A CLOTHING GLOSSARY

100's Two-Ply Broadcloth (fine) - Two 100-weight threads twisted together and woven into a broadcloth fabric. Softer and silkier feel. Lightweight, durable fabric.

140's Broadcloth (very fine) - Two 140-weight threads twisted together and woven into a broadcloth fabric. Gives fabric and even softer and silkier feel. Increased pattern definition due to fineness of threads.

200's Two-Ply Broadcloth (extremely fine) - Woven from some of the finest cottons in the world, our 200's Two-Ply Cotton offers an extremely silky touch and incredibly fine patterns

50's Broadcloth - A lightweight and durable cotton fabric woven of single-ply thread

80's Compact Yarn - Italian yarn process that compacts the yarn so that it is more substantial and lustrous

Acetate - A man-made fiber used for linings.

Acrylic - A man-made fiber that is an excellent choice for knits because of its soft, wool-like feel. It is a popular option for knits and an alternative to wool.

Alpaca - Yarn from South American camelids that is often woven with wool or cashmere to create a soft, lightweight, and luxurious garment.

Basketweave - Woven similar to a plain weave and resembles a miniature braided basket.

Bedford Cord - Strong ribbed weave with raised vertical lines or cords.

Bengal Stripe - A wider color stripe that alternates with a narrower white stripe.

Besom Pocket - A pocket that is cut and set into the front of the shirt, rather than on set on top of the front - like a patch pocket. It is often finished and strengthened with "piping" or fabric welts along its length.

Bird's Eye - Cotton or fine wool fabric that is comprised of small repetitive shapes that resemble a bird's eye.

Buttondown Collar - A collar that is secured to the shirt by small buttons on both points. Click here for a visual comparison of Dress Shirt collars.

Cable Knit - A knitting pattern that produces a twisted rope design on a garment.

Camp Shirt - A shirt with a collar and no neckband, made to be worn open at the neck.

Car Coat - ¾-length coat that is historically known as a comfortable for driving.

Cardigan - A long-sleeved, collarless sweater that buttons down the front.

Cashmere - Extremely soft and lightweight fiber combed from the undercoat of the long-haired Kashmir goat.

Chalk Stripe - Soft, thin, lines woven into fabrics.

Chambray - When the warp and weft of fabric are two different colors. The warp is the vertical thread of a fabric and the weft is the horizontal thread.

Chevron - Pattern characterized by inverted V's.

Chino - A type of cotton twill.

Classic Buttondown Collar - Collar with points are held down in place by small buttons. Click here for a visual comparison of Dress Shirt collars.

Collar types - Click here for a visual comparison of our Dress Shirt collars.

Collar Stay - A small tab that is inserted into a collar to allow better shape, fit, and roll of a collar.

Comfort Waistband - A waistband characterized by an elastic quality that offers more give and comfort.

Contrasting Collar - A dress shirt collar that is a different color than the rest of the shirt. Usually, the contrasting collar is white while the shirt will be a darker color.

Corduroy - A fabric with distinctive vertical rows. Each row, known as a wale, can vary in width.

Cuff types - There are numerous cuff types - single button; two and three button cuffs, mitered cuffs (see photo) and French Cuffs.

Cutaway Collar - A collar whose points are pulled way back to the side to allow full view of the necktie knot. This is ideal for wide and prominent neckwear that requires an unimpeded presentation.

Delave Linen - Considered one of the world's finest fabrics. A high quality linen woven with a mix of white and color. (See linen for more information)

Dobby - A general term used for a special weaving machine that weaves geometric patterns.A Dobby weave gives the fabric texture.

Donegal - A knit or tweed with coarse multicolored yarns with nubs that are combined with single-colored yarns to produce a mottled effect.

Drape - The way a fabric or garment hangs. Drape can alter the way a garment fits and looks.

Egyptian Broadcloth - Long staple cotton grown in the Nile river valley of Egypt. We use it to make our lightweight 50's single ply broadcloth fabric. Great for warmer climates. Will tend to wrinkle more than some other fabrics.

End-on-End - A broadcloth weave that uses alternating colored threads to produce a soft color to the fabric.

English Tab Collar - The tab collar holds the tie perfectly in place using a snap or button that brings the collar points closer together, creating an always neat appearance. Click here for a visual comparison of Dress Shirt collars.

European Straight Collar - An edge stitched straight collar for a slightly more modern look. Click here for a visual comparison of Dress Shirt collars.

Faille - A very fine cross-wise rib effect, has a soft feel.

Finishing - A process performed on a fabric after it is woven that can dramatically change its look and feel.

Flannel - A tightly woven fabric that is brushed to achieve a soft surface and additional warmth.

French Fly - A one-piece fly used in dress pants that also sometimes features a tab attached. French flies help to ensure that the pant front lies flat for a neater, cleaner appearance.

Gabardine - A durable, compactly woven twill fabric, sometimes with a high sheen.

