Melton cloth, woven in a twill form and traditionally made of wool, is a very solid cloth whose finishing processes completely conceal the twill weave pattern.
It is thick, because of having been well fulled, which gives it a felt-like smooth surface, and is napped and very closely sheared.
In lighter weights melton cloth is traditionally used for lining the underside of jacket collars.
In England not only is melton used for the scarlet hunting coat, an iconic symbol of the upper-class elite, but it is also used in black for the donkey jacket,[3] an iconic symbol of the working class labouring man.
Queen Victoria commissioned curtains made of Melton cloth for Windsor Castle, the curtains being made by the Leeds textile manufacturing firm William Lupton and Co.[4][5] It was a cloth used for British naval officers.