Krishna from Columbus writes: I’m currently rebuilding my wardrobe and buying some higher-quality pieces. Since these suits will be a bit expensive for me, I’d like to know how to best care for them. How do I go about finding a reliable dry cleaner? What things should I be doing to make sure my clothes last?

Here’s the short answer: get a garment brush and some appropriate hangers, do some things to prevent clothes moths from invading your home, dry clean infrequently, and figure out the proper care routine given how your clothes are made. 

Here’s the longer answer: To figure out how to take care of your clothes, it helps to think about how they’re made and how dry cleaning is done. When you buy high-end tailored clothing, much of what you’re paying for is the careful shaping that’s put into the garment. Suits and sport coats are made from a combination of canvas, haircloth, padding, and skillful stitching, which turns a two-dimensional piece of fabric into a three-dimensional form. Once the garment is sewn, it’s shaped through heat, pressure, and steam. At a factory, this is done through a machine. In a tailor’s workshop, it’s done by hand using a hot and heavy iron. 

Let’s take a look at what we mean by shaping. In the photos above, taken from Jeffery Diduch’s excellent guide on touching up your suit without wrecking it, you can see how much shaping is in the garment. The chest is nicely round; the sleeves conical. There’s not a dent, wrinkle, or ripple anywhere. This shaping is partly responsible for why tailored jackets are so flattering. When made well, they have a flattering V-shaped figure, which is possible through stitching and ironwork. You can’t get that silhouette out of a dress shirt. 

Over time, this shaping will naturally fall out, and the garment will have to be pressed into shape again (I find the sleeves are often the first to go, especially if you have a cramped closet). At home, it’s pretty easy to press trousers. All you need is an ironing board, a regular iron, a water spray bottle, and a pressing cloth (in a pinch, a pillowcase will do). You can find online tutorials for how to press trousers by watching these videos from the British menswear retailer TM Lewin or bespoke tailors Antonio Liverano, Patrick Chu, Richard Anderson, and Dylan Chong. 

Pressing a jacket, on the other hand, is a different matter. Knowing how to press a jacket well requires time, skill, experience, and professional training. You also need the right equipment, such as a sleeve board. I’ve embedded a video above showing how Liverano & Liverano do it at their workshop in Florence, Italy, but only to show the skill involved. This is not something I recommend trying at home unless you want to become a tailor. 

Once you see the shaping that goes into a high-end tailored garment, it’s easier to appreciate a couple of things. 

First, you want to avoid garment steamers. Companies sell garment steamers on the promise that they’ll remove wrinkles. They will, but they also remove shaping. Remember that a garment’s shape is made using a combination of heat, pressure, and steam. It’s like using a curling iron on your hair. If you run steam through a garment without applying pressure, the fibers relax, and the garment goes limp (much like how a woman’s hairdo will go limp if you run steam through it). In rare cases, a garment steamer can cause a fused garment to delaminate. In more common instances, it will cause the seams and edges to pucker (see photos above). Since a tailored garment is made from various layers of material — the shell, canvas, haircloth, padding, and stitching — forcing steam into the garment can cause the fibers to expand and contract at different rates. Over at StyleForum, you can find threads where people have asked about their ruined suits, only to find it’s because of their steamer. A tailor can sometimes fix a puckered lapel with a good hand press. However, sometimes the damage is permanent. 

If you’re worried about wrinkles, buy garments that don’t wrinkle easily in the first place. High twist wools are naturally wrinkle-resistant, and heavier fabrics will rumple more than they wrinkle. Aim for materials that are at least 10oz (midweight fabrics between 12oz and 14oz are better). Wrinkles should fall out of these garments if you hang them up for a few days. If you have to use a steamer, use it judiciously and stay away from the seams. Steaming the back of a jacket (lightly) can be OK. Pushing a ton of steam through the lapels and chest is a bad idea. 

