Blog — fabric

                                            On the sales floor of any boutique nowadays, you’ll find a sales associate encouraging some potential customer to stroke the sleeve of a tailored jacket. “Feel that!,” he or she’ll triumphantly say. “That’s Super 200s wool.” The truth is, super wools are just a numbers game. The traditional way of grading the quality of yarn is to see how much can be spun out of one pound of raw wool. The finer the fibers, the more spools – or “hanks” – can be filled. Thus, if a wool is “60s,” it means that a pound of raw wool will...

Perhaps you've seen a friend's pair of jeans fade from black to blue and wondered what happened. Or maybe you've seen the terms “overdye,” “overdyed,” or “overdyeing” while cruising the interweb for fashion knowledge.  In one way or another, there's a good chance that “overdyeing” or some form of it has made its way into your life but maybe not into your vocabulary. Kind of like the word “perfunctory.” (Note: give this post more than just a perfunctory read) Well today that ends...   Overdyeing is a form of dyeing, a general term for the industrial process of adding color...

If the world can thank GQ and #menswear for anything, it might be the return of bold prints to the clothing mainstream. Where five years ago you’d find nothing but an array of white, blue – and if daring – pink medium weight oxford cloths, now you can see exotic patterns gracing shirts everywhere. Even business casual mavens aren’t afraid to throw on an indigo dot or sailboat print button down. When buying these shirts, though, it’s important to bear in mind that not all patterned shirts are created equal: there are shirts made from fabrics produced by Jacquard weaving...