New shirt rituals

Some shirts from my last T&A order arrived yesterday.  In the past I would just send them out to the laundry and wear them.  Since joining this forum, however, I have learned that everything I thought I knew about clothing is/was wrong.  Shall I just press them up or are there new shirt rituals to be observed?  I've heard of sizing...do I have that?

Alex, I'm sure that your advice will be to cut the damned things up into gun-cleaning patches and buy some decent shirts from you.  Can anyone else assist me?  Thank you.

Warm wash, drip dry, iron slightly damp, wear, repeat.

Actually: Post photo of shirts on StyleForum, warm wash, drip dry, iron slightly damp, wear, repeat.

I always wash cold, delicate cycle.

Ah yes, sorry. Forgot the most important step.

Alex, I'm sure that your advice will be to cut the damned things up into gun-cleaning patches and buy some decent shirts from you.

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Sh** no. I wouldn't do any such terrible thing to either my Beretta or my Glock. Maybe Damien's Daisy BB gun, though. On a less entertaining note, 'sizing' is a chemical used in the finishing of the fabric which has nothing to do with post-production consumer actions. You do seriously want to wash the shirts before wearing unless they come with an Oku-Tex 100 tag. There are chemicals used in shirt fabric finishing processes - including formaldehyde - which you really don't want to wear. (the Oko-Tex 100 standard, developed during the last decade, is a method of organic, or 'biologique', shirt finishing which uses processes friendly to the environment and to human skin). Basically, you've got it right. Wash 'em up with Tide, press 'em up, and either wear them or send them to me for burning.

Hmm, I've always washed my T&A shirts on hot like the tag says.

re: sizing

I always thought it was like starch. I thought it was used for detachable collars and the like. I thought wrong.

Alex, is sizing applied by both bespoke shirtmaker or on RTW shirts? At what point in the manufacturing process? On the finished shirt or on the uncut material?

And what is the purpose of the added chemicals?

I didn't know chemicals were added (sprayed on?) by the shirtmakers; in fact I thought, in bespoke at least, that the shirt material is first washed before it is cut and sewn and never heard about added chemicals of any sort ?

So I always thought that I was getting an already washed and ready to go shirt....I've always worn my shirts straight out of the box.

Upon opening the box I discovered that it contained only 1 shirt. Â There had been some trouble with the order and I presume that Simon put this one through as a sample. Â I hope that you will see a picture of it here: While in the shirt photography mode I took this: Recently, people were talking about voile (perhaps it was on Andy). Â I believe that I am answering a question when I show this picture; it is meant to show how sheer the fabric is in a medium color. Â FWIW, this shirt is about 13 years old. Â The new order contains one just like it since it has become my favorite. Â All of the buttons are still secure. Â It has been a good friend. Thanks to Alex for explaining about toxic chemicals used in shirtmaking. Â If these pictures are less than great then please offer suggestions. Â Regards, Bill

Not to sound harsh, but I must say, how hard could it be for them to match that pattern on the sleeve placket? I mean, really. This is one of the top bespoke shirtmakers in the world we're talking about.

End of rant.

Not to sound harsh, but I must say, how hard could it be for them to match that pattern on the sleeve placket?

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If Alex Kabbaz is to be believed (and I'm not sure that he is, given that picture of him that Chuck posted yesterday ), it's not hard at all. It's dismaying that just about nobody makes the effort anymore.

Not to sound harsh, but I must say, how hard could it be for them to match that pattern on the sleeve placket?  I mean, really.  This is one of the top bespoke shirtmakers in the world we're talking about.

End of rant.

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I was thinking the same exact thing before I clicked on over to page 2 here, Manton.

Again, not to bash the purchase, because the shirt is gorgeous, but at $400/shirt, or whatever T&A bespoke is charging these days, they could have matched that.

The chemicals are added by the mill in finishing.

The reason is to soften up the fabric as well as control shrinkage.

Very few shirtmakers deliver a shirt that is ready to be worn.
Some pre wash fabrics before cutting. Others wash the finished shirts. pre shrinking fabric can be a nightmare for a very large operation.

In the old days Woolens and worsted were sent to a sponger for Shirnking. Today suit fabric is sponged in the finishing process and is ready for the needle.
I prewash only a few fabrics before cutting. Those that Shrinkage may be more then expected. Linen, voiles, and cotton/wool blends.

I always have my customers launder their sample shirts the way thay have been laundering their shirts for years.
No reason to change your life. it is just a shirt.

I always love when customers decide to speed up the shrinking process by washing their shirts at home and then throwing them into a very hot dryer. Then they wonder why the shirts don't fit.

Carl


www,cego.com

Let's just go and get this over with: I can see exactly what you mean. Â This is the first patterned shirt I've had from them, so it has never come up before. Â I could wish that we were talking about someone else's shirt but I think I'll get over this. Will you tell me what thread it was which featured Alex's picture? Â I'll be meeting him before long and might as well get my first look while I'm still fairly heavily medicated.