Second, think about how dry cleaning is done. Most dry cleaners don’t clean their own clothes. Many are just drop-off locations for a mass-cleaning facility outside the city’s limits. For every one of these facilities, known as a central plant, there might be five to twenty “satellite” shops scattered throughout various neighborhoods. These shops compete on price, service, and turnaround time, but the cleaning quality is often poor (largely because the price has been driven so low through competition). It’s not uncommon for mass cleaning facilities to reuse their cleaning agents, which can deposit dirt from previous loads onto your clothes. Many also don’t separate stains and pre-treat them accordingly. And almost none of them will have something on-site to help shape a garment. The high-end pressing machines you find in suit factories are too expensive; skilled people who know how to press a suit jacket properly are in short supply. Instead, many of these cleaning plants will just put a suit jacket on a dummy and blow hot steam throughout it, which is terrible for the reasons mentioned above. Or they’ll put them through a heavy Hoffman press, which can crush a finely tailored jacket’s shoulders, sleeves, and lapels. 

So, how should you care for your garments?

Get a Garment Brush: A garment brush will reduce the number of times you have to take your clothes to a dry cleaner. To use one, hold your jacket by placing your hand under the shoulder pad and brush downwards on the garment. Alternatively, you can set your garment on a table and gently brush it along the nap of the fabric (if it runs in one direction). Kent in England makes some lovely garment brushes that will last you a lifetime. The CC20 is a two-sided brush with different levels of stiffness. The CP6 is designed for softer fabrics such as woven cashmere. I have both and, to be honest, don’t think they differ too much. Get one that appeals to you and adjust your brushing technique accordingly. On a softer garment, be gentler; on a hardy tweed, you can be rougher. Never brush so hard that you’re taking the pile off a fabric. A garment brush will knock some of the superficial dust from your garments between wearings, and it’ll restore the nap on woolens if you press your own trousers. 

Get Good Garment Hangers: Remember that tailoring is all about shape, and you need to find ways to preserve that shape. Quality garment hangers do this by supporting your jacket through the shoulders. An ideal hanger will have wide, flared shoulders that slightly bend forward, mimicking your natural posture (which your garment will have been built for). It should also have a rounded neck, as square necks can stretch out your jacket’s collar. You can find quality hangers through The Hanger Project or, more affordably, The Container Store.

Protect Against Moths: When storing suits away for a season, dry clean them first to ensure they’re free of moth eggs. You’ll also want to keep them in zippered garment bags made from pure cotton, not plastic (The Container Store sells them for $20 apiece). Throw some aromatic things in your closet to deter moths from going in. Cedar blocks and lavender sachets work well, but don’t let them touch your clothes, as they can leave behind oils. Additionally, and unfortunately, proper moth prevention involves regular cleaning. Vacuum the back of your closet and wipe down the shelves at least once a year (ideally before April, when moths eggs start to hatch). Spray the floorboards with Cedarcide, safe for pets but deadly for insects. We have more moth-prevention tips in this interview with Camille Myers Breeze, a museum textile conservator. 

Find a Reliable Dry Cleaner: If you see a small shop with no machines except for a conveyer behind the counter, and they charge $8 to clean a two-piece suit with next-day service, you’re likely working with one of these drop-off locations for a central plant. It’s also likely that your clothes are not getting that much attention. 

Instead, try to find a package plant, which is a dry cleaning business with its own equipment on-site. Ask them how they treat different types of stains (e.g., oil- versus water-based stains). Ask if they use freshly purified or freshly distilled fluids with every run. Check how they press garments — by hand with heavy iron or by machine using hot steam? When you get your garments back, pay attention to the cleanliness of the seams and edges, the shape of the garments, and the feel of the fabric. Do they feel soft, as you remember them, or a bit stiff? Many cleaners will use what’s known in the trade as sizing, which stiffens a fabric a bit so that it’s easier to press. Great for efficiency, but bad if you want to maintain the soft hand and lovely nap on something such as high-quality woolen flannel.

