Boiled Wool

Wool knitted loose, then shrunk on purpose in hot water until the stitches close and the knit becomes a felt. It can be cut and left raw: no facing, no lining, no seam allowance waiting to be let out. That is the read on you. A shape that stands up by itself, the same from across a room as it is at the table.

It also hides nothing, and neither do you. There is no drape to blur an edge and no lining to smooth a lump, so the cloth reports your posture and the contents of your pockets with the same flat honesty. And there is nothing to let out. You have built a life with no seam allowance anywhere in it, so the year something changes you will start again rather than adjust, and you will call that integrity.

Wrong for humidity, and it pills exactly where the bag rides.