Gauge - A term used to describe the number of loops per 1 to 1 1/2 inches in a knitted fabric or garment.

Gingham - A cotton fabric with a checkered pattern, most typically in white and another color.

Glen Plaid - A fabric featuring a design of small and large woven checks.

Gorge - The seam where the collar and lapel meet on a men's jacket, forming the notch; determines the length and roll of the lapel.

Grosgrain - A closely woven silk or rayon fabric with narrow horizontal rounded ribs.

Ground Check - Check or grid pattern that is found within the ground color of the garment.

Half Lining - A lining in only one part of the garment.

Hand - The qualities of a fabric revealed through a sense of touch. Terms like softness, crispness, dryness and silkiness all describe the hand of the fabric.

Handwoven - Material woven on a hand-operated loom.

Heather Yarns - A yarn consisting of differently colored fibers that are blended together to give a soft, muted look.

Herringbone - A twill fabric, usually wool, with a distinctive V pattern resembling the skeleton of a herring fish.

Hidden Buttondown Collar - Collar that has the appearance of being straight, but has buttons hidden underneath it's points. Click here for a visual comparison of Dress Shirt collars.

High Twist Yarns - Fabric with the sense of cool touch and superb surface by using high twist yarn; good drape, excellent elasticity.

Houndstooth - A fabric with distinctive broken checks that resembles the jagged back teeth of a hound.

Imperial 100's cotton broadcloth - A premium shirting fabric made with two-ply threads (two individual threads are twisted together) which make it durable, soft, and lustrous.

Jacquard - A fabric with a design woven into it.

Knit - A process of making a fabric or garment with hand- or machine-made interlocking looped stitches.

Lambswool - Soft, resilient wool yarn from the first shearing of a sheep.

Lapel - The turned-back front section of a jacket or coat that connects to the collar and forms a "V" where the jacket or coat closes.

Leather - The skin or hide of an animal with the hair removed.

Linen - The strong, coarse, absorbent, cool fibers gathered from the flax plant, or the cloth made from these fibers. Linen does not soil quickly and is known for it's longevity.

Linen/Cotton - Another fabrication used primarily for spring and summer weight sportcoats, trousers, and shirts. By combining the two yarns (cotton and linen) it creates a softer, more subtle color level. The biggest benefit of this fabric, as with 100% linen is the rapid absorption rate.

Lining - Fabric on the inside of a garment.

Long Staple Cotton - Cotton whose fiber is almost two inches long. Length of the fiber increases durability and hand of the garment.

Luxury 140's - A very luxurious yarn, the higher thread count and resulting closeness of weave gives it a superior hand and remarkable luster.

Madras - A plain-weave lightweight cotton fabric, most commonly known for its plaid pattern.

Melange - Refers to two different color threads twisted together, which creates a heather effect.

Mercerized Cotton - A term used to describe a thread, yarn or fabric that has undergone a finishing process that increases its luster and smoothness.

Merino Wool - A better-quality wool yarn made from the fleece of merino sheep.

Microfiber - An extremely fine synthetic fiber unusual in that it is extremely breathable and warm. Often, referred to as its generic/parent name, polyester.

Mock Neck - A knit pullover finished at the neckline with a short, fitted knit band that does not fold over; an abbreviated version of the turtleneck.

Modal - Fiber made by spinning reconstituted cellulose from beech trees; a variety of rayon.

Ottoman - Long staple plain weave with a horizontal cord or ribbed effect.

Ozone Wash - Ozone (O3) is an environmentally-safe cleaning, bleaching, and oxidizing agent. Standard denim industry washing processes use bleaching agents or pumice stones. Both reduce fabric life and harm the environment -- bleaching during its disposal and pumice while it is harvested. Ozone washing cleans the air during use, reduces fabric degradation, and is 100% bio-degradable.

Parquet - A diagonal twill dobby woven in a pattern of squares resembling a parquet floor.

Patch Pocket - A flat, outside pocket stitched onto a garment.

Pima Cotton - Long-staple cotton, named after the Pima Indians of the American Southwest, who helped raise it on experimental farms in Arizona in the early 1900s. Also grown in Peru and Australia, pima grown in the United States is usually referred to on packages by the trademarked term Supima®.

Pinpoint Oxford - Two plies of an 80's weight thread woven into an oxford fabric. Soft feel, holds starch well, durable, and slightly beefier fabric.

Pinstripe - Crisp, thin, usually gray or white, evenly spaced lines woven into fabrics.

Piping - A narrow fold of fabric in a seam to provide decorative embellishment.

Pique - A durable woven or knit fabric that is characterized by an allover textured pattern, the most popular of which are the cord, diamond and honeycomb.

Placket - The part of a shirt or jacket where the garment fastens together.

Plaid - A fabric in which bands of color running horizontally and vertically intersect to form squares.

Plain Weave - The simplest of fabric weaves in which length and crosswise yarns interlace over and under, alternately.

Pleats - A fold of fabric made by doubling material over on itself.

