What is “Pique” and how is it pronounced?

It happens almost on a daily basis.  A customer calls with a question about a polo shirt they want to use for their embroidered logo.  Invariably the shirt has the word “pique” in it and they stumble trying to pronounce it.

That is really easy to understand.  It’s one of those words that have no obvious pronunciation.  When I first started in the business I didn’t know how to pronounce it correctly either.

It seems like a small thing, but being able to pronounce a particular word properly is a basic part of having a conversation with someone.  It makes communication between two people easier and improves the chances that both parties completely understand each other.

We have heard a lot of different attempts from people who try and pronounce it.  Most often the attempts center around two variations, they are “peak” and “pick”.

Webster’s dictionary lists the pronunciation as “\pi-ˈkā, ˈpē-\”.  As in “pi-kay” or “pee-kay”.

Pique refers to a weaving style, normally used with cotton yarn, which is characterized by raised parallel cords or fine ribbing.  It creates a fine textured surface that appears similar to a waffle weave.  Commonly used for polo shirts.

This is a detailed picture of a pique knit weave.  You can see the parallel cords and who it give the weave a 3 dimensional quality.

A vast majority of golf or polo shirts sold on the market today feature a pique weave.  It has proven very popular in style and durability for decades.

Over the years the logo embroidered golf polo shirt has become a favorite giveaway in many corporate events, and is a fashion style that can be worn with jeans, shorts and slacks.

So now you can dazzle your friends with a Cliff Clavin moment the next time you get into a conversation with them about pique knit polo shirts.

What are the different baseball cap styles?

Baseball caps and hats are as much a part of the American landscape and lifestyle as just about any apparel accessory.  Because of that, caps make a great place to put your custom embroidered logo.  You don’t have to look very hard to see the popularity of logo embroidered headwear, just take a look around next time you are out in public.

There are a number of different cap styles onto which you can have your logo embroidered.  Choosing the right style for you is sometimes a matter of taste, of your brand message, or even of your customers.  The good news is, there is a style that fits just about all of those situations.

The baseball style cap is far and away the most popular style for custom logo embroidery.  This style dates back almost a century and remains popular today.  A baseball style cap is a wonderful palette to embroider your logo and support your brand.

There are a number of baseball style caps that are worth considering for your embroidered logo.

Most styles of baseball caps fall into two categories: constructed and unconstructed-also known as structured and unstructured.

Structured Cap

Very simply put, constructed caps have a piece of material called “buckram” in the crown that helps hold its shape.

Constructed caps are very popular for athletic teams and uniforming for companies. 

Unconstructed caps do not have this feature which is one of the reasons unconstructed caps are called “floppy caps”.  The crown lies more against the forehead.

These are much more popular with people.  We sell way more unconstructed caps that we any other style.

Flatbill

The flat bill is a constructed baseball cap style that has become popular in the past few years.  It is probably most recognized as a symbol of the hip hop culture-worn mostly by young people looking for something different.  It is a very personal cap and that reflects the style and attitude of the wearer.

The defining characteristic is represented in the name.  It is the large flat bill on the cap that gives it a very distinct shape.

Trucker Cap

Everything old is new again, right?  One style that has made a comeback the past few years is the mesh back or sometimes called “trucker caps”.  Mesh back caps come in mostly constructed styles but unstructured styles are available and popular as well.

The defining characteristic of the mesh back cap is the back 4 panels of the caps are made of a mesh material that allows air flow to the head which keeps the wearer cooler in warm temperatures.

Distressed

Another relatively new style the past few years is that of the distressed cap.  The distressed style caps are mostly unconstructed and feature a look that makes it appear as though the cap has been worn a lot over the years even though it is a new cap.  Distressing caps has become popular in the past few years as people seek items that are vintage or old looking.

There are a number of different ways to distress a cap to make it look worn.  All of which are very interesting.

