Like nylon (see entry under 1930s—Fashion in volume 2), polyester heralded a brave new world of fabrics and fashion after World War II (1939–45). Woven in bright colors and strange textures, polyester was the defining fabric of 1960s and 1970s fashion. As a result, when polyester went out of fashion in the late 1970s, it all but disappeared from view. Throughout the 1980s, polyester was something of a joke. Memories of the convenience of "wash and wear," minimal-iron shirts, were tinged with the shame of body odor and fashion tragedy. It was only with the rise of outdoor chic that polyester, in the form of polar fleece, garnered popularity again.

Polyester was the invention of two chemists working for the Calico Printers Association in England. J. T. Dickson and J. R. Winfield worked out a way to spin plastics made from petro-chemicals. The DuPont company bought the patents in...