The mods seem to hate me when I post links, so you'll have to look this up yourself.
From the V&A:
" By the 1870s, male undershirts or vests made from knitted fabric of wool, cotton or wool blended with silk were being worn for sports. Called 'jerseys', they were widely adopted by athletes. As demand grew, companies such as John Smedley – which had started producing knitted garments in Derbyshire in the early 19th century – shifted their focus from knitted underwear to outerwear. Machine-knitting developments made such items both more affordable and more widely available."
you can find (online) a really good visual example of this fabric, used for sturdy women's outerwear, in a dress at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. search for "walking dress C.I.40.88.9a–c". The dress is red and black, dated 1899-1900.
there is also an excellent period illustration to be found (online
) in the Internet Book Archive Image.
Image from page 8 of "Illustrated fashion catalogue : summer, 1890" (1890)
Identifier: illustratedfashi00bloo
Title: Illustrated fashion catalogue : summer, 1890
Year: 1890 (1890s)
Authors: Bloomingdale's (Firm)
The fabric is like a very tightly knit, fairly bulky, sweater knit. Usually wool. I doubt if I'd use something similar today. I'd use, instead, something like a modern stretch twill.
just to add, this would be sooo much easier if I could just post the link. Otherwise I need to post a month worth of my local weather so I can up my post count to be legit. Are you all really interested in hearing my weather? Sunny today.