The paper presents a synthesis of the research performed on the electromagnetic properties and characterization of textile and non-textile materials with applications in shielding and protection from the electromagnetic field. The composite structures of functional textiles intended for protective clothing or general applications for electromagnetic immunity are presented and characterized. There are analyzed composite textiles with amorphous, ferrous or non-ferromagnetic metallic threads manufactured by means of woven and knitting classical technologies as well as materials using non-metallic, electrically conductive powders. The properties of the plain jersey, rib jersey, full and half cardigan fabric, Milano rib, are presented, too. Besides textiles, there are also characterized some composite and non-composite structures using metallic yarns and carbon powder. Another direction of interest relates to the use of textile materials with amorphous metal structure with the scope of achieving a more efficient protection to the electromagnetic fields used in cellular systems and Wi-Fi networks. In addition, a comparative analysis of the methods of characterization of composite structures is made.