There are a vast range of options when choosing a fabric for your bespoke mens shirt. High quality shirting fabrics are always woven from purely natural materials, such a cotton, linen or silk, and should never be mixed with synthetic fibers such as polyester. Cotton is accepted as being the best fabric, and can be obtained in a variety of weaves, and qualities. The most obvious indicator of the quality of the shirt fabric is the mill in which it was woven. Mills such as Tessitura Monti, Albini and Thomas Mason are world renowned for their technical craftsmanship and attention to detail. Shirt fabrics from these mills will be soft, fine and suitable for use in the most exactingly crafted bespoke shirt. The yarn count of the fabric will indicate the characteristics of the fabric to a large extent. This number refers to the thickness of the yarns composing the fabric. Yarn counts range from 40's up to above 200's; a higher count indicates a finer yarn and a higher quality fabric. As a result of the finer yarns used in the higher quality fabrics, the higher the count, generally the finer and lighter the fabric. Another important factor in gauging the quality of a shirt fabric is the ply count. In lower quality shirt fabrics, a single yarn is used for the warp and weft; higher quality fabrics use a twisted pair of yarns in both the warp and weft. This construction is called two-fold or two-ply and gives the fabric a softer feel and makes it more resilient to pilling. The way that the fabric is dyed can make a large difference to the longevity of the color. High quality shirt fabrics should always be yarn dyed (where the yarn itself is dyed before the fabric is woven), as opposed to piece dyed, in which the already woven fabric is dyed. There are a vast number of different weaves of shirt fabric. Some of the most common weaves are listed below: Poplin: This is the classic English shirting fabric. It is a plain woven, hard wearing smooth fabric, and would be the default choice for a bespoke shirt. Fils-a-fils: French for "end-on-end", this is another plain woven fabric that incorporates at least two different coloured threads to give a tiny graph paper effect when the fabric is viewed closely. When the fabric is viewed from afar, it appears to be solid color - fils-a-fils is a great choice as it gives a good colour texture. Oxford: This is a more heavily woven fabric, more suitable for use in winter shirts, and is extremely hard wearing. Twill: A classic, textured fabric, which when viewed closely appears to have diagonal woven stripes. A variation on the twill theme is herringbone, where the diagonal stripes are woven in opposing directions.
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