Layer
The shirt layer
the woven piece everything else goes over
Where this rung sits on the ladder
- shirt layerclosed — this page
- knit layerclosed — a category on this site
- sweatshirt layerclosed — a category on this site
- insulationopen
- unlined outer layerclosed — a category on this site
- weather shellclosed — a category on this site
This is the bottom rung of every stack on this site. A shirt is a woven layer with a front and sleeves, and its whole job is to be there first. Almost everything that goes wrong higher up the ladder is a slot that nobody filled, and almost nothing that goes wrong is the shirt.
What this slot does
It covers, it opens at the front or it does not, and it gives every layer above it a flat surface to sit on.
What it never does
It does not stop wind, it does not stop water, and nothing about it is measured.
The words that belong to this slot
- wrinkle-free
- A finish word. It appears on several listings in this slot with no method, no standard body and no number attached to it.
- collar
- A construction fact. A collar is either stated or it is not, and it is one of the few things in this slot you can check against a photograph.
- stretch
- A handling word with no figure behind it in any listing here. It describes how the cloth is meant to feel and not how much it gives.
- satin
- A weave, not a fiber. It describes the way threads cross, which is why a cloth can be satin and be made of almost anything.
What closes this slot
11 listings, across one category.
- Button-Down Shirtsthe layer everything else goes over
Conditions that ask for it
- Indoors and officeInside, all day, with a door between you and the sky.
- Dry and cool outdoorsOutside, dry, with moving air and nothing falling out of the sky.
- Wet and mildRain falling, and the air is not the problem.
- Sun and heatBright and hot, with the sky doing the opposite of raining.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission — Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool ActsThe FTC guidance on what a textile label has to disclose, including fiber content.
- Legal Information Institute — 16 CFR § 303.7, Generic names and definitions for manufactured fibersThe section that assigns generic names to manufactured fibers and defines each one.
- Federal Trade Commission — Policy Statement Regarding Advertising SubstantiationThe FTC statement that an objective product claim has to have support behind it.