Textile Glossary: Shirting Fabrics
This article presents the main fabrics used for shirts, an essential part of both men's and women's wardrobes, whose stylistic and functional variations have accompanied the many shifts in fashion over the centuries.
History
The word shirt has always been used to refer to a garment worn next to the skin. In Europe, shirts were traditionally made from linen, hemp or nettle. Cotton, whose use dates to Antiquity, very gradually came to supplant bast fibers in shirt manufacturing. This shift required both an intensification of international trade and the development of mechanized spinning and weaving techniques, which helped to lower the price of cotton, which was considered a luxury product in ancient times.
From the Renaissance onwards, the shirt became a marker of hygiene and prestige. The goal was to achieve the whitest possible fabric, often with particularly ornate collars and cuffs designed to display an attention to personal cleanliness. These embellishments took on different forms according to fashion trends. Starting as a small, pleated collar in the early 16th century, the "ruff" grew larger in the 17th century and was increasingly trimmed with lace, a new know-how that could thus be prominently showcased. Shirt cuffs also followed fashion trends, becoming gathered, pleated or turned-back.
Throughout its history, the shirt has retained its dual nature as a hidden garment with selectively visible elements, to the point where it could incorporate several pieces, the main body on the one hand, and detachable collars, cuffs, ruffle and bibs on the other. In contemporary fashion, except for highly formal attire, shirts are all one-piece, though collars and cuffs are typically interlined and, at a minimum, reinforced with an extra layer of fabric.
Characteristics
Shirting fabrics should be fine, soft, and wash-resistant.
Composition
Since the 18th century, cotton has been the material of choice for making shirts.
All cotton qualities are possible:
- Combed cotton refers to fabrics made from the longest fibers, which are collected after ginning and carding - processes that remove the shortest fibers. Combed cotton ensures greater durability and allows for fine yet strong yarns.
- "Twisted" refers to fabrics woven with twisted yarns.
- "Double twist" refers to fabrics woven with twisted yarns in both the warp and the weft.
Other fibers can be blended or substituted for cotton:
- Polyester blends speed up drying time and make ironing easier.
- Linen blends offer a cool comfort and a relaxed elegance but are susceptible to creasing.
- Silk blends lend suppleness, fineness and luster but require more delicate care.
- Viscose blends (including TENCEL™ Lyocell, modal, etc.) add suppleness and springiness, and good compatibility with cotton-care requirements.
- Elastane blends allow for tight-fitting cuts.
Construction
Most shirting fabrics are plain weaves, appreciated for their structure and durability. However, all other weave types are possible.
A List of Shirting Fabrics
Poplin
History: Its name comes from the Flemish town of Paperinge, famous for its woolen cloth until the 15th century. Originally, poplin referred to wool wovens, but the technique was later transposed to cotton as this fiber grew more widespread in Europe.
Technical Description: A plain-weave fabric with a thicker weft than warp and a firmly set structure.
Characteristics: Strong, compact, smooth and fine, identical on both sides.
Product Destination: Shirts or even pants depending on the weight.
Percale
History: The name derives from the Persian word pergala, meaning a fine cotton or silk fabric.
Technical Description: A plain-weave fabric made from very fine yarns that is quite firmly set, calendered, and sometimes glazed.
Characteristics: Fine, dense, smooth, and featuring a continuous surface.
Product Destination: Shirts (due to its quite firm structure, percale is also down-proof, hence its use in comforters).
Batiste / Cambric / Lawn / Toilette
History: The name batiste comes from a 12th-century weaver from Cambrai named Jean Batiste, who is credited with inventing this fabric. Initially made of very fine, wet-spun linen, it was highly prized in European courts for its fineness, softness, hold, luster and whiteness. From the 18th century onward, cotton gradually replaced linen in less expensive and more everyday versions.
Technical Description: A plain-weave fabric made from very fine yarns, that is either more or less firmly-set.
Characteristics: Extremely fine, lightweight, and more or less transparent depending on how firmly woven it is.
Product Destination: Lightweight shirts, fine linens, handkerchiefs and gifts for newborns.
Oxford
History: The fabric takes its name - recorded as early as 1873 - from the famous English university. From the outset, it has been made of cotton and used to make shirts.
Technical Description: A basketweave fabric with a white warp and a colored weft.
Characteristics: Softer and more wrinkle-resistant than poplin, with a small checkerboard effect and a slight grain due to the basket weave.
Variant:
PINPOINT: Same characteristics as Oxford cloth, but with a reps weave, for a more understated look.
Product Destination: Classic or casual shirts.
End and End
History: This fabric takes its name from the way it is woven.
Technical Description: Alternating warp and weft of colored and white yarns, in either a plain or twill weave.
Characteristics: A fine fabric with a visual effect of tiny color dots in a plain weave and small stair-like patterns in a twill weave.
Product Destination: Classic and casual shirts.
Seersucker
History: Derived from the Hindi sirsakar, itself from the Persian shir o shakar (milk and sugar), a poetic metaphor referring to the alternating smooth and puckered areas. Seersucker was originally a precious fabric made of silk and gold in India. It was imported by the English around 1750 and successfully spread to Europe and the United States in a cotton version.
Technical Description: A plain-weave cotton fabric with a puckered look created by warp effects: either by alternating groups of decatized and non-decatized cotton yarns in the warp or by changing the tension on the loom.
Characteristics: Does not require ironing, highly breathable, and does not stick to the skin.
Product Destination: Shirts or suits for spring and summer, depending on weight.
Piqué
History: The fabric takes its name from piqué de Provence, as it mimics its raised texture.
Technical Description: A complex-weave cotton fabric with a compact and evenly structured relief (see our article on Complex Weaves).
Characteristics: More reinforced and thicker than a plain weave, with a textured effect.
Product Destination: Dress shirts, dresses, bib fronts, and summer suits.
Flannel
History: The word comes from the Welsh for “woolen garment,” which by extension refers to any warm garment worn next to the skin.
Technical Description: A thick cotton fabric brushed on one or both sides.
Characteristics: Thick, insulating, and downy.
Variant:
FLANNELETTE or WINCEYETTE: A finer flannel, brushed on both sides, for pajamas and children's apparel.
Product Destination: Winter shirts, overshirts.
Pinwale
History: Corduroy first appeared in the 18th century. The name pinwale refers to a fabric with a high number of ridges or wales per centimeter.
Technical Description: A velvet-weave fabric with very fine wales no wider than 1 mm.
Characteristics: Thick, soft, insulating, and velvety.
Product Destination: Winter shirts, trousers, jackets.
Chambray
History: Chambray originated in northern France and has been documented since the Renaissance. Initially made of linen and later of cotton, it was designed to be sturdy and worn by workers.
Technical Description: A plain or twill-weave fabric with an indigo-dyed warp and an undyed (ecru) weft.
Characteristics: Thicker and sturdier than poplin. Often produced by denim manufacturers, and thus susceptible to the same fading as jeans.
Product Destination: Shirts, jackets.
Eyelet embroidery
History: Originally handcrafted in the 16th century, eyelet embroidery was mechanized in the 19th century, when it became a fashion staple in England an then France.
Technical Description: A plain-weave cotton with embroidered openwork.
Characteristics: Decorative, openworked.
Product Destination: Shirts, dresses, camisoles, blouses, women’s clothing, babywear and girls’ wear.
