Put This On

mostexerent:

today in detail

MistahWong with another spectacular combination.  Note that the blue blazer / great trousers combination has been de-fogeyfied with some spectacular attention to detail.  Amazing texture on the shirt and tie combination, a silver safety pin holding the tie, a beautiful square, and big (2”?) cuffs.  Elegant, classic - but also distinctive and noticable.

From our friends over at StyleForum, a five-step system for getting rid of stubborn stains in shirts using vinegar and Oxiclean.  This isn’t infallible, but you’d be amazed at the results.  I often will take a flier on a great thrift shirt with ring-around-the-collar, and give this a shot.  Usually I end up with a shirt that’s clean as a whistle.

How to Clean Shirts

1. Soak shirt in a solution made from one gallon hot water (as hot as it will come out of the faucet) and one cup of vinegar. Let the shirt soak for 30 mins to 2 hours.
2. Rinse shirts, and squeeze out excess water. Empty bucket and rinse. In a cup, prepare a concentrated Oxy-Clean solution. Make sure to use the Oxy-Clean granules that come in the tub. Make the solution about 10 parts HOT water to one part O-C. Usually this amounts to two scoops of O-C (using the provided scoop) per 4-6 ounces of water. You want this to be very concentrated.
3. Apply the strong solution generously to the stained areas. Place the shirts in a bucket (so that the solution doesn’t flow away, or dry) with the stained areas towards the bottom of the bucket so they stay nice and covered in the solution. Allow to soak overnight. It can also help to use an old toothbrush and scrub the stained areas every hour or so, if you’ve got the time.
4. In the morning, remove the shirts from bucket. Fill the bucket with a gallon of hot water, and two scoops of the Oxy-Clean (basically, follow the recipe on the package for a general cleaning solution) and mix well. Place the shirts in the bucket, and soak for 2-24 hours. This just helps to remove any trace of stain. You might want to stir the shirts around with your hands after you put them in the bucket with the weaker solution just to remove some of the stronger solution that is still on the shirts.
5. Remove, and wash/rinse in the regular cycle on your washing machine.

Note: I find that this normally removes sweat/dirt stains from the armpit, neck, and cuff with ease. For really strong stains, you might have to repeat the process a few times.

I recently bought one of these lovely madras shirts from Lands’ End.  I’m always looking for warm weather options - I melt in the heat, and summer’s coming fast here in LA.  The fabric is lovely, and it was only $29, which made it a great alternative to the $80 one I’d been looking at at J. Crew.  One note, though - Lands’ End’s traditional fit is monstrous.  I’m a bit big for most larges, and a medium fit me well.  It’s gotta have a 44 inch chest.  There are several lovely prints, too.  I think I may actually have just talked myself into buying another one.

It’s On Sale

Pendleton for Opening Ceremony Zip-Front Shirt

$74 from $245 (only S remaining)

or in a Black Watch colorway

Q and Answer: The Case of the “Uncomfortable” Shirt

Emily writes: My husband works in an office job and has a basically set uniform of khakis and polo shirts with a swap out of cotton sweaters (with an undershirt) in the winter. I’ve encouraged him to wear button downs because I think they’re super cute on him, but he thinks they’re really uncomfortable - he has broad shoulders and button downs are tight across his chest and shoulders.

Is there something I’m missing that can get him out of this polo shirt hell but won’t be uncomfortable? I’ve thought of custom dress shirts.  Would they be worth it?  What are your thoughts?

How big is this husband’s chest?  The chest of the average American shirt is designed to fit someone of Kubiac-level hugeness.  The only time I really find that a too-small chest is a legitimate concern is for men with swimmer-ish athletic bodies - in other words, their necks are very small in proportion to their chest and shoulders.  Even then, it’s very rare, and usually the problem is more oversized waist than undersized chest.