If you can’t find a reliable dry cleaner near you, I recommend sending things to Rave FabriCARE in Scottsdale, Arizona. They’re a full-service package plant and the best dry cleaner I know of in the United States. Along with cleaning everything themselves and pressing garments by hand, they offer a gentler sponge-and-press service for people who don’t want to dry clean.

The tips above are the Gold Standard of care for Gold Standard suits. If you buy bespoke suits from Savile Row, you’ll want to follow this guide closely because you’ve paid a lot of money for that careful tailoring and shaping. However, if you buy more affordably priced, factory-made suits, they may not have that same shaping. In those cases, it may not be worth sending things out to a high-end dry cleaner regularly, as the cost of service can eventually exceed the price of the garment itself. A steamer might pucker your suit, but you can use one judiciously and take comfort in knowing that few people notice these small details. The best care practices will be those that make the most sense for your wardrobe, budget, and service options around you. 

(Photos via Alex Simpson, Jeffery Diduch, and The Armoury)

The post Q & Answer: How Should I Take Care Of My Suit? appeared first on Put This On.

Joel writes to ask: I finally got around to buying a suit. I currently have two white dress shirts (a thick oxford and a cotton-linen blend with a somewhat small collar). I’m trying to decide if I need another, more standard white dress shirt to use for formal events. What makes a good all-around white shirt to use with a suit? Are there differences in cloth, texture, and sheen? Do you need different types of white dress shirts for different occasions?

A proper white dress shirt is one of the few things that ought to be in everyone’s closet. If only because, at some point, everyone needs to wear a serious suit for serious occasions. Which means they also need all of the accouterments — a pair of dress shoes, a dark tie, and of course a white shirt.

Tailored clothing is mostly about learning a kind of visual language. Generally speaking, in classic men’s style, formality starts with black tie (if you want to be technical, white tie is more formal, but in today’s age, it’s all but disappeared). This history is why single-breasted coats are more formal than double-breasted, peak lapels are more formal than notch lapels, jetted pockets are more formal than patched pockets, and so on. It’s because these things are the traditional configuration of a dinner jacket.

It’s the same with dress shirts. You wouldn’t wear a tuxedo shirt with a business suit, of course, but you need a certain kind of white shirt. In the United States, it’s not uncommon to see someone wearing a white button-down oxford with a dark worsted suit. We think that has a certain kind of American charm, but for the most part, white dress shirts should take a particular configuration. Here are some things to look for.

This collar is bad. Don’t get this. 

What to Look for in a White Dress Shirt

Style Details: While you wouldn’t be wrong to wear an oxford button-down with a suit, serious occasions often call for serious suits, which means serious-looking shirts. For a proper dress shirt, get a collar where the points are long enough to tuck underneath your lapels (like you see on our friend Graeme, pictured at the very top of this post). In the last ten or fifteen years, collars have shrunk to keep proportions with cropped, slim-fit suits (you can see this on the Armani model directly above). Outside of fashion photoshoots, most of these collars look terrible. They’re often too small for a tie; the points lift awkwardly from the chest. Get a larger collar instead, so you have a smooth, continuous line going from the center of your collar band to your lapels.

A proper dress shirt will also be plainer in every other regard. Get a shirt with a French placket, rather than a regular front placket (a French placket means the front of the shirt, where the buttons fasten, isn’t reinforced with a separate piece of material). Go for something without a chest pocket, which can otherwise ruin the clean lines in a suit ensemble. The other details, such as mitered or rounded cuffs, are personal preference. Generally, you want this to look as visually smoother and unobtrusive as possible.

Summary: Get collar large enough to hold a tie and where the points can neatly tuck underneath your jacket’s lapels. Also, get a shirt with a French placket and no chest pocket for a cleaner look.

