Put This On

How to Dry Clothes Properly

An electric, heat-conducing dryer is the enemy of all clothing. Cotton fibers are supposed to have some humidity in them, but when they’re run through a dryer, they become brittle, break, and eventually take on a dull, worn-out appearance. In fact, all that lint you find is composed of the yarns that your dryer has robbed. Plus, dryers shrink clothes and crack mother-of-pearl buttons. They’re really quite terrible. 

Thus, I strongly recommend that you hang dry. This past summer, Jesse put up a clothesline in his backyard. As you can see, you should hang your clothes upside down with clothespins. This will help you avoid pinch marks on your shoulders. 

The other option is to hang dry them indoors. You can use regular clothes hangers for this. If you don’t want to get creases on your shoulders, throw wash cloths under them. 

My own practice, however, is to hang things on a clothing rack, which I place either indoors or outdoors, depending on the weather. Mine looks very much like this (though it’s not this exact model). There are many designs on the market, but I like this one because it has racks on racks on racks (sorry, had to) for my slacks on slacks on slacks (had to again). The greater amount of hanging space means I can fit about two loads of laundry on it. I also prefer metal to wood since I find it much sturdier. When it’s not in use, it folds up into a flat, thin frame and is stored away. 

This method obviously takes longer than a using an electric dryer, but it will add years to the life of your clothes. If you have lower-quality garments, like Hanes athletic tube socks, I’m sure it’s not the end of the world if you throw them in the dryer. For higher-quality garments, however, let them hang dry. If for some reason you must put them in the dryer, at least use the “no heat” setting.

You can buy a good clothing rack for between $30 and $60. Just look online, perhaps on Amazon, or go to your local Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It’s not the cheapest purchase, but when you consider how much you’ll save in energy bills and replacing clothes, it’s a smart investment. 

The Color Purple

Most men rely on standard colors for their wardrobe - blues, greys, and browns, in various shades and textures. These are good foundational colors since they’re easy to wear and complement each other well. However, only relying on these colors get a bit boring, and eventually cease to excite the eye. As such, it’s good to have a few secondary colors in your wardrobe just to break things up a bit. Salmon pink, hunter green, and bordeaux are all very nice, but today I’ll talk about purple. 

Purple can make a statement since it’s a unique color. However, it’s so closely related to blue that it can also feel familiar and sophisticated. Purple is also much more versatile than men give it credit for. It complements many of the standard colors men wear and serves a good substitute for blue. For example, a dark, deep purple tie goes well with a tan jacket and light blue shirt, and can be used any time you would otherwise wear a navy tie (though the conservativeness of navy can make it more useful). 

I also recommend purple socks. Michael Drake, co-founder of Drake’s of London, wears them as a personal signature of eccentricity. This past summer, I often wore purple socks with light blue shirts and pants in either a grey tropical wool or tan linen (first picture above). I’ve found that this ensemble goes especially well with brown suede shoes. 

Hardy Amies once said of purple, “I can see no use for this handsome, not unmasculine colour except for ties, socks and handkerchiefs.” I, however, think it can be used for more than accessories. For example, lavender shirts go quite well underneath navy or tan suits. You can pair it with a conservative, charcoal tie, and then have a secondary color in the tie pick up the lavender in your shirt or the color of your suit. This practice seems to be common in Moscow. From my observation, one in six men here on the street will be wearing a lavender shirt, and it always looks good (assuming the shirt fits well). 

The standard palette of grey, brown, and blue is a nice foundation, but don’t neglect to have some secondary colors here or there. Purple works with a number of colors and wearing it well can add variety into your wardrobe. Just don’t overdo it. Wearing too much of it will make you look like Barney, and doing things such as matching purple socks to purple ties will make you look too studied. Purple, in my opinion, should be worn with a healthy dose of nonchalance. 

(pictures above taken from Ethan Desu, A Bit of Color, Men of Habit, and me)

Autumn has caught us in our summer wear. - Philip Larkin, British poet

Fall officially begins on Friday. Before you know it, the landscape will silently explode with burgundy, golden yellow, and burnt orange. Baseball season will give way to football. Crispy leaves will fall and drift to the ground, then be raked into piles for children to jump into. Temperatures will drop, the air will turn sharper, and we’ll use these as excuses to enjoy our favorite woolen sweaters. 

