The feel of the fabric not only depends on the type of fabric but also the way it is weaved and what method has been used.Below we go through how fabric is put together so that you know what to look for when buying your next men’s dress shirts.
Ply
Some shirt makers misuse this technical term when describing the fabric’s quality.The higher quality cotton fabrics are made of two ply yarn which means that the raw cotton thread has been twisted with another raw cotton thread. Combining the two threads in this way reduces the chances of the cotton to shed or ‘pill’ which increases durability and longevity compared to that of single or 1 ply yarn. 1 ply yarn only uses a raw cotton thread without combining them with another one. Elite class fabric has 2 ply horizontally (weft) and vertically (warp) (2×2). While high quality fabrics have 2 ply in only one direction. That said, if a fabric is 1 ply it does not mean it is of poor quality.
Yarn Count
The unit measure that determines how tightly woven a piece of cloth is, is called yarn count. The higher the yarn count the higher the tightness of the weave and fabric. Yarn count means how many yarns there are per inch of cloth. Usually all this means for the custom made shirts is that the higher the yarn count the better.
Yarn Number
This is the number used by many shirt makers to reflect the quality level of their fabrics.The number varies from 24s to 200s, 24s being the thickest and coarsest and 200s being the thinnest and finest. The yarn number depends on the thinness or thickness of the threads used. 200s are very rare, so be wary if someone tells you their dress shirts have 200s if they are not well known tailors.
Types of Cotton Weaves
Broadcloath/Poplin – this type of fabric is also often called plain weave, simply because that’s what it is.Threads are passed under and over each other horizontally and vertically. This cloth is strong, super durable, quite dimensionally stable and shrinkage resistant to an extent.
Pinpoint/Oxford/Basket Weave – These three traditional and very similar weaves of dress shirt fabrics have yarns that skip over multiple other yarns instead of interweaving with each yarn.It has two different colored yarns (except for white fabrics) giving it another texture and look than the broadcloth/poplin weave. The irregularity in the weave does result in slightly decreased durability compared to the plain weave, but is still very strong. The oxford dress shirt weave was named after the university by the Scottish mill that first produced it.
Twill/Herringbone – Twill is the weave type while herringbone is an emergent there of. Twill has an easy to spot pronounced diagonal rib effect. The herringbone has a similar effect however it is in a zigzag fashion. These weaves are the most durable types of cloth and the least likely to soil.Both have a luxurious look to them and a high color luster.
Others – There are several other types of weaves, they are however significantly less common in the mans dress shirt.They include End-on-End (fil-a-fil), Voile, Zendaline, Dobby, Jacquard, and Satin.
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