The Official Dieworkwear Appreciation Thread

[whorishconsumer]

I just ship by UPS and they package everything. I also don't clean very often (maybe just once a year?). Garments get thrown in a box and shipped off. I don't worry about packing because the garments will be pressed and shipped back in proper boxes later anyway.

Which you open with your ceremonial jawnz blade.

 

[Despos]

In Jeffery's article he says "requiring a skilled pressing to remove."
Have never seen/known a dry cleaner to press the collar or shoulder of a jacket. This requires special attention. Find a tailor who knows how to press a jacket properly.
Have seen several YouTube videos of tailors showing how to press and they are shockingly bad. Would never press something like they do.
What's good about Kirby's hanger is the round neck shape. A lot of these wood hangers with broad tips have square neck shapes. This distorts the shape of the collar and can cause stretching as well. Like Jeffery says, especially in humid conditions.
The square shape is easier/cheaper to produce and store.
I like the analogy of hangers to shoe trees. Makes a long term difference.

 

[whorishconsumer]

Does this fly, although not the Platonic ideal?

 

[Despos]

Does this fly, although not the Platonic ideal?

View attachment 1393414

Nope. Shoulder is too sloped to offer proper support. Square edges are not optimal.
On that hanger the jacket will drape from the collar and collapse on the shoulder. Will cause the collar to stretch or be miss shaped because of this.
The weight of the jacket should be distributed and supported across the width of the hanger. Equal support at the tip of the shoulder and collar. The hanger above is the same as using a shoe tree that is too small for your shoe. Not doing what it’s intended to do.
If you put a jacket on this hanger you will see

 

[whorishconsumer]

?

 

[dieworkwear]

If you only have one sport coat, just use your body as a hanger.

 

[emptym]

The solution is just to have a small closet relative to the amt of clothes you have. That way the stuff is so packed together that it doesn't matter what kind of hangers they're on. If you can take the hanger off and the garment stays still, you know you're doing it right.

 

[Despos]

If you only have one sport coat, just use your body as a hanger.

This, unless you have a square neck

 

[whorishconsumer]

Someone should probably inform all these high-end hanger manufactures that they are devastating the tailored menswear sector.

 

[gettoasty]

What would you recommend in terms of Chinese green tea here? https://todd-holland.com/ @dieworkwear

 

[dieworkwear]

What would you recommend in terms of Chinese green tea here? https://todd-holland.com/ @dieworkwear

I've never tried that place, so don't know if it's any good. Tea shops will often buy from different farms. So even if something says "high mountain oolong," one shop may carry the harvest from one farm, where another will carry the harvest from a different farm.

Generally though, I think most people like green tea. It's just a very easy thing to drink. These are pretty good starters, I think

Jasmine Green Mao Jian

Beautiful Mao Jian green tea leaves with strong jasmine aroma and flavor. Ingredients: China green tea with jasmine flowers Brewing Instructions Use 1 teaspoon of tea per 6 ounces of water. Bring water to 185° F. Pour over leaves; steep for 2 minutes. Remove leaves from tea. Enjoy! Reinfuse 2-3...

todd-holland.com

Bi Lo Chun

After the moisture content is lowered in woks, these light grey green leaves with many white tips are hand rolled until half the white hairs on the leaves are broken off. Too much rubbing makes the teas too light and takes away some of the flavor. Too little rubbing leaves too many white hairs...

todd-holland.com

Lung Ching Dragon's Well Special

Lung Chings get more intense the later in the season they are picked. The Special is from the third picking and is our strongest Lung Ching. Not strong compared to a Gunpowder, but noticeably stronger than our other Lung Chings. Many people prefer its intensity. Ingredients: China green tea...

todd-holland.com

Gunpowder

Great aroma and taste, not smoky. Leaf loosely rolled, pale green.Ingredients: China green teaBrewing Instructions Use 1 teaspoon of tea per 6 ounces of water. Bring water to 185° F. Pour over leaves; steep for 2 minutes. Remove leaves from tea. Enjoy! Reinfuse 3-4 times, increasing time by 50%...

todd-holland.com

Almost everyone likes jasmine tea. I think very few tea drinkers will rank it as their favorite, but it's kind of failsafe. It tastes floral (obvs) and has a very nice fragrance. Kind of basic.

Bi Lo Chung and Dragon Well are a little greener. Gunpowder is greener still. If I was buying a gift for someone and choosing green tea, I would go with Dragon Well or jasmine.

