UNIFORM BRAID: How to specify, identify and work with a supplier

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SELECTING MATERIALS

Uniforms can make a fashion statement. They also can be downright dull looking or somewhere in-between. The way a garment is accessorized often will determine the statement a uniform or career apparel item makes. Using uniform braid to accent apparel is an easy to understand, smart design strategy. If sourced and applied properly, braid will yield positive results every time.When considering using braid on uniform or career apparel, we customarily begin with these questions:

What kind of uniform will it go on? How is the garment going to be cleaned? Dry clean? Laundered? In what end of the business will it be used? As a low-end item or as high-end, high-performance apparel?

The answers assist you (the buyer) in properly working with a braid supplier to identify the particular lines of braid that will best suit the purpose of any given garment.

For instance, a customer recently came to us looking to liven up some smocks. We discovered the end user will need this to be a wash and wear item they did not want to be dry cleaning these smocks. We discussed some of the colors the customer was interested in. From these responses, we were able to put together ideas for what braid might look good in the wash and wear, textured polyester braid family.

The next step, for that customer and just about every other braid buyer, is to get a sample. There is a great deal of sampling in the braid business. Depending on your need as a buyer, you may require a sample as short as six inches or as long as several yards. As a uniform supplier, only you will be able to determine what you or your customer needs to make a final decision. Some uniform sales may require you to sew the braid into a sample garment and take the finished item to the customer. This insures that everyone agrees on the design by leaving little to the imagination. Other sales may only require you bring a section of the braid to look at, like that six-inch sample we mentioned.

If required, a quality vendor actually will manufacture the sample for you.

But dont be misled. The laundering or cleaning factor does not, by itself, determine the style or configuration of the braid. There are many types of braid to meet a wide variety of needs and uses.

The variations are determined by the size and type of braid machine. For example, at A.H. Rice, we have several machines that can make a five-striper (literally, a braid with five stripes). For design purposes, the stripes are all equal in width. Then, within those specifications, you can select the color and material to be used for each stripe. Unique designs are easily achieved by mixing materialsplacing metallic and nylon threads right next to each other, for example. What is fixed is the width of any particular segment, or stripe, of the five-striper (or four-striper, or three, you get the idea).

What most often occurs is a buyer will request an initial configuration. A buyer may say he needs a three-striper, measuring a total of 3/8 of an inch wide. The braid supplier will typically show you the standard styles he sells most often. One offering may have a soutash center, another may offer a diamond weave center. This narrows down the style, and from there, you can work on the color selections. A quality braid supplier will have what appears to be a limitless number of possible product configurations for your consideration (at A.H. Rice, we can make over 1,000 braid article variations).

The width of the braid and number of stripes required are two principal elements determining braid construction. Braid width will be a design choice required from you as the buyer. The widest braid is probably two inches and is produced almost exclusively as a flat braid. The narrowest is something like 1/32 of an inch, but 1/8 or 3/32 is likely the narrowest someone would actually use on apparel. The designer starts to ask, If I get this so thin, what am I doing to the uniform? Is it going to add anything to the look of the garment? The typical widths for flat braid are 1/2-, 3/4- and one-inch measurements. In the tubular, the 1/8-, 1/4- and 3/8-inch diameters are most common, especially in the band business.

Pliability may be a significant design consideration when selecting a braid component. Some buyers choose a tubular braid because it is bendable. Other braids may be more attractive and look beautiful, but they have to be put on perfectly straight to look their best (or if you try to turn them, they may buckle).

Unlike the smock braid requirements, if the end use of the braid is, for example, to be used at a military school where dry cleaning may still be the method of choice, you may consider items from a nylon braid line. You may even look at cottons or mohair products (wool).

If you have a dry clean only garment, you can put essentially any kind of material on that uniform. They will all survive dry cleaning very nicely. Where you may have potential trouble in braid construction is with mohair, cotton and nylon materials on a wash and wear garment. The buying considerations are similar to buying a wash and wear shirt in a polyester blend at a department store. You can throw it in the washer and it comes out good as new on the hanger. The same is true with braid.

In short, we recommend textured polyester when wash and wear is required. Of course, such decisions are always up to the buyer and many times are dictated by a uniform programs specification. If a buyer wants to wear test something on a garment that we wouldnt recommend, thats ok. Customers have washed our nylon products for years and have had no problem. We just dont promote that practice. Not for any dye reason, or fibers or bleed issues. Its more because over time, we believe the textured polyester stands up better. But sometimes a bid specification or contract specification calls for cotton, mohair or a specific material. We manufacture to a buyers specifications, even if it is alien to what we think the material should be. However, it is still up to the buyer to determine the suitability of the braid application.

An example of this is a shoulder rope we are working on now for the military where the specification is not anything that we create on a normal basis. It is an entirely new article to manufacture. We are buying special fibers that we dont currently use and dyeing to a color standard we dont normally use, all because the specification calls for it.

BRAID TYPES

Here are a few descriptions that will help you identify of the most common braid construction styles:

Soutache – If you were to look at a cross section of the braid, the pattern would look like a figure eight. The center point (where the figure eight meets, in essence) becomes the sew line. The idea is that the braid can be sewn on a uniform in one pass. Another benefit of a soutache is that it can turn corners easily. Even if you are sewing it straight, the advantage is there is one sew line, whereas with a flat braid, you should sew down both sides. The construction of a soutash is continuousnot two braids fused together. There is an underthread called warp. The warp is the thread that the cover material forms around, which creates the raised edges. By changing the warp materials, you can create fatter items, thinner items, wider items, etc. And by changing the materials, used you can achieve a variety of styles: glitzy with metallics or more subdued with textured polyester. A soutache in metallic gold looks much different than one in textured polyester black.

