October 6th, 2009, 9 Comments »
Yesterday I bought a good dress shirt. Yes, it’s purple, but you’re going to have to deal with that. It’s from Jones New York (amusingly, I can’t find any men’s clothes on their website), and I got it at the Bay. After wearing it last night, it occurred to me that it had pretty much everything I look for in a dress shirt.
Thick, opaque cotton
I see plenty of dress shirts that are made of this thin polyester/cotton blend that’s vaguely translucent, particular in light blue or white. I’m kind of a hairy dude. In a strong light, I don’t want to be able to see my chest hair through my shirt.
Removable collar stays
Collar stays are one of the hallmarks of a well-made shirt. They say “I’m serious about keeping your collar straight”. Plus, it’s cool to have a shirt with removable parts. Just remember to take them out before you send the shirt to the dry-cleaners. I frequently forget this. The plastic collar stays come back as sad bent little things, good only for, I don’t know, shoveling cocaine, maybe?
Enough length
One way lousy shirts cheap out is by trimming the volume of cloth that you tuck into your trousers. Be wary of this, because the last thing you want is to have the shirt creeping out at your hips.
French cuffs
Obviously these are more of a stylistic choice than a indicator of quality, and only a few of my shirts have this feature. That said, I don’t see many cheap and cheerful shirts with French cuffs. Cuff links can be fun for an otherwise accessory-free man like myself. They’re earrings for your shirt.
Seamless placket
This is another personal preference, but I think a shirt looks crisper and a little more formal without the extra stitching and fabric of placket. I’m no opposed to plackets per se, but if I’m looking for a shirt to wear to business functions, cleaner lines are better.
Horizontal button hole
If there’s a litmus test for a good dress shirt, it’s the horizontal button hole. I’ve written about this before, but I’ve never had a bad shirt that had this feature. It’s a tiny detail, but it implies that someone cares enough about crafting the garment to make this effort. Bonus points if the thread used on the button hole is a different colour than the rest of the holes (not the case with this shirt).
There are other shirt-related topics. Obviously if the shirt has a lot of loose or unfinished threads on it, stay away. I’m not a fan of monograms anywhere–they just strike me as odd little coats-of-arms. Your shirt should be cut round at the bottom, called a ‘tail’, unless you’re planning on wearing it untucked. In that case, I think having it cut square usually looks better.
9 Comments »
May 31st, 2008, 1 Comment »
Last week I asked for advice about buying the world’s best drying rack for laundry. Thanks to everybody who contributed. I haven’t acted on that advice, and hurray for my laziness! Because Chelsea came by and left this comment:
I recently spent a good amount of time looking into the various clothesline and drying rack options since my college (Pomona College in Claremont, California) is going to purchase some for student use and I wanted to get the best available racks for us.
In my research, I was shocked to find that there is NO good website explaining all the different clotheslines and drying rack options, so I made my own!
Another tiny win for the participatory web. That is one robust wiki on drying your clothes.
1 Comment »
May 20th, 2008, 24 Comments »
Ever since I lived in Ireland, I’ve hung up my clothes to dry. In Dublin we had this ridiculous combination washer-dryer in one machine. The washing part worked okay, but the drying cycle only seemed to warm up my wet clothes. I’d have had better luck trying to dry them in the microwave.
I brought the habit back to Canada. Since a pre-teen growth spurt, I’ve also had a pathological fear of trousers and sleeves that are too short. Not using the dryer also means my clothes rarely shrink. Clothes dryers use a lot of power, so I get some bonus eco-smugness out of the deal.
However, we’ve always had crappy drying racks. They’ve been spindly, fragile affairs that are prone to finger-squeezing collapses. They’ve been awkward to set up, and so dainty that they can blow over in a stiff wind. Our drying rack in Malta ended up in the pool on more than one occasion.
I want a robust drying rack that will last a decade. It should be collapsible and ideally made of wood (though I’ll take plastic or aluminum).
Do you own such a rack? Where’d you get it? This is a long shot, but maybe somebody out there among you, my dear readers, has a drying rack that they love and can recommend
24 Comments »
June 28th, 2007, 19 Comments »
By reputation, IT professionals are lousy dressers. Wander into any software development office, and you’ll be able to verify this first-hand. You’ll see plenty of sneakers, jeans and shabby, XML.com ‘98 t-shirts. You may even spot a few utility belts.
It doesn’t have to be this way. I’ve got a strategy for improving the average geek’s wardrobe. This approach should appeal because it’s:
It’s “What Not to Wear” meets Linux.
Before I continue, some disclaimers:
- Lord knows that I’m no fashion plate.
- There are plenty of geeks who do dress distinctly and impressively. This article isn’t for them.
- There are plenty of non-geeks who are shabby dressers. This article applies to them, too.
- There are plenty of girl geeks, shabby and sharp dressers alike. The general philosophy may apply to you, but the specifics probably don’t.
Read more…
19 Comments »
May 21st, 2007, 5 Comments »
We have a portable washing machine in our villa. Like many parts of Europe, there’s no dryer. We use our galaxy’s local star as our dryer, and it works very well (plus, it’s cheap!).
When they installed the washing machine a few weeks ago, they didn’t secure it to the wall. I don’t know if this is standard practice around these parts, but failing to do so has had one entertaining result.
During the spin cycle, the washer likes to go for a walk.
If left to its own devices, it will actually vibrate out into the middle of the kitchen, extending its hoses and cord straight out from the wall.
We’ve managed this phenomenon with three rubber doorstops, which seemed to really do the trick.
Until I tried to wash our sheets and my jeans in the same load. No stinkin’ doorstop was stopping that mad, vibrating beast. It tossed them aside like a mastodon throws aside irksome human hunters.
The photo shows me holding the washing machine at bay while it’s at full speed in its spin cycle. It actually took considerable effort to prevent it from walking right out the front door and down the lane to Rangers Bar.
Lesson learned: smaller loads in the washing machine. I knew enough not to put North American-sized loads in, but I still need to cut back.
5 Comments »
