Bespoke · Mumbai
Egyptian cotton shirts
Long-staple cotton, spun fine, made to your pattern.
What Egyptian cotton actually is
Cotton is graded by the length of its fibre. Most of the world's cotton has a short staple; it spins into a yarn with loose ends, which is why a cheap shirt pills and goes dull. Egyptian cotton grown in the Nile delta has an extra-long staple, so it spins into a fine, smooth, strong yarn. Giza is the name carried by the best of it, numbered by variety. The result is a cloth that is soft on day one and softer at wash fifty, with a quiet lustre that no finishing can fake.
Two warnings. First, "Egyptian cotton" on a shop label often means a small percentage blended in, or a cotton of Egyptian variety grown elsewhere. Second, a thread count is not a quality mark: a two-fold 100s poplin from a good mill will outlast a single-ply 200s from a poor one. We show you the swatch, tell you the mill and the construction, and let you feel the difference.
The weaves, and which one for Mumbai
Poplin is the plain weave: crisp, cool, the white dress shirt. Twill has a diagonal and a slight sheen, drapes softly and hides creases; it is the shirt for a long day under a jacket. Oxford is heavier and textured, for a button-down and a weekend. Voile and zephyr are the lightest, nearly transparent, for the hottest weeks; wear them with an undershirt or do not wear them to the office.
How we make it
The same way we make everything: a pattern drawn for you, the cloth cut to it, the collar and cuffs made with a proper interlining that keeps its shape without going stiff, mother-of-pearl buttons sewn by hand, single-needle seams. You try the first shirt on, we adjust the pattern, and every shirt after that starts from the corrected one.
In practice
What we decide together
Cloth
Giza and Egyptian long-staple cottons from the shirting mills' swatch books; two-fold yarns, 100s to 140s.
Weave
Poplin for crispness, twill for drape, oxford for texture, voile for the hottest weeks.
Collar and cuff
Your shape and height, with an interlining that keeps its line.
Care
Wash cool, hang dry, iron damp. A good Egyptian cotton shirt improves for years.
Book an appointment
A consultation costs nothing. Tell us the occasion and the date, and we take it from there.
Questions
What people ask us
Are Egyptian cotton shirts worth it?
If you wear a shirt all day under a jacket, yes: it stays soft, keeps its colour and does not pill. For a shirt worn twice a year, a good poplin is enough. We will say which.
How can I tell if a shirt is real Egyptian cotton?
Feel and construction, not the label. Real long-staple cloth is smooth with a soft lustre and a two-fold yarn. We show the mill and the cloth code on the swatch, so you know what you are paying for.
Is Giza cotton available in India for made-to-measure shirts?
Yes. The shirting mills' swatch books carry Giza and other Egyptian long-staple cloths, and we cut shirts from them to your pattern in Mumbai.
Is Egyptian cotton too warm for Mumbai?
No. A light poplin or a voile in long-staple cotton is among the coolest cloths there is; it is the heavy, treated, wrinkle-free shirts that trap heat.