Flat or Tape – Flat braids have warps running in them that are all the same size, which creates an even tape effect for the entire length. A cross section of a flat braid reveals it has some thickness, but only about 1/16 of an inch. It will then, obviously, have the width of the braid: 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch, etc. The flat braid will always have the same color and thickness all the way across the width.

Vellum – A true vellum is made by a special braid machine called a bi-radial. It is basically a tape or flat, and so it follows the same measuring principles. The unique construction element is that it has pre-braided tape buried inside, creating a raised look. It is common as an airline pilot sleeve braid, for example. Pilots generally have three or four stripes, and, if you look closely, they are not flatthe stripes actually have ribs that stick out as if embossed. Another good example of vellum is in Secret Service uniforms. The uniform guards for the White House have used a one-inch vellum on their dress uniforms for years. Another use is for firemens dress uniforms.

Cord Edge or Piping – This type of braid is a round cord that sticks out of a seam. For instance, it may be sewn into a jacket. The cord is in reality a round braid that has a flat tape (apron) attached to its side, which is used to sew the braid on or into the garment. The braid machine creates the whole piece, both the cord and tape, as one. By changing the warp in this braid style, the cord size is adjusted. Again, the materials used may be metallic, polyester or even cotton. The cord could be one material and the tape another. There are almost an infinite number of possibilities. Tape and cord can be the same or different colors. The tape color may be important if the tape isnt tucked in properly and some of it shows. In that case, it may be important to match whatever color will look best in that situation.

Stripes – As the name implies, stripes have more than one color running along the length of the braid. Stripe machines are made specifically to produce three, four or five stripes. Some are basically flats while others have diamond or soutache centers. There are virtually endless combinations available in striped braids.

After final selection, you then may add a treatment to the finished item. All A.H. Rice braids can be finished through our Sew-E-Z product. This gives the braid a little bit stiffer hand, so when you are trying to sew the item (on the sleeve of a jacket, or on a pant leg), it will not squirrel around. This finish helps keep the braid straight on apparel, discouraging the braid from jumping out from under the sewing machine presser foot. We believe the process makes the braid look better as well by lying flatter on the garment or accessory. Of course, the treatment also makes the product easier for the operator to apply, which makes it a cost saver. Special finishes do require an upcharge, but most buyers request it now because of the favorable results it gives.

STAY PRACTICAL

Whats our advice to a rookie uniform salesperson, someone new to the uniform business or a buyer not as experienced in selling braid? Try to work with the standard colors and styles. For instance, in band uniforms, there are some 40 standard colors. The quickest delivery and easiest to get items are goods that are a stock item. When you work with special colors, there are minimum order requirements. We are going to need to dye materials. Obviously, there may be special colors required for specific programs, such as a major airline or corporate brand colors. If you are selling to a small school somewhere though, they generally should not look at special colors. A special combination in the stripe may be enough to make the style unique for the customer.

Like all businesses, the best inventory to have is in someone elses hands. Braid suppliers do maintain an enormous amount of inventory. But because there are so many possible stripe combinations, we prefer to offer quick turnaround in place of inventory. If you ordered a three-striper today in standard colors, we can have that braid in your hands in about two weeks. For specials, it depends on how difficult the color shade is to develop, but it is likely not more than four to five weeks. But this is usually for a program that someone is looking to develop for a long-term contractwhen you are making a lot of uniforms for a big program. Very few specials are created for one-shot sales.

A smart supplier will avoid manufacturing any more of a particular braid combination than the customer orders because, chances are, the next buyer probably doesnt want that same color combination. For a salesman just starting out, simple is the best.

A.H. RICE CORP TURNS 125

Braid is the majority of A.H. Rices business. A.H. Rice makes braids for just about every kind of uniform imaginable. The firm also handles a small amount of knitting, including custom logo knitted bags and accessories. Almost half the business is sewing threads (not embroidery threads) for mechanical attachments, wallets, leather goods and seat belts. The company makes threads for Boeing aircraft interiors. These are very high tenacity nylon and polyester sewing threads.

The first silk thread manufacturer in Pittsfield, Pa., was the Saunders Silk Company which opened in 1874. It began operating on the third floor of a building on West Street. Saunders failed in 1876. Two years later, Saunders foreman, S. K. Smith, purchased part of Saunders machinery and erected a building on the corner of Linden Street and Robbins Avenue. The building still stands as the Christian Center.

After completing the building, Smith no longer had the capital to start the business. Smith persuaded William B. Rice to loan him $5,000. In 1878, Rice put his 22 year old son A.H. in the business to protect his investment, and the business became known as Smith & Rice. For the next six years, the relationship continued, but Smith, with other business interests became insolvent. On Jan. 1, 1884, A.H. Rice & Co. became the successor to Smith & Rice. The new firm opened with $14,000 of capital and bills payable of $32,000.

Arthur Rice, in recalling the first year of the A.H. Rice Co., wrote, Naturally, we were very anxious about the results of the first seasons business after dissolution, as our future depended on it. At the end of six months, we took our first inventory, and after making some necessary reductions in valuations, we found that we had broken even. I think I was more gratified by this result than I have been by any inventory since, though we have at times made as high as 30% on our capital. It meant that we could get along for at least another season.

Rices product line was as varied in 1884 as it is today. An early selling piece listed braids and bindings of silk and mohair, button covering material, buttonhole twist, sewing silk, saddlers silk, floss silk, organzine (warp silk thread) and tram.

Current owners Lanny Smith and James D. Miller, two South Carolina businessmen who purchased the company in 2001, say they believe there are still many opportunities in this business and industry.

Above story first appeared in MADE TO MEASURE Magazine, Spring & Summer 2003 issue. All rights reserved. Photos appear by special permission.
Halper Publishing Company
633 Skokie Blvd, #490
Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 780-2900
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