Poplin shirts
What is poplin? It is a type of weaving. Visually, it is the smoothest fabric among shirt fabrics: unlike oxford or twill, for example, poplin does not have any micro relief when viewed closely. Technically, the weft of the fabric is made up of horizontal and vertical threads which simply intersect with one thread above and one thread below. In concrete terms, it is the most common and easiest shirt fabric to wear. At Première Manche, the poplin range is divided into 3: plains, stripes and checks. Because it's one of the finest fabrics, poplin is generally reserved for office shirts. Our vision of a beautiful poplin nevertheless is that of a fabric which should not be neither thin nor too thick, a fabric without excessive creasing and which must be relatively compact to maintain a good fit while letting the skin breathe. Finally, among our collection, the essentials are men's blue poplin shirts or men's white poplin shirts, followed by the range of blue and red stripes from the finest pattern (called faux-uni) to the widest stripes. Finally, among poplin check shirts, gingham patterns and those with small checks are the most common. Large checks or more visible patterns are reserved for thicker materials such as flannel or Oxford.
Poplin
Shirt fabrics are made up of what is called a weave, i.e. an interlacing of horizontal yarns positioned lengthwise (warp yarns) and vertical yarns positioned widthwise (weft yarns). A poplin shirt is made from a weave weave in which the warp and weft threads intersect on a regular basis, which gives a uniform and neutral appearance to the material.
The qualities of a poplin
Between two poplins, there can be huge differences. The main one is the quality of the cotton used for its weaving. This quality is given on the one hand by the count and on the other hand by the weight of the fabric, two indications that we give on each product page at Première Manche.
Titration
The count indicates the quality of yarn used for your shirt. This indication comprises two figures, respectively the quality of the warp yarn (length) and weft yarn (width). These numbers determine the fineness of the threads and more precisely their weight/length ratio. The higher the numbers, the finer the yarn, the silkier it is and the better it is, but the finer and more creasable the fabric. For a Première Manche poplin, the fineness of the thread varies between 80 and 120. The indication /2 after each of the two numbers indicates that the thread is doubled before being woven, which increases its resistance. We then speak of double twists (there is also triple twists).
The weight of the fabric
The second indication concerns the weight of the fabric, it is linked to the weight of the thread but also to the weaving density: the denser the weave, the more threads there are per cm2 and the heavier the fabric. We will generally tend to consider that it is necessary to avoid too thin fabrics which will wrinkle more easily with a risk of tearing. At Première Manche, the average weight of a poplin varies from 110 g/m2 to 140 g/m2.
The easy care poplin treatment
“Easy Care” means easy to iron. Technically, it is a chemical treatment that binds the cotton fiber at the molecular level. The fabric becomes more flexible, it creases less and makes ironing easy or unnecessary.
