Journeyman
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I spent a while typing up a response about "Egyptian cotton" shirting last night, only for it to disappear when I tried to post it and I now see that fxh, Plestor and others have chimed in with thoughts in the meantime.
Essentially, I agree with what has already been said - just because a shirt is supposedly made from Egyptian cotton does not mean that the cotton was grown in Egypt, nor that it is any more special than other cotton shirts.
Nor is a shirt made from 2 x 100s cloth guaranteed to be good, just as a suit made from "Super 180s" cloth is not necessarily going to be a great suit - even amongst cloth of the same thread count, there are variations in quality, heft and general feel. This is at least partially due to the weave of the cloth - is the shirt made from a twill, from a poplin, from a pinpoint oxford, a royal oxford, a plain oxford or some other weave?
Also, just like "Super" numbers and suit fabric, just because a shirting fabric has a higher number, doesn't mean that it is a better choice. Higher thread count numbers can sometimes mean that a fabric is too sheer, too prone to crumpling, and difficult to iron, just like a suit fabric with a high "Super" number can crease and crumple badly, and wear out quickly as it is fragile.
Ultimately, pretty much any cloth from a reputable shirting cloth manufacturer such as Acorn, Albini, Sic TESS, Grandi & Rubinelli or Thomas Mason will be good, and it then depends on your own preferences as to whether you prefer a shirt made from poplin, twill or so on.
With regard to Rhodes & Beckett, please don't get caught up in their backstory about two English adventurers who decided to set up a shirtmaking operation in Egypt in the 1800s, as it is an absolute load of cobblers. When the then-Harrolds Shirts turned in Rhodes & Beckett a few years back, they came up with a faux-backstory that suited their operation as (apparently) their shirts were made in Egypt. Rather amusingly, they then changed production to China a year or two later and when a friend of mine enquired as to why, he was told that it was because Chinese suppliers were more reliable than Egyptian suppliers.
I spent a while typing up a response about "Egyptian cotton" shirting last night, only for it to disappear when I tried to post it and I now see that fxh, Plestor and others have chimed in with thoughts in the meantime.
Essentially, I agree with what has already been said - just because a shirt is supposedly made from Egyptian cotton does not mean that the cotton was grown in Egypt, nor that it is any more special than other cotton shirts.
Nor is a shirt made from 2 x 100s cloth guaranteed to be good, just as a suit made from "Super 180s" cloth is not necessarily going to be a great suit - even amongst cloth of the same thread count, there are variations in quality, heft and general feel. This is at least partially due to the weave of the cloth - is the shirt made from a twill, from a poplin, from a pinpoint oxford, a royal oxford, a plain oxford or some other weave?
Also, just like "Super" numbers and suit fabric, just because a shirting fabric has a higher number, doesn't mean that it is a better choice. Higher thread count numbers can sometimes mean that a fabric is too sheer, too prone to crumpling, and difficult to iron, just like a suit fabric with a high "Super" number can crease and crumple badly, and wear out quickly as it is fragile.
Ultimately, pretty much any cloth from a reputable shirting cloth manufacturer such as Acorn, Albini, Sic TESS, Grandi & Rubinelli or Thomas Mason will be good, and it then depends on your own preferences as to whether you prefer a shirt made from poplin, twill or so on.
With regard to Rhodes & Beckett, please don't get caught up in their backstory about two English adventurers who decided to set up a shirtmaking operation in Egypt in the 1800s, as it is an absolute load of cobblers. When the then-Harrolds Shirts turned in Rhodes & Beckett a few years back, they came up with a faux-backstory that suited their operation as (apparently) their shirts were made in Egypt. Rather amusingly, they then changed production to China a year or two later and when a friend of mine enquired as to why, he was told that it was because Chinese suppliers were more reliable than Egyptian suppliers.
