The Fabric: The majority of shirts sold in the UK are made from fabrics that have been woven from single yarn. Ours are made from 2-fold pure cotton yarns. That means we take two single yarns and twist them together before weaving which gives you a harder wearing shirt. Our shirts are woven at between 80 to 100 weaves per square inch. Again many of the shirts sold in the UK use a lower weaving count. The benefits to you are that whites are whiter, colours more colourful and edges of the designs, be stripes or checks, are more sharply defined.
The Collar: The collar of a formal shirt can be called its focal point. To ensure an immaculate look over the lifetime of our shirts, we have even introduced new linings which give an even better appearance. It is unlikely that you will ever get to see them but you will notice the difference. Our collars are of two-piece construction which we believe gives a better and more comfortable fit.
The Yoke: All our shirts are made with a split yoke, as opposed to the more usual one piece yoke. This allows the pattern to follow the natural shoulder line which gives a more aesthetically pleasing line. Recognising that, because of improvements in our diets we are getting taller and broader, we have increased both the width and the depth of our yoke. Besides being more comfortable it also gives in wear. An additional benefit is, because the deeper yoke allows the shirt to lie flatter on the ironing board, the shirt is easier to iron.
The Cuffs: Our double cuffs incorporate an extra link hole on both sides of the cuff which allows you to shorten the sleeve length by 1cm - 2.5cm. In terms of size 'All men are not created equal' so we have changed the position of the two buttons on our single cuff from vertical to horizontal. This innovation allows you a choice of cuff width.
The Tailoring: When we tailor our shirts we use 18 stitches per inch, many other shirt manufacturers use less. We use French seams to join the sleeves to the shoulder. It gives one row of stitching on the outside of the shirt but has two rows on the inside thereby combining strength with good appearance. All other seams are twin needled, which again combine good looks with strength. Our shirts are generously cut with long tails thus ensuring that they will not unilaterally take leave of your trousers.
The Gusset: Almost at the end of our tale of a shirt is the gusset. This 'V' shaped piece of material at the base of the side seams was originally incorporated as a strengthening device when the front of the shirt was only partially buttoned. This meant that you had to pull the shirt on over your head to put it on or take it off which put a lot of strain on the side seams. Strictly speaking its use is no longer required but we feel that in addition to giving a certain sense of style, it also says something about the way we feel as shirt makers and the way you feel as shirt wearers.