Style and Seasons: Why The Weave Of Your Fabric Matters

At Acorn, we provide a lot of technical detail on our webpages about the weave and construction of our shirts; the better to help you make a decision about which fabric to choose. But if you’re new to shirting fabrics, it’s possible that the details can seem a little obscure. This week we’re focusing on providing an extra bit of clarity to things – so here’s why choosing the right type of fabric matters.

How The Weave Affects Your Shirt

Obviously, we all look for quality in our shirts and tailoring, because we get more value out of it (both financially and otherwise). Well, choosing the type of fabric and the type of weave dictates what kind of value you get out of your clothes. After all, the weave is basically the way the shirt is constructed, and the reason why it’s important is because the way the fabric is woven gives it different properties – therefore giving your clothes very distinct characteristics. Do you want a light and silky fabric, or a thicker and more durable one? Maybe you’d like one that’s both light and durable, or smoother but still warm enough for the winter months. For all these reasons, it’s important to pay attention to the weave of a shirt, so you can decide whether or not it suits you.

Just A Few Examples

Essentially, choosing different fabrics will change the way the shirt looks and feels, affects how warm the fabric will be, how easy it is to iron, and when it should be worn. Superfine Poplin, for example, is thinner, lightweight and soft, making it perfect for summer shirts, or layering in the colder seasons. Meanwhile, the basket-weave construction of Oxford weaves mean that they’re typically thicker and heavier, so they see more use in the winter months.

The type of weave also affects how the fabric drapes – in other words, how it hangs under its own weight. Twill fabrics famously drape well, so will follow the contours of your body, while stiffer fabrics tend to stay roughly in a certain shape even when you put them on (denim is a widely accessible example of this). Draping isn’t inherently good or bad – like any shirting property, it can be desirable or not depending on the context, and how you want to look. We can provide rough guides for the types of shirts typically worn to certain events, but at the end of it all, it’s up to you how you want to look!

Here Are Our Suggestions

So we’ve covered why the weave matters, so all that’s left is for you decide the style! Heavy dress shirt fabrics like Marcella plain white or Malham 250 do an exception job of keeping you warm at upcoming black tie events – especially since we’ve not yet entered the spring. Meanwhile, casual and colourful fabrics like Hampton 401 and Devonshire Cherry Printed fabric are fantastic for some summer styles when the days start heating up again. If you’re ever stuck, you can always contact us for some friendly professional help and advice.

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