Field Notes · Materials

Shearling vs. Sherpa: What Is the Difference?

The two words get used as if they meant the same thing. They don't. One grew on an animal and the other came off a spool of polyester. Retailers blur the line because "sherpa-lined" and "shearling-style" sell for a fraction of what real shearling costs, and most shoppers can't tell the difference in a photo.

We make jackets in both. Our shearling bombers, blazers and barn coats are real merino sheepskin. Our Jackson sherpa jacket is full grain leather lined with synthetic sherpa, and we call it that. Here is how the two materials actually compare.

What is shearling?

Shearling is the skin of a sheep or lamb that has been tanned with the wool left on. The flesh side becomes leather or suede. The wool side is clipped to an even depth, cleaned and combed, and becomes the lining. It is a single material, not two layers sewn together.

Strictly speaking, the word comes from the trade term for a young sheep that has been shorn only once before slaughter, which gives a short, dense, even wool. In practice the industry now uses "shearling" for any sheepskin tanned with the wool on and clipped to a uniform pile. Either way, the test is the same: the wool is attached to a hide.

Shearling is a by-product of the meat industry. The sheep is raised for food, and the skin would otherwise be waste. Most of the fine shearling in the world is tanned in Turkey, Spain and Italy. Ours comes from merino sheepskin tanned in Turkey, where the craft has been handed down for generations.

What does shearling mean on a label?

"Genuine shearling" or "sheepskin shearling" should mean the hide and wool described above. "Shearling-lined" can mean a leather jacket with shearling panels sewn inside, which is still real. "Faux shearling," "shearling-style," "shearling-look" and "sherpa" all mean synthetic. If the price seems too low for real sheepskin, it is not real sheepskin.

What is sherpa?

Sherpa is a synthetic pile fabric. It is usually 100 percent polyester, sometimes acrylic or a cotton blend, knit with a flat jersey back and a bumpy, looped face that imitates the look of sheep's wool. It is sold as a lining, as the outside of fleece jackets, and on blankets, slippers and dog beds.

The name comes from the Sherpa people of the Himalaya, whose traditional wool-lined garments the fabric was meant to recall. The fabric itself has nothing to do with them. Sherpa is a close cousin of polar fleece: both are polyester, both are warm for their weight, and both shed microfibers when washed.

What is sherpa lining?

A sherpa lining is a layer of that polyester pile sewn inside a shell of denim, canvas, corduroy or leather. The shell blocks the wind and the sherpa traps warm air. It is the standard lining on trucker jackets and a common one on budget "shearling" jackets.

Shearling vs. sherpa, side by side

Which is warmer, shearling or sherpa?

Shearling, by a wide margin. The wool fibers are crimped, so each one holds thousands of tiny pockets of still air, and the hide behind them stops the wind cold. That is why the Army Air Forces put bomber crews in sheepskin B-3 jackets for missions at 25,000 feet in unheated aircraft.

Sherpa traps air too, and a thick sherpa lining inside a leather or waxed canvas shell is a warm jacket. On its own, sherpa is a sweater: the wind blows right through it. Here is how I think about it: a sherpa jacket is for fall. Shearling is for January.

The bigger difference is comfort across a range of temperatures. Wool absorbs water vapor from your body, and as it does, it releases a small amount of heat. It then gives that moisture back to drier air. So shearling stays comfortable walking from a cold parking lot into a warm restaurant. Polyester doesn't absorb much vapor at all, so sherpa jackets tend to get stuffy indoors and then chill you when you step back outside damp.

Is sherpa real wool?

No. Sherpa is a synthetic, and in almost every case the tag will say 100% polyester. A few makers produce a wool-blend or cotton "sherpa," but the word by itself tells you nothing about the fiber. Read the fiber content on the label, not the name.

How to tell real shearling from sherpa or faux

You can settle it in thirty seconds in a store, and in a minute on a product page if you know what to ask.

1. Part the wool and look at the base. Real shearling grows out of skin. You will see leather or suede at the roots. Faux and sherpa grow out of a woven or knit fabric backing, like the back of a carpet.
2. Look at a cut edge. Inside a pocket, at the hem or at a seam allowance, real shearling shows a leather edge with wool attached. Faux shows fabric.
3. Feel the weight. A real shearling jacket is noticeably heavy. A sherpa-lined jacket of the same size is light.
4. Check the fiber tag. Real shearling is labeled sheepskin, lambskin or shearling. "Polyester," "acrylic" or "100% synthetic" anywhere on the pile means it isn't.
5. Check the price. A full sheepskin jacket takes several hides and weeks of tanning. Under about $400 new, it is almost certainly sherpa or faux.

Where sherpa earns its place

I am not going to tell you sherpa is junk. A good sherpa jacket, meaning a sturdy shell and a dense pile, is warm, light and easy to live with. There are real reasons to choose it.

• Price. A well made sherpa-lined leather jacket costs about half what real shearling does.
• Weight. Sherpa is lighter, which matters for driving, travel and layering.
• Easy care. Most sherpa linings survive a cold machine wash. Shearling never should.
• Milder climates. If your winter bottoms out around freezing, a sherpa-lined jacket may be all the coat you need.
• No animal product in the lining, if that matters to you.

The catch is quality. Cheap sherpa is thin, sparse and turns to matted felt after a season of wear. Look for a dense, springy pile and a shell worth keeping. The shell is what carries a sherpa jacket for years. That is why ours puts a full grain leather body around the lining rather than cotton twill.

Where shearling is worth the money

• Real cold. Below about 25°F with wind, shearling is in a different class.
• Long ownership. Good shearling improves with wear and lasts decades. Our customers write back years later to say the jacket has only gotten better.
• Comfort indoors and out. Wool regulates heat in a way no synthetic fleece matches.
• Cost per wear. A $900 shearling worn every winter for twenty years costs less per wear than a $300 sherpa jacket replaced every three.

Shearling vs. sherpa vs. fleece

Fleece, as in polar fleece, is the same family as sherpa: brushed polyester, warm, light, cheap and wind-porous. Sherpa is just fleece knit to look like wool. The comparison that matters is natural wool on a hide against polyester in any form. If your jacket needs to block wind, handle sweat and last, the wool wins. If it needs to be light and washable, polyester wins.

Shearling Leather Bomber Jacket

Merino sheepskin tanned in Turkey, full grain leather outside, natural wool inside. B-3 lineage, five colors. Rated 4.9 by 48 owners. $899.95

Shop real shearling

Common questions

Xan Hood founded Buffalo Jackson Trading Co. in 2009 and works directly with the tanneries and workshops that make its leather and shearling outerwear. He writes about how the things we wear are actually made.