Cloth: Much like how dark worsted wools are more formal than tweed, certain shirt fabrics are dressier than others. In order of declining formality, it generally goes: poplin/ broadcloth > end-on-end > twill > oxford > chambray > linen/ linen blends. The smoother and finer the fabric, the more formal it looks.

Poplin and broadcloth are two types of plain weaves, which means the lengthwise warp yarns transverse the weft yarns in a basic tic-tac-toe pattern. These are what you’ll likely pick up at your local department store. They’re thin, flat-looking, and smooth to the touch. However, due to their weave, they can also be kind of sheer. And ironically, the more money you pay for a dress shirt, the finer the yarns tend to get, which makes them sheerer still.

Fabrics from Proper Cloth. The blue is broadcloth; pink is pinpoint; white is twill.

For this reason, I find guys are often better off with either pinpoint or twill. Pinpoint is like a finer version of oxford without the sheen of Royal oxford. It’s matte and more opaque than poplin/ broadcloth but won’t have the same silky, smooth feel. Twills, on the other hand, have light diagonal ribs, much like you see on your jeans (but much finer). It tends to be even stouter and more opaque than poplin, broadcloth, or pinpoint. It’s also more naturally wrinkle-resistant, but with that tighter weave often comes a subtle sheen. For some guys, this makes a shirt look a bit more premium, whereas pinpoint can feel basic. For others, pinpoint is favored because it’s more discrete.

Summary: If you want something soft, silky, and flat looking, try poplin or broadcloth. If you want something less transparent, however, go with pinpoint or twill. Twills are the most opaque but often have a subtle sheen. Proper Cloth has a good primer on shirt fabrics.

Fit: Finding a well-fitting shirt can be surprisingly tricky. The first thing to remember is that ready-to-wear manufacturers often build shirts to account for shrinkage. So when you’re trying on a shirt, you may find the collar is a little big and sleeves are a touch long (this will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer). Your best bet is to go to a reputable store. Hopefully, they’ll have sales representatives who can fit you in the right shirt model.

After you’ve worn and washed the shirt for a while, a shirt should fit in a certain way. The shoulder seams should sit on your shoulder bone. The sleeves should be long enough, so the cuffs stay on your wrist even when you move your arms (rather than ride up). If the sleeves are too long, try moving the cuff button so the cuffs are tighter. You also should be able to fit a finger between your neck and collar comfortably, but no more, when the shirt is fully buttoned. Most importantly, a shirt should fall cleanly — even when you’re sitting down — so there’s no pulling or gaping.

Summary: Aim for a clean, comfortable fit that allows for movement. Sit down in your shirt to make sure it feels comfortable. We have guides on how a dress shirt should fit.

This collar is good. Get this. 

Where to Buy a White Dress Shirt

The most important part of a dress shirt is how it fits. Different people will find their ideal shirt from different manufacturers. But if you’re starting to scour around, here are some recommendable options.

Budget Pick: Land’s End is one of our favorite retailers for affordable clothing. Their shirts are a bit more classically styled than what you’ll find at J. Crew, which means they’ll go better with classically proportioned suits. In the UK, Charles Tyrwhitt is commonly recommended. Our friend Aliotsy at This Fits also says he likes Bonobos’ Daily Grind.

If you find the body is too full on any of these models, take the shirt to the tailor. Remember: the most critical dimensions of a shirt’s fit is above the waist. If the collar, chest, and shoulder seams fit well, most other things can be easily altered.

Higher-End Ready-to-Wear: If you have a little more money to spend, try Brooks Brothers or G. Inglese. There’s a Brooks Brothers store in almost every major city nowadays, which makes it easy to go in and try things on. They also have a variety of cuts to suit different body types. And while G. Inglese doesn’t have the same number of options, I was very impressed with the shirt I handled from them a few years ago. The fit is surprisingly good for ready-to-wear, the shirt comes with a high-level of handwork, and the collars have a certain kind of style that I’ve only seen from Italian shirtmakers.

