive your order. We believe this is the minimum amount of time needed to have worn and washed an item several times and to form a truly informed opinion. After that, all your reviews are published within a week, whether they’re positive or negative.
Do you request reviews for 100% of the products ordered by customers?
We used to do that at first, but then we realized we were starting to send way too many emails to certain customers who shop with us regularly. In short, we were spamming them a bit. Plus, it was starting to take the team way too much time to respond to reviews—since we want to reply individually and privately to almost everyone 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 posted on the site for potential buyers to form an informed opinion about the product. 2/ We on the Loom team have read enough reviews to understand how to evolve the product into the next generation.
Just a quick thought: What proof is there that we aren't manipulating reviews by giving 5-star ratings to everything?
Honestly: nothing—we’re just giving you our word. Just like with everything else, actually: where we manufacture our products, where our wool comes from, our lab test results, and so on. The only times we might edit what you write is if your message contains spelling mistakes (and even then, quite a few slip past us) or if it’s racist, homophobic, etc. (but that’s never happened so far).
Asking for feedback after just one month isn't enough to know if the clothes are really durable, is it?
You're right—that's why we send you another email asking for a review one year after your purchase—we even ask for a photo to see how your garment has aged. We use the responses to improve our clothing and to provide information on “how this product will age” on our product pages. To avoid unnecessarily bothering our customers, we don’t ask for reviews on 100% of the products ordered: as soon as we have enough data to understand where we can improve, we stop asking for reviews after one year.