Shirting fabric guide: how to read yarn count, density and hand

I've been selling shirting fabric long enough to know the number a customer asks about first is almost never the number that decides the order. So this is the shirting fabric guide I give on the phone: what yarn count actually tells you, why density matters more than most people admit, and how hand is the one spec nobody can fake. We've been at it since 2009 under Hong Kong Huayuan Trading Company Limited, and the same three questions come up every week.

Yarn count first. We run 40 to 200. The number measures fineness - higher means a finer yarn, a thinner cloth, a smoother face. But the count alone says nothing about how the shirt will wear. A 200-count woven loose is a lovely thing that won't survive hot laundry; the same yarn set tight is a different fabric entirely. So when someone asks for my highest count, I answer, then I ask what the shirt is for.

Density is the part everyone skips. Density is ends and picks - how many yarns are packed into the cloth. Two fabrics can share a count and behave nothing alike because one is woven tighter. Tighter gives you a cleaner face, better opacity, less show-through. Looser gives drape and an airier hand. Exact end and pick figures for each article are on the spec sheet, on request, article by article. I won't quote a density range here, because a range stretched across a whole book tells you nothing about the one fabric you're buying.

Weight and width are the tie-breakers. We work in 100 to 200 g/sqm, standard width 140 to 150 cm. A 100 g/sqm poplin is a summer shirt; a 200 g/sqm twill hangs like a jacket. Width is a cutting problem: 140 versus 150 cm changes your marker and your consumption, and a cutter who ignores it pays for that on every roll.

Hand is where experience shows, and it's the part of a shirting fabric guide no spec sheet covers. Roll it between your fingers. Long-staple cotton gives a hand that's smooth without being slick - the fibre is a quality word, not a marketing claim. Our super non-iron finish sits at DP3.5, the level I'd genuinely put in a shirt for a customer who travels: it holds a press through a suitcase without feeling like paper. If a fabric feels coated, walk away. If it feels dry and slightly crisp on the roll and softens after the first wash, that's normal.

Then the practicals, because hand doesn't ship without a cutting table. Minimum is 1 metre, with 0.1 m increments if you're cutting samples. Volume pricing is 50 m at 95% of list, 100 m at 90%, 300 m at 85%, freight not included. Pricing in HKD, terms FOB, payment cleared before shipment. In-stock goods leave in 2 working days; air freight to the EU or US runs 3 to 5 days.

Sample books are compiled per series, and each book carries every in-stock colourway in that series. We charge a nominal production cost, which is negotiable, and long-standing customers get them free. Books ship 1 to 2 working days after confirmation. With 2500+ partner tailors and 5000 sample books a year, we're not guessing at what works on a cutting table. Enquiries and orders get a reply within 24 hours on working days. If you want real spec sheets, or a book in your hands, start at gianvitomilano.com.

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