Online Custom: If you like how Brooks Brothers’ shirts fit, Michael Spencer offers all of the same cuts in made-to-order form. Michael Spencer’s shirts are made in the USA, available in a wide range of fabrics, and allow you to select different style details. Their prices are often lower, too. (Incidentally, they also make a great button-down, which allows you to get an unlined collar, regular front placket, and single chest pocket — the ideal OBCD configuration, in my book).

For a custom fit, I like Proper Cloth. They’re a sponsor on this site, but after having tried seven or eight online MTM companies at this point, my best fit is from them (I’ve always paid full price for my orders). To get a custom shirt, you can either submit some basic measurements of your body or best fitting shirt (I did the latter). They allow for a free remake on first orders, which enables you to home-in on the fit. I like the cut and proportions of their collars, their wide range of fabrics, and their relatively affordable prices. The company also has a clever white shirt guide, which can help you find your ideal material. Mitchell at Menswear Musings has a good review of Proper Cloth, as well as an interview with the company’s founder. Ian at From Squalor to Baller, pictured above, often wears their dress shirts on his site.

In-Person Custom: A lot of this will depend on where you live. Outside of New York City — where you can find reliable shops such as Geneva and CEGO — most readers in the United States will have to rely on traveling tailors. I use Ascot Chang from Hong Kong for bespoke dress shirts. They hold trunk shows throughout the US twice a year and their rep, Nelson Chin, is excellent at fitting customers. Other good traveling shirtmakers include Dege & Skinner, Budd, and Napoli Su Misura. Check Permanent Style’s trunk show calendar to see if there’s something near you.

Have a question related to clothing or style? Email us at contact@putthison.com. Your question may be used for one of our Q & Answer posts. 

The post How To Get A Good White Dress Shirt appeared first on Put This On.

Adam writes: I bought an overcoat in November and it’s served me well this winter. It’s probably my favorite thing in my wardrobe. Now that spring has come, it’s time to put it away until autumn. I’m writing because I’d like your advice on how often I should dry clean my coat. Is once a year sufficient? I’d like to have this coat for decades and want to make sure I don’t do anything to shorten its longevity.

The sniff test doesn’t always tell us when something needs to be cleaned. Obviously, things that come in direct contact with your body need to be laundered after each wear — shirts, underwear, and socks pick up your skin’s sweat and oils. But what about wool trousers, waxed field jackets, and tweed overcoats? Even with raw denim jeans, debates rage online over how often something ought to be washed (the correct answer is: not as often as your mom would like, but more often than denim nerds believe).

We decided to write a full guide on how often every type of garment should be cleaned, and we reached out to experts in various fields for their opinions — from clothing designers to textile conservationists to specialty cleaners. Here’s what they had to say.

Suits, Sport Coats, and Wool Overcoats

Conventional wisdom says tailored clothing should be dry cleaned as infrequently as possible, but that’s only half the story. Most dry cleaners are little more than drop off points for the same industrial cleaning facilities, which are often located just outside a city’s limits. Clothes are sorted into batches and cleaned using harsh chemicals. Tailored garments are then pressed into shape using a hot machine, sort of like how someone makes a panini.

That process can be rough on clothes. Traditionally, high-end suits and sport coats are put through a much gentler process and then hand pressed with an iron, but doing so requires a certain kind of time and labor that isn’t cost efficient for many people. One Savile Row tailor I spoke to shrugged when I asked him what people should do. “In London, we’ll clean and press garments for clients, but that’s obviously not possible if someone lives in the US,” he said. “But you still have to clean your garments. The best you can do is find a decent dry cleaner and have things cleaned only when necessary.”

One solution is to use a garment brush in-between each wear. Doing so will knock dirt and food particles out of the fibers, which will lower the number of times you have to send things to the cleaners. To use the brush, lay your garment down on a hard surface, such as a wooden table, and use short flicks of the wrist to dislodge dirt. You also want to brush in the same direction — never scrub.

