Custom Dress Shirts - Fabric Terminology


At MyTailor.com, we understand your need for the perfect custom dress shirt that fits and feels right. To help achieve your custom look, you should become aware of the various fabric types, textures and styles. This page was created to help you with your next selection of a custom dress shirt, offered in the very latest in colors, fabrics and styles. Please refer to the descriptions below to fully understand the differences among the various fabrics and weaves. Click on swatches to use our convenient zoom feature to view the fabric weave and texture up close.
Click on swatches to use our convenient zoom feature to view the fabric weave and texture

Two-Ply: Two long fiber threads are twisted together to make one yarn, and tightly woven creating a smooth strong fabric. Usually stronger than one-ply.	One-Ply: Single fiber is woven horizontally and vertically (warp and weft). One-Ply allows a wide variety of patterns at reasonable prices.
Poplin- Broadcloth This tightly woven fabric has a fine hand and is ideal for dress shirts. Broadcloth and Poplin have the same weave and look. Poplins are usually woven with a finer yarn and have a softer hand.	Twill A basic weave characterized by a diagonal rib or twill line generally running upward from left to right.
Herringbone - Chevron A twill weave that changes direction and balances exactly. Silky and smooth, the Herringbone pattern woven into this fabric gives your shirt texture and depth.	End on End - Chambray A plain weave fabric woven of two different colored yarns, usually a colored warp and a white filling. One end color and the other end white (or variation of color) gives that "end-on-end" effect. Available in One and Two-Ply fabrics.
Royal Oxford - French Oxford A classic fabric with a little more texture than pinpoint. Perfect for both dress and casual shirts. Usually made from a color yarn and white filling.	Pinpoint Features the same weaving as Oxford, but with finer threads and tighter weave.
White on white - Dobby These fabrics are woven on a special loom to create a self design in stripes, checks, geometric patterns and more.
Thread count on our fabrics:
1. Our Single Ply cotton is 50's
2. Two Ply Pinpoints Oxford is 70's
3. Two Ply Superfine is 80's
4. Executive Two-Ply Superfine is 100's and 110's
5. Our luxury collection range from 120's to 160's

Yarn size, yarn count, yarn number, cotton count:
They all mean the same thing and are a measure of the fineness (thinness) of cotton. Typically, it is measured using the English count method, which measures the number of hanks (840 yards) in a pound of the cotton. The higher the number, the finer the cotton. For instance, with 160's or 200's a very high quality cotton. If the number is 150, that means that a pound of the thread would measure 126,000 yards (150 x 840). 200's are the finest cottons. Blue jeans are made with 13's and 20's. The grading system for cottons (e.g., 80's, 150's, etc.) is completely different from that used for wools (e.g., Super 100's, Super 150's) even though the numeric values are close.
Single ply or Two ply::
Yarn made by twisting two cotton strands is called two-ply cotton. Yarn that is simply a single strand of cotton is single-ply, or singles. Two-ply is generally better as it is smoother, stronger, and more uniform than singles. It is important to be sure that it is two-ply in both directions (weft and warp). Typically, singles will be marked with the letter s, such as 100's. A two-ply yarn will be designated with a 2 after the yarn size, e.g., 100/2 means that a 50-weight yarn is being made with two 100's. Often though, one will say the cotton is two-ply 100's, which is the same as 100/2.
Length of cotton:
Egyptian, Sea Island and Pima are ELS (extra-long staple) cottons that range from 1 3/8 inches to 2 1/2 inches. They are all derived from the seed gossypium barbadense. The greater the length of the cotton, the smoother and more comfortable the fabric feels. Egyptian Giza and Sea Island cottons are considered the best, but in most cases Sea Island does not truly come from the West Indies, but rather is a generic name used for the g. barbadense seed. An Egyptian extra-long staple 60's cotton will feel better than long-staple 80's.
Sea Island Cotton:
"Sea Island Cotton" is a generic term for fine shirt fabric/fine cotton. It's now the trademark of Japanese company (West Indian Sea Island Cotton Association) Actual Sea Island cotton - cotton actually grown in the West Indies is 100s/2-ply.