Polyester - A man-made fiber resistant to shrinkage, wrinkling and moths.

Poplin - A tightly woven, durable, medium weight cotton or cotton blend fabric made using a rib variation of the plain weave which creates a slight ridge effect.

Print - A fabric or garment with a dyed pattern that has been pressed onto it.

Pullover - A knit top that can be pulled over the head.

Rib Knit - A knitted fabric with alternating raised and lowered rows. More elastic and durable than plain knits.

Rise - Distance from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband in pants.

Royal Oxford - A special dobby oxford weave that creates a square-in-a-square design.

Sandwashed Silk - Material with subjected to the gentle abrasion of a sand and water mixture.

Satin Weave - A basic weave, characterized by long floats of yarn on the face of the fabric. The yarns are interlaced in such a manner that there is no definite, visible pattern of interlacing and, in this manner, a smooth and somewhat shiny surface effect is achieved. The shiny surface effect is further increased through the use of high luster filament fibers in yarns which also have a low amount of twist. A true satin weave fabric always has the warp yarns floating over filling yarns.

Seersucker - A midweight fabric that has a characteristic permanent puckered striped effect created through releasing the tension on the loom during weaving.

Serge - Fabric created by a 2x2 twill weave which creates a smooth, soft hand.

Shadow Stripe - An easy stripe pattern composed of elegant, tonal hues. Shadow stripes create an interesting pattern that easily pairs for dressy or casual occasions

Sharkskin - Smooth wool in a twill weave that has a characteristic alternating black-and-white pattern for a grayed effect. The surface is said to resemble a skin of a shark.

Silk - A fiber composed mainly of fibroin and produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons, especially the strong, elastic, fibrous secretion of silkworms used to make thread and fabric.

Silk/Wool - A blending of a silk filament and a worsted wool yarn creating a year round fabrication that is primarily used in sportcoat and blazer cloths. The natural finish tends to offer a softer supple hand.

Silk Washed - A finishing process that is applied by using salt and oil based softeners creating a silk like finish.

Stria - Fabric created of high-twist, super-fine yarns.

Suede - A type of leather with a soft, napped finish.

Super Wools - The story of this thread is the numbering system used to describe the new breed of super-lightweight, high-twist wools. Pioneered by Italian mills about ten years ago, these fabrics are made using high-tech machines that spin wool lighter and finer than it's ever been spun before. The various grades of cloth are referred to as Super 100s, Super 120s, Super 150s and so on, up to Super 200s.

Supima® Cotton - Registered trademark for highest quality U.S. extra long staple cotton. (See Pima cotton for more information)

Tencel / Lyocell - A natural, man-made fiber produced in an environmentally-friendly process from wood pulp that has become popular in clothing because it is absorbent and comfortable for wear, especially in conditions of high humidity. Lyocell also drapes attractively and is flattering in dresses and shirts. Lyocell is stronger than cotton or regular viscose rayon and does not lose strength when wet as viscose rayon does. It is often blended with cotton and/or polyester, mainly in woven fabrics.

Top Dyed - Fiber is double dyed in the yarn state to give it color consistency and clarity.

Traditional Straight Collar - A universal collar; the most versatile, easy to wear style. Click here for a visual comparison of Dress Shirt collars.

Tropical Weight Wool - A smooth wool fabric made from two-ply yarns in an open plain weave. Lightweight and airy, this wool can be used for summer garments.

Twill - Fabrics created by interlacing the warp and weft so that the fabric has a diagonal slant or twill line.

Varsity Spread Collar - A shorter version of the Windsor Spread, updated with slightly curved lines. Click here for a visual comparison of Dress Shirt collars.

Vent - A slit or two slits that appear at the bottom of the back of a jacket or blazer.

Warp - Lengthwise threads of a woven fabric.

Water Resistant - Fabric that resists the penetration of water.

Weft or Fill - Thread that is woven across the warp at a right angle.

Whipcord - A strong worsted or cotton fabric made of hard-twisted yarns with a diagonal cord or rib.

Windowpane - A pattern of thin lines forming large squares on a background of a different color.

Windsor Spread Collar - A conservative spread collar appropriate for any occassion. Click here for a visual comparison of Dress Shirt collars.

Wool - A fiber derived principally from sheep.

Wool/Microfiber - A combination of a worsted wool yarn and a very finely spun polyester yarn (microfiber), creating a very strong blended yarn that will help with wrinkle resistance and longevity of the garment.

Worsted Wool - A carded, combed, tightly twisted yarn that produces crisp, smooth woolens.

Worsted Wool/Silk/Linen - This fabrication is used primarily for spring and summer weight sportcoats and trousers. By combining the two yarns (wool and linen) with a silk filament offers unique texture, color and comfort for a rich and luxurious seasonal ensemble.

Yarn - A strand of natural or man-made fibers joined together and used in weaving or knitting to make fabric.

Yoke - A cut of fabric seamed across the top of a pant or shirt.