Our Shirts
Shirt Construction
Our traditional Jermyn Street style shirt construction is a complex piece of engineering! For example:
- It has 33 separate components
- There are 47 processes that bring these together
- The collar alone has 12 components, which gives that vital hand-tailored appearance
- Most shirt collars tend to be "fused" which means the interlining is glued onto the fabric, giving a rigid, characterless collar but not ours!
- The sleeves are cut on the straight grain to avoid twisting or skewed stripes
- The buttons are lock-stitched which means they are sewn in an X formation rather than an H (which tend to unravel), so they wont fall off
- The split yoke brings together all the major components: the collar, the sleeves, the front and the back which gives traditional styling and the perfect fit
- All our mens and womens shirts are made with the finest 2-fold cotton yarns
Our Classic Shirts Body Fit
Our classic fit shirts are all made in our original Jermyn Street style of traditional shirtmaking. The have a generous cut on the body, and a long differential tail for added comfort. All our classic shirts are available in double cuff, and our Prince of Wales classic fit shirts are also available in single cuff, which do not require cufflinks.
Our Slim Fit Shirts Body Fit
Our slim fit shirts were introduced a few years ago, and are now bestsellers. Two darts in the back create a slimmer, closer body fit, and a shorter tail makes them easier to tuck in. All our slim fit shirts come with a double cuff.
John Francomb Range Body Fit
Our range of John Francomb shirts come in 2 different styles:
Milan Slim Fit
The Milan range features a tailored body shape and shorter tails for a sophisticated fit. The double button classic collar and cuff make this a shirt that looks equally good worn with a tie and suit for work or open-necked with jeans for evenings.
Rovereto Fully Fitted
The Rovereto range has an even closer body fit than the Milan. The two back darts and shorter, gently curved tail make these shirts perfect for wearing outside trousers or jeans for evenings and weekends, as well as for work. A two button, squared off cuff and contemporary point collar with traditional collar bone slots complete the look.
Our Women's Shirts
Fitted
Our undoubted bestseller. The Fitted shirt is a longer length shirt with shaped seaming to fit your figure, a long soft collar and double cuffs to accessorize with our womens cufflinks. Our range of Fitted shirts also come in single cuff, which do not require cufflinks. The Fitted shirt can be worn tucked in or untucked.
Tailored Fitted
Slightly shorter so it can also be worn untucked, our Tailored Fitted shirt has 2 darts in the front and back for shaping, and a broader collar. Fly front detail conceals the buttons, and the double cuffs are made to be worn with cufflinks.
Our collar types
Our Classic shirts come in 2 collar styles:
Prince of Wales
The Prince of Wales (POW) collar is our most popular collar inspired by Edward VIII when he was Prince of Wales. It is a cutaway collar similar to the Windsor collar but not as wide-set, and is only available with our classic fit shirts (this includes our Traveller shirts, which come with a Prince of Wales collar).
Windsor
The Windsor collar has a wider spread than the Prince of Wales collar to accommodate a wider Windsor knot tie. It was popularised in the 1930s and is the collar featured in our Windsor classic fit shirts.
Our Slim Fit shirts come in the following collar types:
Duke of York
The Duke of York collar is a longer, more pointed collar which is only available with our slim fit shirts and adds a modern look.
Windsor
The Windsor collar has a wider spread than the Prince of Wales collar to accommodate a wider Windsor knot tie. It is the collar featured in our Windsor slim fit shirts.
(Note that our slim fit range of shirts includes our John Francomb range - see description in the previous section).
Fabric Types
We use several fabric types in the construction of our shirts. They each have a different feel and appearance, but are all made from 100% cotton, with different weaves.
Origins and Characteristics
Cotton is grown around the world, mainly in sub-tropical regions. The cotton bush produces seedpods called bolls, which open when ripe revealing a fluffy mass of fibres. Once picked, the fibres are separated from the seeds by a process called ginning. This prepares the fibres for spinning, which creates the yarns ready for weaving into cloth. The word "cotton" is derived from its Arabic word, pronounced "kutan" or "qutan", depending on the dialect.
Key Properties
Cotton is a strong and durable fabric, which is not prone to stretching. This results in some creasing but the garment will not lose its shape. Cotton fibres are fine and flexible and therefore ideal for lightweight textiles.
Quality
Different varieties of cotton are grown in different countries there are about 40 in the USA alone. Thus the country of origin is only a partial guide to quality. Staple length is the most important aspect of quality. Spinnable fibres must have a staple length of 16mm. Common staples range from 20mm-30mm.
The longer the staple, the finer the yarn can be spun and the softer the handle of the resulting fabric. High quality types are known for their silky lustre and they have considerable strength given their fineness.
Weaving Terminology
2-Fold refers to the twisting together of two single threads to make folded or plied yarns. 'Folding' the yarn achieves improved fabric strength, regularity, heavier structures and special effects in weaving. Yarn is the name for the twisted threads.
The warp yarn are those which lie in the direction of a fabric whilst it is being woven.
The weft yarn are those which, during weaving are introduced between the warp yarns across the width direction of the fabric.
An End is the weaver's name for a piece of yarn.
2-fold Poplin
The weave synonymous with shirtmaking. Differential tensions in the warp and weft yarns produce a crisp, dense fabric with a fine horizontal rib effect. Using different yarn, the Poplin weave is also used for good quality raincoats and sail cloth.
End-on-End
Also known as fil a fil, it is a plain one-on-one weave. The weft goes under and over alternate warp threads. Traditionally the colour is in the warp and the weft is white. A colour can be used in the weft as well, to create a 'double strength' plain colour or a 'shot' effect.
Oxford
A more relaxed fabric than Poplin, which means that it has a softer feel. The warp yarns are bulkier than the weft creating a textured surface. Coloured Oxfords are produced using a darker colour in the weft and usually a white warp, diluting the colour to a soft tone.
Pinpoint Oxford
The same construction as Oxford, using higher twist yarns, packed closer together for a denser cloth with a light crisp handle. The contrast in warp and weft yarns produces a pinhead dot effect, hence the name.
Royal Oxford
The (usual) white thread of the warp is loosely spun and twisted to make a light but bulky yarn. The weft pattern is set to skip two warp threads on the first row and three on the next. By alternating this pattern on subsequent rows an interesting pattern is produced. From a distance it looks similar to a thick Oxford but without the bulk.
Twill
Fine diagonal lines in the fabric are characteristic of twills. This is achieved by sending the weft thread over two or more warp threads. The diagonal pattern happens by offsetting this pattern by one or more warp threads each row. The end product is usually a very soft and comfortable cloth, which makes excellent shirts. The finer the yarn count the softer and more lustrous the fabric face, resulting in a subtle sheen effect.
Brushed Cotton
Another twill weave cotton construction, the fabric is raised and lightly brushed during the finishing process. The raised threads increase the thermal insulation of the fabric.