Even regular brushing, however, won’t get out all the dirt and oils, so you’ll need to dry clean your garments every once in a while. If you don’t mind spending a little more money, we recommend Rave FabriCARE in Scottsdale, Arizona. They’re a full cleaning services operation — they have their own machinery, offer a sponge-and-press service (an even gentler process that can be used in-between dry cleanings), and press everything by hand (which helps retain the three-dimensional shape of a well-tailored jacket). Garments are then carefully packed and shipped back to customers. Their services are a lot better for tailored garments, which means you can have things cleaned on a more frequent basis.

“How often these garments should be cleaned will depend on how they’re used,” says Rave FabriCARE’s founder and President, Stu Bloom. “If a jacket has only been lightly worn, it could go a few months without cleaning. But if you wore the garment somewhere with high humidity, to a place where people were smoking, or to an outdoor event where you perspired a lot, you’ll need to clean the garment more often.”

Camille Myers Breeze, the founder of Museum Textile Services, says wool garments should be dry cleaned once every six months, at the very least, before they’re put away for seasonal storage. “Good dry-cleaning is expensive, but it’s a preventative measure for moth damage,” she says. Moths are attracted to the scent of human sweat and food particles, and they’ll lay eggs in stained clothes. Once those eggs hatch, the larva will eat your garment’s wool fibers. “Moth eggs and larva are tiny, so they can be hard to see. Moths also like places that are dark and not often disturbed. So before you store something away for the season, dry clean it. It’s a sure fire way to make sure it’s free from moth eggs.”

Tailored Trousers

Tailored jackets and overcoats don’t have to be cleaned very often, but trousers pick up dirt and human oils more easily from daily wear. Bloom recommends cleaning suit trousers a little more often than their accompanying jackets. “People often think they need to clean their suit trousers along with their jackets to make sure they don’t discolor at different rates. But a good dry cleaner will use fluids that are crystal clear, like water,” he says. “Not all dry cleaners do this, however. Some places will reuse the same dirty cleaning fluids, which ends up leaving the clothes filthier than when you drop them off. That’s why you get that discoloration.”

How often you’ll need to send things to the cleaner will depend on person to person — some people sweat more than others, some people wear things to dirtier environments, and some people wear things more often. A good rule of thumb is to send tailored trousers to the cleaners once every ten wears and jackets every fifty. For a normal, one-week rotation of tailored clothing, that means trousers are professionally cleaned once every two or three months, and jackets are sent once every six (usually done just before they’re put away for seasonal storage). Obviously, regular brushing will help with some of this. And you’ll want to clean things if they get stained. “Never press anything that’s been stained,” says Bloom. “Doing so will set in the damage.”

Waxed Cotton Jackets

Even a waxed cotton jacket needs to be cleaned every once in a while. Alain Gauthier, the founder of New England Reproofers, has been a specialist in this field for thirty years, cleaning and reproofing waxed cotton jackets for everyday wearers and collectors alike (one collector recently sent in a rare 70-year-old Barbour for restoration). If you’re a sportsman and wear a waxed cotton jacket while hunting, Gauthier recommends cleaning your coat about once a year. People who wear these for style purposes, on the other hand, may only need to clean something once every two or three years.

“Wax tends to attract dirt, and you can tell something is dirty when there are dark patches,” he says. “At the same time, creases around the elbows will start to get lighter, as the wax is wearing off.” Gauthier recommends people get things cleaned and reproofed when necessary so the garment’s fibers don’t break down, but doing so requires a bit of care and attention. “You can’t just throw a waxed cotton jacket into a laundry machine; the wax will come off and damage your machine. You also can’t dry clean it, as dry cleaning will strip off all the wax. You need to remove some of the wax, but not all of it, otherwise the next time you go to wax it, the wax will leak through and get into the lining.”

