YOUR WORST CLOTHING MISHAP?

[Fashionslave]

I thought it might be fun to recount your worst clothing accident or disaster, may it be stains or damage.I realize at the time,it's an incredibly horrible occurence.Maybe now you can look back at this event in an anecdotal manner.Here's mine.I had just worn my brand new Hickey Freeman suit the first time and went shopping in a home furnishings store.In the store's rug section,there were piles of handmade rugs.I brushed up against a pile when I felt a scrape and heard RIIIIP.Apparently,one of the razor sharp metal i.d. tags used on the corner of the rugs caught my trousers right below the pocket and put a 6" slash in the pant leg,exposing my flesh (.)and even lightly scratching my skin.The store owner was very shocked and apologetic and cut me a check for the full amount of the suit right there on the spot.In subsequent visits,I notice they had converted to plastic tags.The happy ending? I was able to use the jacket of the trashed suit anyhow,and with the reimbursement,I bought myself another suit.

 

[Alias]

Once, as I was stepping out of my car, I hit the toe of my brand new Audleys onto the curb I parallel-parked next to. Tried polishing it, but it only left a dark spot. Had to burnish the entire toe, then the other toe, in order to get things to match, as well as satisfy my obsessive-compulsive urges.

Washed one of my Jantzen shirts and discovered a large patch of discoloration. It was my fault; I probably didn't rinse it well enough before drying.

Went to the tailor for the fitting of a pair of trousers. The trousers were pinned shut. I had on a woven tie. The tie caught on the pin as I bent down to inspect the trouser line, and as I stood back up the pin grabbed the silk and made a nice, large pull. Luckily, it was on the short end of the tie, the end that I always tuck into my waistband.

Maybe not a mishap concerning spills and such, but the same tailor made a jacket for me that wasn't of a style that I liked, and it couldn't be rectified with alterations. However, this problem was soon solved when he graciously made another jacket.

ps. post titles in all caps suck

 

[montecristo#4]

#3: Just this week, an associate knocked an entire full glass of red wine off a table onto me, completely soaking the entire right side of my bespoke suite (Zegna Trofeo fabric). Luckily, the fabric is very dark so I expect a full recovery when I get it back from Parkway Cleaners.

#2: Was walking to my car and slipped on a sheet of black ice. Beautiful 150s bespoke suit covered in salt, dirt, and motor oil. Fixed at the drycleaner.

And the #1 biggest disaster: The first time I was wearing another nice 150s bespoke suit, sat down in the chair in my office and caught the inside of my pocket on the arm of the chair. RRRRIP. Luckily, the tear was close to the pocket and my tailor was able to salvage things, although he gave me the dirtiest look I've ever seen from a tailor.

Montecristo

 

[Fabienne]

At a restaurant, trying to eat with a baby in my lap, I reached for a spoon to keep him occupied, but spilled my glass of wine onto my husband's cream shirt. I felt awful, didn't want to ask how much the shirt cost, but I'm sure it was upwards of 200 dollars. We had an hour's drive before getting back to my in-laws' place. At around midnight, we did research on the internet to decide how to treat the stain. Found a recipe by a professor at UC Davis: half (blue) Dawn washing detergent, half hydrogen peroxyde. 1AM, my husband comes back from the grocery store with the stuff. We soaked the shirt overnight, and the stain was gone in the morning.

 

[Fashionslave]

Wow. 1/2 Blue Dawn and 1/2 Hydrogen Peroxide? I'll keep that in mind.Thanks. PS: Sorry for the all caps title to this post.(pre-coffee post)

 

[BjornH]

Yes, NEVER use all caps. It's like screaming - ouch

When I was still more or less living at my parents' we got a beautiful Golden Retriever puppy. In the first few months, he managed to eat his way through a pair of trousers,one pair of shoes, my favorite sweater and a friend's very expensive sweater while she was wearing it .

Bought a black leather coat on a two day trip to Brussels once. I wore it on the flight back home over a white BB buttondown. When I took the jacket off in the plane, I discovered that the damn jacket had left black stains all over the collar of my shirt. Had to sit in business class in a stained shirt for 3 hours. My strategy was to ask for the Highland Whisky wine list and do an honest attempt to drink my way through it...

The cursed jacket went on to greater things when it managed to stain the leather seats in my car.

