Hello guys,
New member here, occasional lurker from Europe. I registered mostly to create this thread because I cannot helpful answers anywhere else. I don't think such a thread was already created, but apologies in advance if that's the case.
Over the past three years I built up a decent stock of shirts, exclusively from Lanieri. I like their business model, their customer service, the relatively small size of the firm, and even the fact there are always tiny imperfections that make each piece unique.
However, I noticed recently a pattern that makes me hesitate buying more from them: blue shirts, regardless of the fabric, seem to shrink faster than white shirts. 10 months ago, I purchased two Oxford shirts, one blue with Ibieffe fabric, and one white with Canclini fabric. I wore and washed them both the same number of time, but the blue one has already shrunk to an extent where it is difficult to button the collar, and the cuffs don't poke out of my suit sleeves anymore. Same happened with a blue shirt in twill from September '18 and a white shirt in poplin from January '19. The former now looks and feels like one whole size too small, while the second has almost not changed. If anything, I thought that twill was less likely to shrink due to the 'tighter' weaving (but feel free to correct me on that).
Now, I am not a big fan of paying close to 100€ for a shirt that won't even last 1 or 2 years. While fit and fabric quality are important to me, durability matters much more. I loved me first 'real' shirts, purchased from TM Lewin, not because they looked or felt great (they did not), but because they lasted 5 to 6 years, which was an incredible return on investment.
So my question is in two parts:
New member here, occasional lurker from Europe. I registered mostly to create this thread because I cannot helpful answers anywhere else. I don't think such a thread was already created, but apologies in advance if that's the case.
Over the past three years I built up a decent stock of shirts, exclusively from Lanieri. I like their business model, their customer service, the relatively small size of the firm, and even the fact there are always tiny imperfections that make each piece unique.
However, I noticed recently a pattern that makes me hesitate buying more from them: blue shirts, regardless of the fabric, seem to shrink faster than white shirts. 10 months ago, I purchased two Oxford shirts, one blue with Ibieffe fabric, and one white with Canclini fabric. I wore and washed them both the same number of time, but the blue one has already shrunk to an extent where it is difficult to button the collar, and the cuffs don't poke out of my suit sleeves anymore. Same happened with a blue shirt in twill from September '18 and a white shirt in poplin from January '19. The former now looks and feels like one whole size too small, while the second has almost not changed. If anything, I thought that twill was less likely to shrink due to the 'tighter' weaving (but feel free to correct me on that).
Now, I am not a big fan of paying close to 100€ for a shirt that won't even last 1 or 2 years. While fit and fabric quality are important to me, durability matters much more. I loved me first 'real' shirts, purchased from TM Lewin, not because they looked or felt great (they did not), but because they lasted 5 to 6 years, which was an incredible return on investment.
So my question is in two parts:
- Has anyone experience the same shrinkage difference between blue and white fabrics? If so, do you have any recommendations? I have started cold-washing my shirts instead of using a 30° cycle, but I am not sure it sustainable on the long term (a good shirt is a clean shirt)
- Has anyone experience that issue particularly with Lanieri products? I understand it is still a young company trying to find new growth drivers, but compromising on the product quality (which I don't believe they do) would be a huge deal breaker for me, but also for most of their clients.
