Bespoke shirts, neck sizing and cleaning

[chuckseabreeze]

For those of you who get your shirts through made to measure or bespoke, how do you account for shrinkage from washing (and dare I say drying) when you are ordering/ discussing with your tailor?

I absolutely hate ironing, and I can't see many people who are getting MTM or bespoke dress shirts actually hang drying, then ironing all of their dress shirts. Aren't you ever tempted to throw them in the dryer?

Or is it just that if you can afford bespoke shirts, then you just take them to the cleaners, get them dry cleaned and pressed, and order the shirts without having to adjust for shrinkage?

 

[Cary Grant]

Every MTM I've ever had made has accounted for the very fractional shrinkage that occurs when dried. I honestly don't know if that's the result of my tailor or the manufacturing process but somebody somewhere has made sure I don't have to fret it.

 

[Mildly Consumptive]

Originally Posted by chuckseabreeze

For those of you who get your shirts through made to measure or bespoke, how do you account for shrinkage from washing (and dare I say drying) when you are ordering/ discussing with your tailor?

I absolutely hate ironing, and I can't see many people who are getting MTM or bespoke dress shirts actually hang drying, then ironing all of their dress shirts. Aren't you ever tempted to throw them in the dryer?

Or is it just that if you can afford bespoke shirts, then you just take them to the cleaners, get them dry cleaned and pressed, and order the shirts without having to adjust for shrinkage?


The shirt-maker incorporates shrinkage allowance into the shirt pattern. Like all shirts, when you get a new bespoke shirt, it will be 1/4 inch too big in the collar and will shrink to it's normal size after washing in warm water.

I am never tempted to put them in the dryer or dryclean them as both methods will destroy the shirt.

I get my shirts MTM from Mytailor and launder and iron them all myself. I get better results doing it myself than I would from sending them out.

 

[teddieriley]

No way I'm washing and ironing my shirts on a weekly basis. I send them out for a washing for a little less than $1.50 per shirt. Absolutely worth it considering the time it saves me. I just take 10 minutes to pre-treat the inside collars with shout gel the night before I bring them in.

I include instructions to launder cold, dry no/low heat and no starch. No clue whether the cleaners follow my instructions (I hope they do), but they come back looking better than I can make them. After about 2 years, all my MTM/bespoke shirts have held up well, and I don't detect anything that has damaged or "destroyed" my shirts. They are just cotton shirts, afterall.

 

[Cary Grant]

Originally Posted by Mildly Consumptive

I am never tempted to put them in the dryer or dryclean them as both methods will destroy the shirt.

Interesting opinion. True story: I was at Turnbull & Asser last week and a shirt was sitting on the counter. The most wonderfully soft cotton... like the best bedsheets after years of use.

Admiring it, I asked the slaesperson about it. He replied "It's mine. I just had new collars put on a few shirts. This one is NINETEEN YEARS OLD." !!

I asked him how he cared for it... "I throw them in the wash and dryer... iron them myself."

I'll not argue that drip-drying might prolong some shirts. I drip-dry many items... but "destroy the shirt"? I doubt it.

And by the way- I recently went through a stretch of washing and ironing all mine myself. I just don't have the time and patience for it.

 

[Mildly Consumptive]

Originally Posted by teddieriley

No way I'm washing and ironing my shirts on a weekly basis. I send them out for a washing for a little less than $1.50 per shirt. Absolutely worth it considering the time it saves me. I just take 10 minutes to pre-treat the inside collars with shout gel the night before I bring them in.

I include instructions to launder cold, dry no/low heat and no starch. No clue whether the cleaners follow my instructions (I hope they do), but they come back looking better than I can make them. After about 2 years, all my MTM/bespoke shirts have held up well, and I don't detect anything that has damaged or "destroyed" my shirts. They are just cotton shirts, afterall.


I can't see how a machine-ironed shirt would come out better than a hand-ironed shirt, unless you don't know how to iron.