B

 

[gorgekko]

It was the early 90s. I had just purchased my brand new Brooks Brothers merino wool tennis sweater, an item of clothing I had coveted for years. What you have to remember about that time is that the Canadian dollar was next to worthless compared to the American dollar so this sweater cost me what was then a horrific amount of money. Actually, it would still be a little horrific. So anyway, not long after getting it I'm wearing the sweater while at the dinner table eating my mother's tasty lasgana. The sauce is always...always....thick. Except that night -- it was very watery. I had a piece of the lasgana on a fork when it fell off and, yes, you guessed it, straight on the collar of the damned sweater. I still own the sweater, still wear it in very informal occasions. It's a reminder...avoid lasgana with watery sauces. Funny thing...my mother's lasgana has never been watery since. Then there was the time with my brand new Donna Karan Signature line jacket and the jagged piece of wood sticking out of the bar top at an establishment I still frequent...luckily that could be fixed.

 

[Dakota rube]

1. I was flying Delta one night out of Salt Lake City after a week on the road. I had an aisle seat, and to allow myself a little more legroom, I slid my legs outward, sort of into the aisle. Upon landing, I stood up, catching the front of my khakis on the underside of the armrest, and promptly executed a six-inch gash in the slacks. Delta bought me a new pair. 2. First day I wore a beautiful new pair of cordovan tassel loafers: I am in real estate, and was inspecting some new townhouses which were under construction. Gingerly picking my way through the two-by-fours to avoid snagging my suit, I neglected a nail at foot level and put a gash along the entire length of one of the shoes. I talked the builder into padding my commission to cover the cost of the shoes. 3. I was wearing a RL seersucker suit for the first time. My agency was shooting a new television commercial for a major fast foot chain. The client was a boorish oaf, but I had to babysit him all day, fetching food, drink, etc. One particularly large cup of his coffee ended up poured all over my suit. But, the client is always right. I did, however, bill the client for the suit (gaffer supplies). 4. (This is actually my wife's mishap). She had just moved her clothing to my cottage, and had boxes of stuff all around the bedroom. We left town for a couple of days and my cat, who never liked my wife, used each and every box of clothing as a litter box, leaving about 60 woolen sweaters urine-scented. We're still married, 26 years later. The cat didn't last that long.

 

[crs]

Bought a suit for a new job and wore it the first day. While walking from the train station I tripped over my own foot and fell to the sidewalk, putting a hole in the trousers, not to mention bloodying a knee. Arrived for the first day's work with blood-caked hole in the trousers and a limp. I still have the suit. The tailor did a nice job fixing the hole if you don't look very closely.

 

[Aaron]

I went to a concert in the fall and sat down at a table that was situated by the dance floor/stage area. I set my beloved vintage suede jacket down on a railing that surrounded the dance floor. Let's just say they hadn't cleaned the railing in a while and I ended up with grease and dirt all over the jacket. To top it off I was with a very attractive female companion and didn't notice the stains till I got home.

A.

 

[tdial]

Three years ago, I had just bought a light grey suit and was wearing it for the first time to a meeting with some new business associates. As I was getting the jacket out of the back seat of my car, the wind blew the door shut at the exact moment I was pulling the jacket out. The door closed on the jacket, breaking the bottom of the front closure buttons. I had to walk around all day with a completely broken button.

My tailor replaced all of the front three buttons with three buttons that were similar to the sleeve buttons, but not an exact match.

 

[stache]

a major fast foot chain.

LOL. (nudge nudge) I had a newish saddle color leather bag that I managed to open a red marker inside. Naturally the nib was resting dead center front of the bag. I never could get that stain out. (sigh)

 

[Fabienne]

Wow. 1/2 Blue Dawn and 1/2 Hydrogen Peroxide? I'll keep that in mind.Thanks. PS: Sorry for the all caps title to this post.(pre-coffee post)

Yes, it worked. We had nothing to lose at that point. It worked again recently on a pair of khakis.

 

[wja]

While snipping a label off a never-worn, never even unfolded shirt, I managed to snip a hole in the shirt too. A gift from my mother.

 

[johnw86]

I've tripped on sidewalks a couple of times and ruined some suits--but they were near the end of their life spans anyway.

I once was cutting something in the office and was too near my new Talbott tie...

I'm always carrying ballpoint pens around and usually manage to get ink on my shirt front or pants--but I've found that quick treatment with Shout will handle the ink without too much trouble.