A clothing wire for mounting on a clothing roll of a carding machine has a base section (1) and a blade section (4). A gradient dh/db of the height (h) as a function of the width (b) of at least a first section (10) of at least one blade-section side face (5, 6) is greater than the gradient dh/db of a second section (11) of the at least one blade-section side face (5, 6). The second section (11) is closer to the base section (1) than the first section (10). The sign of the gradients dh/db is the same. In a region which extends to a vertical distance of at most of the overall height of the blade section beneath the at least one second portion (11), there no protrusions or indentations cause a gradient sign change on the at least one blade-section side face (5, 6).