Three thousand fabrics. Yup, we got 'em. The world's largest collection of top quality shirtings. All three thousand of the darn things. They're in the showroom. They're in the workroom. They're in the office, in the storeroom, in file cabinets, in the pattern room ... there's even a pile under each of our desks! Actually, last time we counted, there were exactly 3,126 fabrics. 
Ply refers to how many spun yarns are twisted together to make a weaving yarn. Why care? You've heard of 'pilling'. Pilling is caused when the fibers which make up the yarns fray and form into little balls. When you twist two spun yarns together into a weaving yarn, each serves to keep the other intact and prevents pilling. Those 30 denier shirts are single ply yarns (1x1). The better specialty shops will sometimes feature 2-Ply as an added attraction. Remember, though, that there are yarns in both directions(length x width). A fabric can be called 2-Ply if either the length or width yarn is 2-Ply (1x2). ALL of our fabrics are 2-Ply in Both directions (2x2). We use nothing less. Twisting spun yarns together prior to weaving them is an added step. It costs more!
You've heard of Sea Island? Probably. Did you also know that it is an island off the coast of Georgia? A Hot, Moist environment, perfect for the growing of long-staple cotton. Fifty years ago, that is exactly what the islanders did. These days, about the only thing growing on Sea Island are luxury condominiums! And the majority of what is called Sea Island® cotton was being grown in Arizona, last time I checked, woven in Japan, and sewn in the Dominican Republic. Sadly, the venerable term has become a trademark of a Japanese weaver. "We don't carry anything that bad", is my usual answer when asked. Our cotton is grown exclusively in Egypt's Nile River valley, an environment closely resembling that of Sea Island. From there, it goes to Italy for combing and spinning into yarn. Some of what we use is then woven in Italy by two small specialty mills. The bulk of our fabric, however, is woven in Switzerland. And they weave just like they make watches. So when that fine specialty shop says 'imported', you want to hear Switzerland or Italy, not Japan or India. Just to give you a rough idea, the Japan/Indian woven shirt fabrics cost about $9 per shirt. What we use costs
about $175-$300 per shirt!