Most people have never been taught to read a garment label.
Not because they are not interested, because no one thought to explain it in a way that was useful. The result is that the most important information about what you are buying is printed on a small piece of fabric sewn into the seam, and most of it goes unread.
What the fiber content percentage actually tells you.
When a label reads 100% silk, it means the fabric is entirely composed of silk fiber, no blends, no synthetic fill, no shortcuts. When it reads 90% silk, 10% spandex, something was added, usually for stretch, usually at the cost of the silk's natural thermal properties. The fiber that makes silk worth wearing is the same fiber that gets compromised when something else is introduced.
100% is not a premium designation. It is the baseline.
Momme weight, the number most labels do not include.
Momme is the unit of measurement for silk fabric density. A 12 Momme silk is sheer, lightweight, and delicate, appropriate for scarves, not for garments that are worn and washed. A 19 Momme silk has the density to drape properly, hold its structure, and survive the kind of care a garment that lives in your rotation actually requires.
Most mass-market silk does not advertise its momme weight. That is not an accident.
HoSJ silk is cut from 19 Momme charmeuse. It is on our product pages because we believe you should know what you are buying.
Country of origin versus place of manufacture.
A label may read “Made in Italy” while the fabric was woven elsewhere, cut in another country, and finished in Italy. Legally, the country of final assembly is the country of origin. This is standard practice across the industry and entirely legal.
HoSJ garments are cut and sewn in Los Angeles. Our fabric is sourced from reputable and vetted vendors and producers. We do not obscure either of these facts, because they are the facts that matter.
What a label cannot tell you.
A label tells you composition. It does not tell you construction quality, seam integrity, or whether the person who made it was fairly compensated. Those things require asking questions the label was never designed to answer.
We are available to answer them. hello@houseofsaintjoy.com.
The label is the beginning of the conversation, not the end of it.