Before this arrives, it may be time to start planning for your seasonal storage of clothes. Storing your summer clothes away will help make room for your fall/ winter wardrobe, and help protect your clothes when they’re not in use for six months. To do this, however, you’ll want to make sure of a few things. 

• Wash or dry clean your clothes before you store them. This ensures that insects aren’t packed away with your clothes and that any food bits, which can attract insects, will be gone as well. I even give my clean clothes a good shake before they’re actually stored. 
• Check the pockets to make sure they’re empty. I also zip up the zippers and button the buttons, just to make sure things are in good order. 
• Get muslin or canvas garment bags for your trousers, jackets, and suits. I’ve found that these work better than plastic since they allow your clothes to breathe while keeping the bugs at bay. It’s also recommended that you use hangers with molded shoulders for your jackets and suits. Many people believe that this helps your garments keep their shape, though I’ve read credible sources cast doubt on this claim. Still, I’m not testing the matter with my clothes, so I play it safe. 
• For sweaters and shirts, store them in plastic bins with lids. Drill a few holes into the lid so that air can circulate. Failing to do so can create moisture, which in turn can cause mildew. Pack them away with the heaviest items on the bottom, and be sure not to over stuff things, otherwise you’ll ruin the fibers. I also wrap my favorite pieces in acid free tissue paper, but this isn’t terribly necessary.
• Put cedar balls or lavender in along with your clothes to deter bugs. 
• Choose a storage space that is cool and dry. If you don’t, your clothes may develop mold, and if they do, they will have a smell that will be very, very difficult to get out. I’ve had clothes permanently ruined from being stored in damp areas, so be careful. Once you’ve chosen a place, vacuum and clean it out before your store your clothes there. 
• If you have silverfish in your home, and you’ve put holes in the lids of your storage bins, put those bins off the floor. This will lower the likelihood of having silverfish snack on your garments. 

Of course, fall arrives in different areas at different times. I hear it’s already raining in New York, while in the Bay Area (where I’m from), September and October are just when things start to get warm. Pack your things away when it makes the most sense for you. 

Q and Answer: Should I Wear an Undershirt?

Ryan asks: I try to at least wear button-up shirts the majority of the days, the problem I have, however, is whether or not to wear a white t-shirt underneath of them, or to wear a v-neck so it’s hidden, or none at all. Any help would be much appreciated.

The matter of whether to wear an undershirt is one of personal choice. Wearing an undershirt will extend the life of your shirts, and may help absorb sweat that would otherwise be absorbed by your shirt. Some sweatier men prefer to wear them at all times for this reason. With an undershirt, you’ll generally be warmer. In cool weather, this is great. In warmer weather, it might not be. Again: personal preference.

One mistake you should never make is to show your white undershirt. Take a look above, at the guy who’s artificially inseminating a glass of wine. Not cool. If your shirt collar is open, we should see your neck, not your undershirt. Undershirts are underwear, and shouldn’t be seen. If your collar is open, go v-neck or go without.

Of course, a colored undershirt can be worn as a contrast layering piece under a casual shirt. This is particularly useful when the shirt on top is actually a casual shirt for layering, like a flannel in early Autumn. This look is easy to mess up, though. One false move and you start looking like a guy in a television commercial for breakfast cereal.

Brooks Brothers Clearance Sales

Brooks Brothers has some nice things on clearance right now. There are two items in the inventory that I own and can personally recommend.

The first is a navy and cream plaid flannel shirt, which is on sale for $35. I bought it last year after seeing Jesse blog about it (told you I was a fan of this site). The fit is decently slim, though not as much as Brooks’ oxford cloth button downs in the same cut. It’s a great shirt though for $35. 

The second is a cable sweater made out of Saxxon wool, which is a bit more expensive at $114. “Saxxon wool” is Brooks Brothers’ trademarked term for wool that has been taken from sheep directly descendent from the original Saxxon flock. You can see a charming video about the material here. Practically speaking, I find little difference between Saxxon wool and high-end merino. Still, the material is much better than mid-tier merinos you find in most stores, and certainly better than cotton. I wish the design had thicker cables, like this, but I bought the navy version and I’m excited to throw black suede elbow patches on it. I think the grey version would look equally as good with brown suede patches. 

Both of these items would be great for the coming fall and winter seasons. Wear them with charcoal moleskins, mid-grey flannel trousers, or dark brown corduroys, and you’ll have some nice casual looks ready once summer ends. 

