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Linen shirts MTM what to look for?

Nicola

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With summer nearing I'm thinking of having a couple linen shirts made. How to tell good linen cloth from not so good?

On the slim fit shirt thread there is a comment about the taper between chest and waist not being too much. How much of an issue is this in a MTM shirt? I've got a fair drop between chest and waist. Can I just go with close fitting?
 

erdavis

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Good question. To add onto that does Linen really do better than cotton or is it an urban legend? I am moving to a hot climate and need to know the deal on linen.
 

JayJay

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Originally Posted by erdavis
Good question. To add onto that does Linen really do better than cotton or is it an urban legend? I am moving to a hot climate and need to know the deal on linen.
From my own experience, I think linen is much cooler than cotton. I love being dressed in linen on hot summer days.
 

entasis

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I believe it's linen's superior moisture wicking properties that make it cooler and it dries very fast so I personally find that you don't get any wet 'sweat spots'.

An additional thought; We enjoy beach vacations and used to use a t-shirt for some sun cover until I saw a Belgium acquaintance in Florida use an old long sleeve shirt. Next time out I took my old linen blue shirt and it was perfect. The fabric was cooler than a tee, dry, the button front allowed more breeze to get in (I roll up the sleeves), and I would wash it in the sink at night and in 40 minutes or less it was dry ready for the next day.
 

Eccentric

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Originally Posted by JayJay
From my own experience, I think linen is much cooler than cotton. I love being dressed in linen on hot summer days.

+1. Linen is great. I was cooler wearing long sleeves and pants (both linen) in Vegas this past summer than I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
 

Shirtmaven

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Linen is a wonderful cloth as well as linen/cotton.
because Linen wrinkles, you can not cut a linen shirt quite as trim as a cotton shirt.

a fine linen will feel nice to you hand as well. should not be scratchy.

hopefully you will be able to wash your linen shirt and not have it dry cleaned.
Carl
 

MyHeartIsMyProphet

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Originally Posted by entasis
I believe it's linen's superior moisture wicking properties that make it cooler and it dries very fast so I personally find that you don't get any wet 'sweat spots'.

An additional thought; We enjoy beach vacations and used to use a t-shirt for some sun cover until I saw a Belgium acquaintance in Florida use an old long sleeve shirt. Next time out I took my old linen blue shirt and it was perfect. The fabric was cooler than a tee, dry, the button front allowed more breeze to get in (I roll up the sleeves), and I would wash it in the sink at night and in 40 minutes or less it was dry ready for the next day.

+1. I always use linen shirts by the beach or the pool!
 

Celotil

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I bought two Linen-Cotton (55%-45% respectively) off-white suits a week before Christmas (Summer here) from Always Habit in the Wintergarden on the Queen Street Mall, as well as a couple more Linen-Cotton (55%-45% respectively) Shirts, one off-white and the other taupe, and they're the coolest, temperature-wise, clothes I've owned. The suit jackets are a little warm for day time, with the temperature around here tending to hover around 32 to 36 (89.6 to 95) on a "warm" day and easily reaching 40 (104) with no sea breezes, but the pants are great with the shirts, and when the sun goes down and I want to I can slip on the jacket and be ready for a club or restaurant. When worn to places like Bribie I'll wear my togs instead of boxers, and, in one outfit of togs, L-C shirt, L-C summer suit, and light tan shoes that look like slippers, I can go to a cafe for breakfast, wander along the beach or in the forested park with my camera for a few hours, go to another cafe for lunch, go for a swim in the afternoon, and then go to a nice restaurant for dinner, followed by a club for afterwards. I've noticed that the material doesn't seem to hold sand as well as pure cotton, or polyester.
smile.gif
100% Linen suits cost a little too much around here for me at the moment, being around AU$1000 for a suit, and I have personal problems with buying MTM online - although one day I will jump in and swim. 100% Linen shirts cost around the same as Linen-Cotton blends, but I've noticed the L-C's wrinkle just that little bit less when I wash them and hang on a coat-hanger to dry. (You'll have to excuse the yellow hue to the shots. It's a low wattage fluorescent bulb overhead and I'm no good with white balance yet. The red haloing along the jacket shoulders is from the curtain at the head of my bed.) The first photo is the jacket. The pocket lapels can hang out (as on the right of the jacket) or tuck in (as on the left of the jacket). The cuff buttons are four, but non-functional. There is one button to close it. There is even a button-hole in the left lapel, but I have yet to stick a flower in there.
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The second picture is the pants. They have an odd, to me, fit about them in that they don't come in at the waist, so they feel a little bit like they're going to slip off (even the adjusted pair) even when they're sitting fine. One button and little metal clip with zipper fly to close. The third picture is what is turning out to be my favourite shirt this Summer. It's from Camel Australia in Brisbane Arcade, on the Queen Street Mall. The colour, according to the gentleman at Camel who recommended it to me because of my reddish-brown hair and fair skin, is taupe. The fourth picture is the Camel logo, present either subtly (white on white) or slightly contrasting (like this shirt), on all their gear. (Oh for crying out loud, me, you missed the point!) Sorry. Good Linen? Could be. I know that my Linen, Linen-Cotton, and Egyptian Cotton shirts are all getting softer the more I wash them with fabric softener, so even the ever-so-slightly scratchy 100% Linen shirts I bought have lost their rough texture and are now almost as soft as plain old cotton t-shirts.
smile.gif




 

contaygious

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I love linen shirts, but the problem is I hate wearing t shirts underneath and I have to with linen obviously unless I want people to see my skin. Is there such a thing as non-see through linen? I oince had one that was close, but only indoors and not in the sunlight.
 

balder

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Originally Posted by contaygious
I love linen shirts, but the problem is I hate wearing t shirts underneath and I have to with linen obviously unless I want people to see my skin. Is there such a thing as non-see through linen? I oince had one that was close, but only indoors and not in the sunlight.

I bought two linen shirts in Riga Latvia in 2007.They are not see through.As other posters have said they are much cooler than cotton.They do need a few washes to soften them but are then extremely comfortable.
 

dsmolken

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Originally Posted by Shirtmaven
Linen is a wonderful cloth as well as linen/cotton.
because Linen wrinkles, you can not cut a linen shirt quite as trim as a cotton shirt.

Ha, I knew a very close fit and linen somehow felt like a bad idea (even though I've never owned a slim fitting linen shirt), I just couldn't think of the reason why. But that's it!
 

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