Review: Twillory -- Friday Shirt

Recently, Twillory sent me another product to review. This time it was their Friday Shirt, which is a button front shirt made in pique knit fabric as one would typically find on polo shirts. This style of shirt has regained some popularity recently, with Kamakura offering their own version and a few others being produced by Polo or other mainstream clothing manufacturers here and there.

Since the Friday Shirt is neck and sleeve sized, it can be worn with or without a tie.

The name likely alludes to Casual Fridays, when one typically dresses down for work in the United States and Canada. (As I begin typing this it is Friday and I am, ironically, clad in a double breasted suit.) These countries are not especially dressed up in the first place when you compare them to other western countries, particularly the United Kingdom. Casual Fridays are an excuse for employees who are typically in business professional attire to relax standards a little, not having to wear a tie or jacket. We had a variation on this when I worked at a menswear store, where they simply didn't require a tie on Sundays -- a jacket was never mandatory there. So where does the Friday Shirt factor into this?

Don't throw it in the dryer!

Due to the fabric, it is easy to take care of. One doesn't even need to steam it. However, that does not mean it is dryer-friendly -- it must be laid flat to dry like any other knits. This is interesting considering the fabric contains a significant amount of synthetic and stretch. Specifically, 60% Cotton / 37% Microfiber / 3% Spandex. The fabric feels great and doesn't lose its shape throughout the day, but I don't know if it will perform that well at dissipating heat when the temperatures rise. I would have liked for it to simply be a treated 100% cotton or 97% cotton / 3% Spandex pique, myself. Brooks Brothers already employs such a knit in their Performance Polo. In any case, I don't tumble dry my knits anymore. If you have an ironing board, it's the best place to lay knits flat to dry since the bottom of the ironing surface will be ventilated. You may even consider folding this like you would a polo shirt. I find hanging it up tends to stretch the shoulders and leave indents from the hanger ends after a while.

Woven undercollar and their signature brushed nickel collar stays.

The style is mostly the same as their typical SafeCotton shirt: Spread collar with rounded barrel cuffs and a plain back. There are a few notable differences, however. One is that it has no placket, which can also be referred to as a French placket. The way they make theirs is stitched visibly through the front, which looks less clean but is easier to care for. The other type, which merely has the buttonholes keeping the edge straight, can be prone to lint buildup on the inside egde over time which will require either patience to remove or specialist cleaning from a place like Rave Fabricare. I think they made the right call in this case, considering their demographic. The sleeve plackets have no buttons, which is a curious detail given their other shirts have them. They also use two-eyelet buttons instead of the four-eyelet which is typical for shirts. This is neither more casual or formal, but it does look nice along with the button thread which matches the shirt fabric. As per Twillory's usual standards, the shanks are thread wrapped for extra strength and less likelihood of popping off. Interestingly, they face the underside of the collar and cuffs in a woven fabric of slightly darker blue than the pique fabric. I assume this is to keep both those parts of the shirt neat and crisp. It might help to do the same with the collar band, since these shirts can also be worn with ties. However, they are probably best worn open collar anyway. The best ties to wear with a knit shirt would be the same kinds one would wear with a woven oxford shirt. Silk knit, wool woven, and any kind of cotton ties would all look at home.

Worn open collar with L.L.Bean flannels and Brighton belt.

One of the advantages of the Friday Shirt, as with Twillory's other casual shirts, is that it is sized like a dress shirt for neck and sleeve. It is worth noting that the Tailored Fit on these is slightly trimmer than that of their woven shirts. Since this fabric has some stretch afforded to it by being a knit and containing a small percentage of Spandex, it can fit closer and still be comfortable to wear.

Very long, loose thread here.

Gone!

So, unfortunately, I must get into the negatives here. I did have an issue with the sleeve length. Rather than 36-37 as marked, it measured 38.5"! Because of that it bunches a lot at the attachment when the cuff is fastened to the smallest setting. No amount of washing and drying has made this or any other part of the shirt smaller, so Twillory should be careful how much shrinkage allowance they're using. Because of the synthentic and stretch content, I don't think it really needs any at all. It fits the exact same as when I tried it straight on from the package. The other issue is in the button placement. The buttons do not line up very well with the buttonholes in a few places, leading to a slightly askew appearance up close. More care should be taken there as well. Twillory is known for their super-durable brushed nickel collar stays, something I praised in my initial review of them. Regrettably, the ones that were put into this shirt are only 2/3 as thick as on my previous shirts and thus more easily bent. That's disappointing to say the least, as they've started resembling the cheap stamped metal collar stays used by Charles Tyrwhitt. I've ended up using collar stays from my other Twillory shirts as a result. There were also a couple of unusually long, loose threads at the collar band, but this was easily remedied by a seam ripper.

If these issues are tightened up, I think Twillory has a real winner on its hands. As mentioned earlier, my personal snootiness wishes it were 100% cotton or at least 97% cotton / 3% Spandex, but I'm probably not the demographic they're after. The fabric performs perfectly well in terms of shape retention and not having to even touch an iron, though it remains to be seen how it performs in warm weather.

Nouveau Vintage received material compensation from Twillory in exchange for a review. However, every effort has been made to keep an objective point of view. Thanks to Simcha for providing this garment free of cost for me to evaluate!

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