Shirting is the most specification-driven category in apparel. The cloth sits against skin, takes a collar, holds a press and gets washed more often than anything else in the wardrobe. Get the specification right and production is straightforward; get it wrong and the fault surfaces after the customer has washed the shirt three times.
1. Start with yarn count, not weight
Yarn count is the number that sets the price tier and most of the perceived quality. A 2/100s two-fold yarn gives a fine, smooth, lustrous cloth that ages well. A 40s single gives a robust everyday shirt at a fraction of the cost. Both can be 120 GSM poplin. Specify the count first and the rest of the conversation gets easier.
2. Then construction
Poplin for formal smoothness. Oxford for texture and durability. Twill for softer drape and better crease resistance through a working day. Linen or linen-cotton for warm-weather production, accepting that it will crease. The construction follows from how the shirt will be worn, not from what looks best on a roll.
3. Weight, against season and market
- 95 – 110 GSM
- Lightweight, warm climates, may need care with opacity
- 110 – 130 GSM
- The mainstream business shirting range
- 130 – 160 GSM
- Casual shirting, oxford, brushed winter cloths
Check opacity at the lower end, particularly in white. A white shirt that is transparent under office lighting will be returned regardless of how good the cloth is otherwise.
4. Finish and stretch
Easy-care and non-iron finishes reduce creasing but can affect hand and tensile strength, and they need to be declared because they change care instructions. Stretch shirting with two percent elastane transforms fit and comfort but changes shrinkage and pressing behaviour — confirm both on a washed sample rather than assuming.
5. Interlining, chosen with the cloth
This is the step most often skipped, and it produces the most complaints. Collar and cuff interlining must be selected alongside the cloth and tested through washing. A fine poplin fused to the wrong interlining will bubble at the collar after a few washes, and no amount of good cloth compensates for it.
Before bulk
- Sew a full sample shirt, wash it five times, then look at the collar.
- Confirm shrinkage in both directions, not just length.
- For stripes and checks, agree the pattern-matching allowance in the quotation.
- Approve colour from a physical swatch under more than one light source.
None of this is exotic. It is simply the sequence that stops predictable problems from becoming expensive ones, and it costs a few days at sampling rather than a production run.
Costing the decision properly
One last point, because it is where shirting programmes most often go wrong commercially. The cloth price per metre is not the cost of the shirt. Width drives consumption, pattern matching on stripes and checks adds to it, and a cloth that needs careful handling adds minutes per garment on the sewing floor. A slightly more expensive cloth at 150 cm width, plain rather than striped, can produce a cheaper finished shirt than a cheaper cloth at 140 cm with a repeat to match. Cost the garment, not the metre, and the comparison between two quotations becomes meaningful.