Padding may also be referred to as batting or wadding when used as a layer in lining quilts or as a packaging or stuffing material.
[1] When padding is used in clothes, it is often done in an attempt to soften impacts on certain zones of the body or enhance appearance by adding size to a physical feature.
In fashion, there is padding for: Bombast, consisting of horsehair, flock, bran, wool, rags, or cotton, was the padding used to give the required bulk to certain fashionable items of dress in Western Europe around 1600.
Thus, many coats and outergarments (especially those for outdoor use in cold climates) are padded with such materials as felt or down or feathers or artificial insulations.
Garments intended for actual use in combat were once commonly padded (e.g., by warriors in the Aztec empire, by the ancient Greeks under armor, or by the Japanese until the mid-19th century), but have largely been replaced by light armor made of, for instance, Kevlar.