King Cotton - the ultimate white shirt fabric

Fall-Winter Fashion The White Shirt Fabric If there's a fabric that has been created perfectly for the white shirt, it is long-staple cotton. It looks like a very subtle, high-quality silk, but it’s not. It has a hand* like a fabulous light-weight cashmere, but it's not. Sea Island and the Egyptian are beautiful because they have very long fibers. Why is this so important? When cotton fibers are put together, they are twisted into long strands of yarn to make into clothing. * A combination of tactile qualities attributed to a fabric. A comparison of common natural woven fibers Silk is shiny because it's nothing but a straight, long filament Many more fiber ends because the staple or fiber is shorter. Wool has a lot more bumps and grooves Cotton has less than wool but Fewer "fuzzies" cause the staple to be longer. This is what makes really fine cotton. more than silk Though long-staple cotton can be used for colored and patterned cottons, the simplicity of the classic white shirt highlights the luxurious qualities that set it apart from its more common and less expensive cousins. Various types of cotton Cotton grows in bolls (round bowllike tufts). Some of it is long strands, and some of it isn’t. o Long-staple Sea Island cotton. Gorgeous but very expensive to grow and not very plentiful. These are not necessarily grown in Egypt or Sea Island, Georgia. They are just the names of the different plant types. o Long-staple Egyptian cotton is the next-best staple of cotton you can get. o Pima o American staple (probably the most plentifully grown) These are used in cheaper clothing or clothing that doesn't necessarily have to have great content – such as jeans. so American short-staple o Asian Asian tends to wear out fast and isn't used much. SOURCE: SewingArtistry.com creators.com / Frank Mariani