# Pinpoint or Broadcloth?



## Saltydog (Nov 3, 2007)

Few, if any, men's garments are as universally classic and ever-acceptable as the solid white straight or moderate spread collar dress shirt. For who knows how long, broadcloth and poplin were pretty much the only acceptable fabric. With the rise in popularity in the last 3 decades of Pinpoint--especially ttx--available in higher thread counts than the original 80's and bearing little resemblance to it's beefy counterpart the regular oxford...not to mention the various degrees of quality (or lack of) in 100% cotton non-iron fabrics the silky tissue thin broadcloth is almost as extinct as the Dodo bird in the average suit and tie closet. Frankly, a quality pinpoint and a good-to-average broadcloth are virtually indistinguishable from more than a few feet away. With non-irons...who can even tell? Would most members of the forum agree that a quality pinpoint is the equivilent of broadcloth for wear with a suit? Obviously both fabrics have their pros and cons with pinpoint holding a better press and broadcloth feeling thinner and silkier. I'll throw it open. What do you wear and what do you observe on those around you?


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## dfloyd (May 7, 2006)

*I wear what the English shirtmakers like H&H make....*

which is usually 100s or 120s, 2 fold broadcloth. Like many older sartorilists, I wouldn't be caught dead in a non-iron shirt.


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## Rossini (Oct 7, 2007)

... Nothing wrong with pinpoint per se (or twill, herringbone, voile, batise, oxford, royal oxford, etc), but the standard is poplin, and certainly not the non-iron stuff.


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## Diggy18 (Apr 11, 2008)

I like broadcloth. Pinpoint always looks too crispy to me at the lower thread counts, but then at the higher thread counts it's too thin. I'm just not a fan.


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## 82-Greg (Apr 13, 2008)

*Broadcloth vs Pinpoint*

Personally, I think the essence is one of pricing point and operating climate.

For the man buying OTR shirts, he is generally looking for a shirt to wear year round. At he sub-$100 pricing point, I think pinpoint looks and feels more comfortable for year round wearing. Particularly if your summers are hot. If your summers are relatively short and mild, oxford makes perfect sense.

When you are able to invest in higher quality fabrics for MTM or bespoke products, you are able to buy a summer and winter wardrobe and able to afford higher quality oxford cloth.

Personally, all my shirts are pinpoint (although I'm in the middle of the MTM pricing point).


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

With the exception of my oxford cloth button downs which I don't really consider to be dress shirts, all of my dress shirts are pinpoints with the majority being non-iron. 

I can't really say why, but I just prefer pinpoint over broadcloth. Perhaps it is as 82-Greg says, my shirts are sub-$100 and I wear them year round.

Cruiser


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## Cowtown (Aug 10, 2006)

I prefer broadcloth and my summers are anything but short.


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## Rossini (Oct 7, 2007)

82-Greg said:


> For the man buying OTR shirts, he is generally looking for a shirt to wear year round. At he sub-$100 pricing point, I think pinpoint looks and feels more comfortable for year round wearing. Particularly if your summers are hot. If your summers are relatively short and mild, oxford makes perfect sense.


It depends on what you mean by Oxford. Poplin, which can be both cheap and also very expensive, is perfect for summer wear. Better so than pinpoint I suggest. So this does not explain the selection particularly.


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

All of my shirts are poplin, but there are dress shirt materials that are better for cold weather. Pinpoint and twill I would say are equally appropriate for cold weather, but they should be solid coloured for the same formailty. I noticed Jos. Bank has some, but with many stores (especially in the US) I only fabrics with multiple colours in the weave. For example, I see very few solid blue pinpoint and twill shirts but rather blue and white.


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