Personally, I prefer oolong. Roughly speaking, tea leaves are characterized by the oxidation process. White tea is very light, almost like drinking air. Green tea is a little more flavorful. Oolong is even more roasted. Black is "thicker" tasting still. I think oolong is just right -- more complex than green, but not as earthy as black (also often not as expensive). Some oolongs you can try:

Wuyi Oolong Medium Roast

Great price. Not too roasted, not over roasted, but just right! A touch of that caramel-like sweetness and color. Ingredients: China Oolong tea Brewing Instructions Use 1 heaping teaspoon of tea per 6 ounces of water. Bring water to 185° F. Pour over leaves; steep for 2 minutes. Remove leaves...

todd-holland.com

High Mountain Medium Roasted

Oh, the fun of these Oolongs from the Nantou Lugu Village area. This one is lower grown than some of the others, 800-1000m. This garden has been producing roasted teas for more than 50 years. The critical factor with these teas is the skill in controlling the temperatures and the times during...

todd-holland.com

High Mountain is my favorite region for oolong, but I prefer the unroasted kind. Li Shan is my favorite. Relatively affordable as far as expensive teas go. I think it's like $65 for a big pack? Unfortunately sold out where I normally buy it at

Li Shan High Mountain Oolong Tea

This Li Shan High Mountain Oolong Tea is from a farm in the Li Shan area, Taiwan's highest elevation tea growing region. Li Shan Tea has a delicate fruit/floral aroma and a substantial, balanced, mildly sweet, buttery/floral character with a soft, complex lingering finish. Free shipping on...

eco-cha.com

Foo is right that the "full" experience is in gongfu tea. It's not hard to do, and it can be quite relaxing. I just find I don't do it anymore. I think you can get a good cup still buy just brewing with a metal strainer. The taste of the tea won't be as 'full bodied,' but it will be good. Some things, if you're not yet aware:

1. Calibrate the water temperature to match your tea. The more oxidized the tea leaf, the higher the temp you can use. A white tea will be scorched if you use water that's too hot. For green tea or flower tea, I brew using water at 176 - 185 F. For oolong or pu-erh tea, I use water at 212 F. I use Fellow's EKG Stagg to heat up water, but you can use anything that gives you the right temp reading. Some guys also just look for the bubbles in the water, but I find that can greatly vary.

2. Don't let the teas sit forever in the water. With gongu tea, you pour the water out almost as soon as you pour it in. It's a very fast process. With a metal strainer, it really depends on the amount of tea leaves to the water. I generally go by color. Over time, you just figure it out. But the key is to not leave the tea leaves in there, like you would with a Lipton bag. This will overcook the leaves and make the tea bitter.

3. Personally, I always pour out the first cup. Let the leaves steep and wait until the unfurl. Then pour the water out. This is called "foot water." I find it's a good way to wash the leaves, and you get full contact with the tea leaves once they unfurl and you brew again. Not totally necessary, but maybe something you want to incorporate.

4. Over time, you'll find the right mixture of water to leaves, and figure out your preferred brewing time. One of the advantages of gongfu is that the method is more reliable and replicable. But you have to be in the mood for that whole thing.

 

[Keith Taylor]

The solution is just to have a small closet relative to the amt of clothes you have.

I’ve got that covered, and then some. Yesterday, following some gentle but persistent nudging from my better half, I reluctantly went through everything I haven’t worn in many moons to work out what I can sell to relieve the crushing pressure in my wardrobes, and I ended up filling an entire rack. You forget how much crap you own until it’s all spread out on a shame rack

 

[LA Guy]

What would you recommend in terms of Chinese green tea here? https://todd-holland.com/ @dieworkwear

These are always fun: https://todd-holland.com/products/jasmine-pearls-premium?_pos=2&_sid=560a44a54&_ss=r

 

[whorishconsumer]

Your jacket may just need a good pressing. If you have someone local who can do it, try to see if they can press it back into proper shape. Otherwise, Rave FabriCARE hand presses garments. Dry cleaners will press jackets as well, but they often use a machine and don't do a good job. Depending on the cost of your coat, you may want to send it to someone more reliable, and do it when it needs to be cleaned (so you don't have to send it twice).

There's a small chance the collar may be stretched out, but I don't have direct experience with this. I've only read about it online and heard about it from tailors. I imagine if this happens, you may be able to get a good tailor to fix it for you.

Jeffery has a good post on his blog about the importance of proper hangers.

The importance of hangers

Bear with me while I rant a little bit. Nothing makes me crazier than those stupid little wishbone hangers that some stores use to hang thei...

tuttofattoamano.blogspot.com

In Jeffery's article he says "requiring a skilled pressing to remove."
Have never seen/known a dry cleaner to press the collar or shoulder of a jacket. This requires special attention. Find a tailor who knows how to press a jacket properly.
Have seen several YouTube videos of tailors showing how to press and they are shockingly bad. Would never press something like they do.
What's good about Kirby's hanger is the round neck shape. A lot of these wood hangers with broad tips have square neck shapes. This distorts the shape of the collar and can cause stretching as well. Like Jeffery says, especially in humid conditions.
The square shape is easier/cheaper to produce and store.
I like the analogy of hangers to shoe trees. Makes a long term difference.

In follow-up, this is what I am referring to. A bit more exaggerated here, as I am twisting to take the photo, but the fact that it can do this is the concern.

 

[Despos]

In follow-up, this is what I am referring to. A bit more exaggerated here, as I am twisting to take the photo, but the fact that it can do this is the concern.

View attachment 1393829

Is this a cotton jacket? This looks like a very casual "under constructed" garment.