For $50, You Can Buy …

This J Crew Irish linen shirt. Some people hate how linen holds wrinkles, but I personally love it. Linen has a life to it and looks best when its a bit crumpled - the texture gives the fabric a kind of “lived in” elegance. As long as your linen shirt fits well, these crumples will give you an insouciant look without making you look messy. 

And J Crew’s version fits fairly well. It’s slimmer than most models out there, and comes in extra-small for overly skinny guys like me. The only quip I have is that all of J Crew’s shirts have small collars. I prefer my collar points to be about 8.25cm long and the back of my collar to be about 5cm high. J Crews are much shorter, by about 1 to 1.5cm. As such, it lacks the panache that, say, a Guy Rover linen shirt will have. The Guy Rover is what I’d really like to recommend to you, but this series isn’t called “For $70 You Can Buy,” so if you really only have $50 to spend, I recommend J Crew’s. Plus, if you spend over $150 on J Crew’s final sale items right now, and use MUSTSHOP as your coupon code, you’ll get 30% off plus free shipping. That brings this puppy down to $35. Not too shabby if you’re on a tight budget. 

Note that when you first get your linen shirt, it will feel rough to the touch. However, linen softens quite a bit over time, and before long, you’ll have one of your most comfortable shirts ever. Just remember to never bleach your linens, as the harsh chemical will destroy the fibers. 

We Got It For Free: Ledbury Shirt

I recently received a free gingham shirt from Ledbury, a relatively new shirt company that was founded about a year and a half ago. The two owners, Paul Trible and Paul Watson, apprenticed under a master tailor from Jermyn Street, one of the most famous shirtmaking quarters in the world. While Ledbury’s designs feel very American, the founders’ English tailoring background is pretty evident in their shirts’ quality. 

The gingham shirt they sent me is made of a 2-ply Italian cotton poplin. Poplin is a “plain-weave” fabric that typically holds wrinkles a bit more. Ledbury’s poplin, however, is fairly high quality and surprisingly wrinkle resistant (in a natural way). In addition to the quality fabric, the shirt features mother-of-pearl buttons and a high stitch count, all of which are hallmarks of a good shirtmaking. 

The more interesting bits of the piece, however, are in the design details. First, the collar is bigger than what you’d find on most shirts. The collar points are about 3 inches and the back of the collar is about 2 inches - exactly how big I like my collars to be, as I think it gives the most handsome frame to a face. They’ve also lowered the second button a bit so that you can get the perfect V at the neckline when you’re not wearing a tie. 

One criticism I have, however, is that the pattern on the placket doesn’t line up well with the shirt, but a quick look on their website shows that most of their shirts don’t have this problem. As well, there’s the issue of pricepoints - these seem fairly priced for what they are, but bespoke shirts from a quality tailor are often only $20-30 more. If you don’t have access to custom shirts, however, Ledbury’s prices aren’t bad for what they’re selling (assuming you get one without the pattern matching problem on the placket). 

All in all, I think the company is definitely worth considering. Many of their shirts feel very appropriate for summer, especially if you enjoy a kind of casual American style. Check their sizing chart to see if one would fit you. If you order a shirt and it doesn’t work out, don’t worry - you have a full year to make the return and Ledbury will even pick up the tab for the shipping back to them. I wish other companies would stand behind their products as much as Ledbury does. 

Hanging to dry is better for your shirts and better for mother nature. If you have a backyard, take advantage of it. I just hung this clothesline two weeks ago, and I’ve been line drying like a madman.

Don’t Use Tap Water

I have two irons - one that I only fill with distilled or filtered water, and another that I fill with tap water. 

I used to be even more meticulous about my clothes than I am now (a fact that will surprise friends). In college, I would only use distilled or filtered water with my iron. I kept the practice until my late-20s, but for some reason began to stray when I bought a new iron. So for the last three years or so, I’ve been filling up my second iron with tap water. 

This past weekend, I was ironing my shirts and noticed some brown spots on them. It took me a bit to figure out where the spots came from, so I ironed a clean dishcloth I have. Sure enough, the brown spots were coming from my iron. Apparently it spits slightly browned water now. I suspect there is some old mineral deposits in the spray valve or something. 

I switched over to my old iron, the one I used to only fill with distilled water, and it worked fine. 

I can’t say with absolutely certainty that my ironing malfunction was caused by tap water. However, I definitely won’t be chancing it again and will only use distilled or filtered water from now on.