When I mentioned that dryers and drycleaning destroy shirts, I meant, obviously, hot air drying. Since you do not get your shirts dried using hot air, or have them drycleaned, that may explain why your shirts aren't "destroyed."

 

[Mildly Consumptive]

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

And by the way- I recently went through a stretch of washing and ironing all mine myself. I just don't have the time and patience for it.



I find it takes me about 8 minutes to iron a shirt. I iron them one at a time, as needed. You are free to do as you wish.

 

[teddieriley]

Originally Posted by Mildly Consumptive

I find it takes me about 8 minutes to iron a shirt. I iron them one at a time, as needed. You are free to do as you wish.

Well kind sir, you have become quite efficient. My time is about 15-20 minutes, and not that I don't know how to hand iron, but it just doesn't turn out as good as a machine press, which, in the way the cleaners to do it, nicely presses everything - including areas I have difficulty with, such as the sleeve placket, gauntlet (whatever you call it). I'm not going to waste my life trying to get every detail, and I know you don't need to (for example if you wear a suit and keep the jacket on at all times, all you really need to do is iron the collar, front and cuffs), but I feel if I'm going to iron, I should it right, which the cleaners do. The last thing I need to worry about is making sure I build in another 20 minutes in my day to account for ironing.

 

[Cary Grant]

Originally Posted by Mildly Consumptive

I can't see how a machine-ironed shirt would come out better than a hand-ironed shirt, unless you don't know how to iron.

I agree that hand ironing with a good iron will always be better than a machine press.

I do touch up shirts from the cleaner as needed.

 

[Holdfast]

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

I asked him how he cared for it... "I throw them in the wash and dryer... iron them myself."

This is what I do with mine. It might shorten the lifespan a bit, but it's not going to destroy shirts.

Originally Posted by chuckseabreeze

For those of you who get your shirts through made to measure or bespoke, how do you account for shrinkage from washing (and dare I say drying) when you are ordering/ discussing with your tailor?

The first couple of pattern iterations will require fit adjustments anyway, and after that you've got your pattern down sufficiently to account for other the rather modest shrinkage that can occur with laundering. You won't get a perfect pattern first time anyway, so you might mentally write those couple of shirts off in terms of perfection. They'll still be better than RTW though, so you're still "up" on balance.

 

[braised]

Tell the shirt maker that you'll have them commercially laundered and they'll build in some more allowance. Do not start with a 3 shirt order, it will take at least two shirts and about 4 months until they are laundered and worn 3-4 times. Get it right before you punch the gas at $300 a pop. B

 

[Aperipan]

Has anyone ever asked for a stretch-able top/collar button for bespoke service? That seems like a nifty feature to have as it reduces risk of a shrinking collar. I'm seeing this feature on quite a few RTW brands.

 

[Manton]

My Geneva shirts do not shrink. I asked Eugene about this recently, whether they wash the cloth beforehand. He said they sponge it, but don't wash it. In any case, I have never noticed any shrinkage.

The typical practice, as others have noted, is to build in a little allowance for shrinkage.

 

[Michael Ay329]

I too machine wash, hang dry and iron my shirts, but this is a lot of work, especially when 2-3 weeks worth of shirts have built up

All my shirts are now Freddy Vandecasteele bespoke and I've opted to pay for better quality cloth to assist in longevity...especially around the neck collar.

I wear a vest to work everyday, thus I only focus on ironing my neck collars and the sleeves in order to save time

 

[chuckseabreeze]

I guess my problem is that I can't afford bespoke or custom shirts yet, I'm still in grad school (well maybe Jantzen). When I buy OTR its a toss up between 15.5 and 16 for the collar. The 15.5 will be too tight in the collar if I dry them, but the 15.5 usually fits better in the shoulders. The 16's give me collar room, but usually still are a little too loose after drying, and they are generally much more blousy in the shoulders and chest.

I just ordered some Brooks Brothers slim fit, but I'm not getting my hopes up yet.

And don't worry, I'm not too upset about this. There are much more important problems in life