Quality Shirts are Great Finds      

Many people are looking for quality shirts these days.  They are not always easy to find.  Many of the shirts that are available are made of cheap fabrics and shoddy workmanship.  You buy a shirt, wash it once, and it falls apart from the seams.  Does this sound familiar?

Quality shirts are available quite readily these days but you do have to know where to look.  You also need to know what to look for.  One sign of quality is definitely the fabric.  You will want to find a shirt with a high thread count which is a sign of quality.  Thread count is a measure of the number of threads woven crosswise in a square inch.  Usually fabrics with a high thread count are softer against the skin and they wear better too.  Luxury shirts can have a thread count of sometimes 200 threads per square inch.

Quality shirts will also have some other features too, like interfacing in the front placket, the collar and the cuffs.  This will also help to keep the shape of the shirt.  In addition, if you are looking at dress shirts in particular, they will often have stays in the collar, again to help keep the shape.  If the shirt has a back yoke, you will also find that the fabric is doubled, and there should be reinforced stitching in the shoulder seam.  A good quality shirt will also have well finished seams, either finished by serging or by being turned under and stitched.  Don’t forget to look at the buttons too, as these can also be a sign of quality.

While thread count can be a sign of quality, so can the fabric used.  There are many types of cotton available these days, as well as many poly/cottons.  Many shirts are also available in linens and silks as well as some of the high-tech fabrics.  You will want to look at whether the shirt you are looking at is washable for example and permanent press so that you don’t have to wash it as often.  Sometimes quality shirts are also mercerized, which means that they have gone through a special process and they are guaranteed not to shrink out of shape in the wash.

Now that you know about the quality considerations, where can you find quality shirts?  Keep in mind that you can buy cheap shirts at expensive stores.  You can also buy great shirts at cheap stores.  Quality is often, but not always, a function of price.  You will pay more for name brand shirts as well, and some labels are known to produce quality merchandise.  These days, in addition to shopping at regular retail outfits, you can also shop easily through online merchants.  This can be a great source for quality merchandise and often at very reasonable prices as these merchants save a lot of money by not having to pay for a storefront and regular staff.  Most online stores these days also offer secure checkouts as well as generous return policies if their product is not to your liking or doesn’t fit.