chambray, twill, denim and drill cloth, in fibers of cotton, nylon, acrylic and polyester as these shirts need durability. In the international scene it is blended in the mid segment or lower range, and cotton in the premium category. For premium segment of shirts the fabric is 100 percent cotton whereas for popular segments are mostly blended. There are varied fashion trends in cotton/cotton blends/polyester fabrics in India and abroad.

Structures:

Men's formal popular shirts are becoming younger, fresh and are emerging with a strong element of fashion. Colours are becoming younger, brighter and fresher. The colour palette has a wide choice with beige, chrome, blue, fuchsia, brown and so on. The design includes checks, micro checks, plains and stripes. Blended fabrics in structure/dobbies for popular range for solid shirts are increasingly being used.[5] More of checks rather than stripes designs are seen in trend in the synthetics segment particularly in PV or PC ranges. This is because there is wider scope in terms of style and designs in checks than in stripes.[6]

3.2 Casual shirts

Fiber content:

Last few years have witnessed radical changes in casual shirts. Segmentation is one of the changes which have made the casual shirt no longer a shirt but a style statement. 80-85% casual's shirts are made of cotton. Poplins and tussar in solid designs in yarn dyed cottons are in trends. Other fashion fabrics in trends for casual shirts are polyester, viscose and their blends and specialty fibers like lycra, modal, tencel, lyocel, polynosic etc. Linen is other favorite fabric for casuals but restricted only due to higher costs.

Structures:

Casuals are quite versatile hence in bold and bright colours and a variety in weaves dominates casual shirts. To make casual wear a style statement, other techniques being used are garment washing, applique detailing, and even ornamentation and embroidery. Different ratio between designs (check/stripes), solids and prints are used in this category of shirts.

3.3 Occasional shirts

Fiber content:

Occasional shirts have to be in sync with the changed tastes and preferences of the consumers. The product range should meet varied aspirations of different age groups.[7] Variation is noticed from brand to brand in current style trends for occasional shirts. There is wide range of fabrics used for occasional wear shirts. Fabric range depends on the brands and collection for the season. Variety of fabrics like cotton, polyester, polyester blends, polynosics, linen are used, but cotton still leads. Cotton blended with polyester and also polyester viscose is a great combination and will continue to dominate for occasion wear as they provide sheen in the fabric. Spun polyester is an excellent fabric for special events when a heavier look and durable fabric is preferred.

Structures:

There is a lot of creativity in trends on surface, weave, structure and texture of the fabrics. Prints, solids, checks and stripes all are into trends but extent of usage is varying from brand to brand. In festive season, 100% polyester fabrics are increasingly used because of a lot more designing factors, jacquards and different kinds of weaves and value additions.[4] The cottlive range which is launched recently is made out of polyester treated with eco friendly chemicals to impart a cotton feel and thus provide improved yarn strength, a very smooth structure and very low pilling.[8] Floral, all over prints, cross stripes and washed shirts are extensively being used and are integral part of occasional shirts. There is a remarkable rise in trend of the products made of hosiery material. Shirts of hosiery material are in vogue in the market.[9] Linen is the fabric for the Indians who are looking for comfort and doesn't mind the slightly crushed 100k.[10]

4. Research findings of shirt fabrics

Apart from functional criteria's, fabric type plays an important role in a readymade garments formation as discussed in research done by Tarafder, on 'Comparative study on physical testing of readymade shirts for quality standards'. For his study 15 readymade shirts had been considered for investigation. All the shirts were type of polyester /cotton (80x20) .10 were of branded quality, 4 were non branded and one tailormade. Following findings were observed through the study: