FABRIC
The Chore Shirt is made of 100% organic Silk Noil. Noil refers to the shortest strands of silk found in the inner parts of the silkworm cocoon. These threads are rarely used in conventional silk production due to their length but contain the softest properties. The strands are woven like cotton to create a delicate softness and matte finish, unlike the traditionally glossy look.
While the strength of silk equals that of a steel wire, the natural fibers in the fabric caress even the most sensitive skin, making you feel like you’re hardly wearing anything at all. It also decreases the skin’s loss of moisture, promotes rejuvenation, and prevents the effects of aging. Silk is hypoallergenic and temperature regulating making it one of the most versatile fabrics to wear, adjusting to your body temperature to regulate heat while repelling dust mites, fungus, other molds, and allergens.
Ethically farmed and spun in India, our silk producer is one of the only silk farms that manufacture silk without harming the insect. Silkworms farmed here can break free from their cocoon and complete a natural life cycle. Rolls of fabric are then imported to the United States by Aurora Silk, Certified by "Mama D.O.C." Inc, a 501(c)3 not for profit registered since 1984 in Oregon and with the Feds since 1989, devoted to Natural Health and with development projects around the world in Silk raising and Natural dye production.”
DYES
Historically, natural dyeing was pushed to the side in favor of synthetic dyes. Synthetic dyeing results in uniform, lasting, bright colors. Unlike synthetics, natural dyes give an uneven and textured color that tends to lean towards earthy hues. Inconsistencies should be loved and appreciated, they make the garments unique and tell a story of the wearer as time passes.
Every shirt is object-dyed by hand using a specialized solution of mordant and dye. After a mordant solution is applied to the fabric as a primer to hold the desired pigment it’s then submerged in a natural dyeing solution containing one or more of the following ingredients:
Indigo: Our indigo is sourced from the Indus Valley, the oldest area of Indigo production in the world. Indigo is a plant and the only natural source of blue dye, creating a traditional Indigo pigment requires a fermentation process that changes the dying solution from blue to yellow by dissolving in an alkaline solution. The fabric is dipped in the solution and exits the vat green. Once the drying and oxidation process begins, the green will transform into a rich blue.
Cochineal: Cochineal is a rare and precious dye made by a scale insect that infests Prickly Pear cactus. Harvested at the end of its life cycle in the high Andes of Peru, Cochineal is used to produce a variety of magnificent scarlets, crimson reds, and orange hues.
Osage: Osage dyes consist of the shredded wood of the Maclura pomifera tree. It contains a dye that yields clear, true yellows to soft yellow-greens. Osage grows throughout the south and the central United States. The tree was originally planted to help with wind erosion, but now has overgrown many areas and is mainly used as firewood. Our supplier rescues these logs and shreds them into dyestuff.
Logwood: Logwood is a native tree species found in Mexico, Central America, South America, Madagascar, and India. It yields deep, rich, red purples to orchid blues and has been prized as a dye since the 16th century. When mixed with iron, logwood gives a deep black – a color difficult to achieve with natural dyes.
The chore shirts go through a mordant and dye process that has been largely forgotten and is extremely rare in this day and age. It requires an intimate understanding of the effects of temperature and dye concentration, as well as dipping techniques to achieve the intended final pigment.