If your husband does have a super-huge chest and a tiny neck, then custom shirts might be a good option.  More likely, though, he’s just making excuses because he doesn’t have the guts to wear something different from what he’s been wearing for years.  This is a sad, but all-too-frequent condition among men without style.  They think that just because they’ve committed to something it works for them.  They don’t recognize, in other words, that the things that have gone right for them (like meeting and marrying a nice girl) have gone right despite, not because of, their dress.  Then they make all manner of excuses to cover for this failing.

So: let this be a challenge, not just to Mr. Emily, but also to all of us.  NO MORE EXCUSES.  No more being Mr. Office Casual in an ill-fitting polo.  No more doing the minimum.  No more bitching that you’d rather spend the money on one more tier of cable TV or that it’s too hard to work a button instead just stretching elastic or whatever the excuse du jour is.  LET’S DO THIS.

Q and Answer: Old Navy

Devine writes: I wish I had a higher-fashion question here, but this morning, a utility quandary presented itself. I found an old $50 Old Navy gift card this morning while cleaning off my dresser, and while I’m not into their clothes, $50 is $50.  I’m thinking of using it for undershirts/boxers, but I figured I’d ask — are there any surprises there worth spending (already spent) money on?

Your instinct, to go undershirts-and-boxers, is not off-base.  We have one more idea to add to the mix, though: linen.

It’s not quite linen season in your local Old Navy - that’ll come in March and April or so - but summer shirts are the perfect thing to buy from the Gap’s shittier cousin.  The past couple of years, Old Navy’s cuts for summer shirts have been decent, and linen should have a little looseness anyway.  When you’re only paying $29.50 or $39.50, you won’t feel too bad when you spill some of that strawberry daiquiri on the front and have to go nuclear on that thing in the wash.  Get yourself a white long-sleeved linen shirt, with as little adornment as possible, and wear that mf’er every week all summer long.  If you’re lucky, you’ll get invited to an awesome tropical party at Diddy’s house.

If you have a Q for us to Answer, email us at contact@putthison.com.

Things are already warming up here in Los Angeles - I’ve had to move from wool to cotton flannel up top.  Too-hot-for-sleeves weather is just around the corner.  For me, that’s white tee weather.  It was the same, as you can see, for Steve McQueen.  I used to buy my white tees at Costco - the Kirkland brand are durable and cheap.  They’re also a bit heavy for summer in LA and a bit square for my body shape, so I switched to Alternative Apparel.  More expensive, but soft as a baby’s rear, and with a great cut.  Maybe we’ll do a group buy in the early spring.

Check out some more white tee inspiration at Sartorially Inclined.

Q and Answer

Jacob from LA writes to us:

While I understand a good deal about the care of my New Standards, shirts have always eluded me. Dry cleaning is a no no, but should I fear a cleaner’s launder/press service and go the entire hand way? Any advice is warmly welcomed.

Here’s the story: most dry cleaners are hacks.  They’ll throw your shirt into a vat of boiling water and chemicals and press it all at once at crazy temperatures.  There are exceptions to this rule, but they are few and tough to find.  If you want the convenience of dropping shirts off dirty and picking them up folded and pressed, then the price you pay is a shorter lifespan.  (The other price you pay is the price you pay - a buck or two per shirt per wash.)

We recommend washing your shirts yourself.  Put a little stain remover on the inside of the collars - OxiClean works great.  Wash them in the machine on delicate with like colors, and either hang dry them (better) or dry them on low heat.  If you like, you can iron them while they’re still very slightly moist - the ironing will be easier.

That said, when we’re rich, we’re going to have a laundry service, and when our Barba shirts get shiny from ironing, we’re going to use them to mop up spills around the garage.  And we’ll also take a lot of treasure baths.

Eight Days of Style

Reader Lucy wrote to us to ask that we suggest eight super-basic, affordable Hanukkah gifts for her boyfriend “to replace his stained light-wash jeans and Nine Inch Nails t-shirts.”  We’ll offer one choice for each day the oil burned.

Above: the Lands’ End Hyde Park Tailored Fit Dress Shirt in blue.  A simple button-down with a solid fit and good construction for $30.  A solid layering piece if ever such a piece there was.