Abstract: Shape should be the essential characteristics of fibrous materials, because it covers three factors that decide the nature of fibrous materials: dimension, apparent morphology and structure. It is one of essential properties of materials, as important as quality. In the past, researchers paid attention to the question of shape consciously and unconsciously in this field, but they were more concerned with substance composition which belongs to the question of quality property. Researchers seem not sensitive to or afraid of dimension, while to apparent morphology and intrinsic structure stay using traditional methods and results or drawing lessons from the other discipline’s methods. In this article, the studies and applications of the attribute of shape, i.e. fiber structure, morphology and dimension, were reviewed briefly. And based on the review, the exploration of the “shape” of fibrous materials by TMT team (Textile Materials and Technology Lab.) was shown, mainly concentrated in the studies and results of dimension, morphology, structure and their fractal dimension, so that shape, one of the essential attributes of materials, can be drawn more attention in this field.

Key words: shape, fibrous material, dimension, fractal