Most baseball style caps are “one size fits all” and feature some kind of adjustable closure on the back that can be made to fit most heads.  Fitted caps do not have a closure, instead they have an elastic band that stretches slightly to fit heads of different sizes. Fitted caps are mostly a constructed style cap and are associated with baseball but many others love the look and feel of a fitted cap.

Fitted

Fitted caps general come in different sizes.  Most come in M/L and L/XL.  Some however do come in S/M, M/L and L/XL.  Most adults wear a M/L but we always recommend trying one on before buying to make sure you get a fit that is right for you.

How is a tall size different from a regular size?

If you are a guy who has tried to purchase logo embroidered apparel and you need a tall size, you probably already know the difference between a tall size and regular size.  For you, a tall size logo embroidered polo or button down shirt fits better.  That is probably about all you need to know.  But why does it fit better?

For years, tall men had to suffer with ill-fitting shirts.  The sleeves were short and would ride up on wrists and forearms.  In addition, the length of a shirt was too short to fully tuck into their pants.  Very frustrating.  Tall shirts that are longer in the body help cover up a plumber butt.  How can that be bad?

Tall Polos

In short, a tall size shirt is longer in the sleeves and the body of the shirt.  The actual length in which they are longer varies slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer.  But for the most part it means about an additional 2 inches in the length of the both the sleeve and the body.

There are some men, including me, who are not necessarily considered “tall” but have longer arms.  I need a tall size button down shirt for the longer sleeves to fit comfortably on me.  It is very frustrating and uncomfortable to wear a shirt when the sleeves are too short.  It seems like a small thing, but it makes a huge different in how a shirt looks and feels.

Tall Dress Shirts

Men who required tall sizes have traditionally been ignored by shirt and apparel manufacturers. The number of styles available in polo, button downs and jacket was very limited.  And if there was a style available, it probably only came in a few boring colors-black, white, navy and khaki.

The good news is all of that has changed.  There are many more options for tall men to consider.  In many more styles and with many more colors.  It is now much easier to uniform a whole group in matching shirts that will fit well and look group on a large group of people-all in the color you want and not one you are stuck with.

Tall Jackets

In addition to tall size polo shirts and button down shirts, there are choices for men in other styles as well like tshirts, layering, and jackets for those you want a better and more comfortable fit with their clothing.

Why does custom logo embroidered apparel take so long?

This is a question we get asked almost every day. It’s a good question and one for which there is a logical answer. 

Actually, creating custom logo embroidered apparel does not take any longer than it did ten years ago. Part of the answer is that our expectations have changed. With Amazon Prime and companies like Zappos, many of us have been trained to think items can be pulled off the shelf and shipped the same day in order to arrive the next day.

A logo being embroidered

The broadest answer to the question is that we are making a custom product. No two orders that leave our facility are the same. Everyone is different. So we are manufacturing each order to the specifications of each and every customer. That takes time and that prevents us from being able to manufacture items ahead of time so they are ready to ship out when the customer is ready to buy them. 

The second reason it takes longer is the fact that we do not carry any inventory of the items we embroider. We have to order in those items from the manufacturer when they are ordered from us by customers. We can usually get those items fairly quickly, but it does take time as we are not pulling anything off the shelves. 

One of the reasons we do it is this way is because it keeps our costs and prices down. It would be a huge expense for us to physically inventory every size and color of every shirt we offered. scanned-logo-proof Logo on a black shirt. Valencia Harvesting Original art from customer. 

Logo on a black shirt.

Original art from customer.

And finally, it takes time to set up the artwork for each specific logo that we embroider. Every logo has to go through a set-up process where we take the flat graphic image we get and create a custom image for embroidery. That process can also take a couple of days to make sure we get it right. 


So while our turnaround time of about 10 business days is among the fastest, we are not able to ship orders as fast as companies like Amazon. Primarily because they are shipping products that have already been manufactured and we are creating something custom specific to each customer’s needs.