Higher thread count means a smoother silkier and more luxurious fabric, if everything else is the same (weave, ply, mill, and type of cotton).
You would be excused for thinking that 100s = 100 threads per inch, but that’s incorrect (and a common misconception in the industry). Rather, these numbers refer to the yarn size. 120s means there are 120 hanks (1 hank = 840 yards) of yarn in one pound.
Thread count is often referred to with a number like 50s, 80s, 100s, 120s, 140s 160s, etc up to 200s.
Warp threads run vertically. Weft yarns run horizontally. A fabric will often use different types of threads in the warp vs. weft directions. You might see a fabric’s construction described as something like “120/2×120/2”.
The way to read this is that it has 120s two-ply threads running in both the warp and weft directions. Dress shirts with high thread count are more expensive to produce and more desirable if you like your shirts silky, soft and thin.
Ply is how many yarns are twisted together to make a single thread. Fabrics can either be two-ply or single ply. Two-ply means that two yarns are twisted together to make a single thread that is then woven into the fabric.
Two-ply fabrics are generally superior to single-ply fabrics.
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