What Is Jersey?

Edited August 27/09 - thanks for your comment Jenny. Stretchy and drapey seem to be the key points. I looked up jersey at FabricMart.com to see if that understanding matched up and it did. I ordered some black Vera Wang - not sure if it's for this project or the cozy but it's now on the way - LOL - Myrna

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This may be a stupid question - and it could be that I already know the answer - but what is the difference between a jersey knit and a knit fabric as I would understand it today such as a two way or a four way stretch? Is jersey an old fashioned term or does it refer to some characteristic?

Wickipedia (which makes me think that jersey is simply a knit fabric) says - Jersey is a knit fabric used predominately for clothing manufacture. It was originally made of wool but is now made of wool, cotton, and synthetic fibers. The fabric can be very stretchy single knitted, usually light-weight, jersey with one flat side and one piled side. When made with a light weight yarn, this is the fabric most often used to make t-shirts. Or, it can be a double knitted jersey, with less stretch, that creates a heavier fabric of two single jerseys knitted together to leave the two flat sides on the outsides of the fabric with the piles to the middle.

One of the aspects that I enjoyed about Chanel's personality when reading Chanel and Her World was how she went against the norm of the time creating comfortable garments using menswear and non-traditional fabrics. So far, I plan to use a "jersey" fabric.

Thanks - Myrna