Taxonomies in WordPress don’t work like in biology or similar fields. They are not mutually exclusive. There are some ways to simulate such a behavior (see post formats for an example), but in general you have to expect cases where on post object belongs to more than one taxon (term). And there is no really useful sorting for taxons of the same level.
You can use a taxonomy for data that are hierarchical and mutually exclusive. But very often it is better to use a hierarchical custom post type and the Posts 2 Posts plugin. Unfortunately, there is no built-in equivalent in WP.
Then there are post meta data. Not hierarchical, easy to sort, bot no meta for the meta. 🙂
Don’t let you guide by the expected menu order when you assign taxonomies or other meta data. Building a menu structure (the view) should be kept a separate problem. You don’t want to change all these data when you decide to change the menu.
My suggestion: Use a hierarchical taxonomy for data that are similar and really from the same hierarchy. Use post meta for everything you have to compare: geo data, on/off values … if you need a radio button it is probably not a taxonomy.
Do use a taxonomy for cases where you may want to assign multiple values: color, layout position, topic.
When I create my post objects I try to eliminate some options first: How would I do that without custom taxonomies? Without post meta data? Without custom post types? How would my queries look like? Then I find step by step what is really necessary.
For your special case I would use a hierarchical taxonomy for the type (jacket, shirt) unless I need a lot of meta data. There is still no real meta data support in WordPress. Then I would use custom post types.
For colors, material and anything else that doesn’t have to be sortable (features) I would probably use flat taxonomies. One item might be available in multiple sizes … could be a taxonomy too.
And countable or sortable properties are post meta data: weight, amount of available items, washing temperature (correct word?), article number, on sale etc.