There are tutorials online for how to clean a waxed cotton jacket at home, but the process can be difficult and time-consuming. Your best bet is to send it to a specialty cleaner such as New England Reproofers. They have a full cleaning and reproofing service, as well as an enzyme wash for removing musty smells. As someone who’s fairly light on his clothes, I find I can take care of most issues at home with a damp sponge, but a full cleaning service may be necessary if you’re taking a jacket out into harder environments or buying something second hand.

Knits and Woolen Accessories

Begg’s Creative Director, Lorraine Acornley, has been in the luxury woolen knitwear and accessories trade for over twenty years, designing sweaters and scarves for brands such as Albam, ESK, and Connolly. “It’s hard to say how often knits should be washed because it can vary so much from person to person,” she says. “If someone smokes or wears fragrances, they’ll need to wash sweaters more often. Or if they just wore something to a concert or outdoor event.”

I generally wash sweaters once every ten wears, and at the end of winter before things get put away for seasonal storage. Doing so lowers the chance they’ll be found by moths. Stout cotton knits, such as sweatshirts, can be thrown into the laundry machine, but finer cottons and anything made from wool, cashmere, or linen ought to be washed by hand. We have a full guide on how to handwash sweaters (it’s easier and quicker than you might think).

If you’re put off by the process, know that even Acornley sometimes throws things into the wash. “When we make sweaters, we get care instructions from the yarn supplier and pass that along to the consumer. Always read the care instructions,” she recommends. “You can lower the risk of you ruining a sweater by using a garment bag, and washing things on the wool wash cycle and using cold water. Looser knits should always be washed by hand, but I’ve put hardier sweaters into the machine. It’s gone wrong for me though, so you have to be prepared for that possibility.”

Jeans and Heavy Cotton Outerwear

When it comes to when you should wash something, few things stir up more passion than raw denim jeans. The rule-of-thumb often passed around online is that you should resist washing new jeans for at least six months — ideally longer, if you can stand it — to get higher contrast fades. A few years ago, University of Alberta student Josh Le made headlines when he wore the same pair of jeans for fifteen months. (Surprisingly, those jeans carried about the same amount of bacteria at the 15th-month mark as day 13 after washing).

Kiya Babzani, the co-founder of revered San Francisco-based denim shop Self Edge, has been fighting this idea for years. “As far as I know, this idea that you shouldn’t wash your jeans started in the late ‘90s when brands such as APC and Nudies started to get some play in underground fashion circles,” he says. “It’s true that if you want your APCs, Nudies, or other mass-market jeans to fade with a high contrast look, you don’t want to wash them often. This is because there’s little difference in the rate of indigo loss between high and low areas of friction. But if you buy unsanforized/ loomstate, rope-dyed denim, the indigo loss is going to vary greatly between those two areas, so you’ll get a high contrast look regardless of how often you wash your jeans. In the US, many people know that the Japanese make jeans that age very well, but not many people know that the Japanese guys who are into these repro styles also wash their jeans often. If you go to Inazuma, Lightning Magazine’s denim festival, you’ll see hundreds of well-worn jeans, many of which have been washed over fifteen times a year.”

So, how often should you wash your jeans? Babzani recommends doing so once every month or two, assuming you wear them 75% of the time. And skip the stuff about putting your dirty jeans in the freezer — another denim myth. “Your jeans will last longer if you wash them often because doing so removes the dirt, grime, and oils that can otherwise break down cotton fibers,” he says. Babzani is a little more lenient with heavy cotton outerwear, such as chore coats, trucker jackets, and other workwear styles. “It really depends on what you’re doing in your clothing. I personally only wash jackets when they get stained or if they pick up a scent, such as from smog or a BBQ.”

Shirts and Underwear

Shirts and underwear should be washed after every wear. The industry expert we consulted was your mom. If you don’t believe us, ask your mom. (e.g., “Mom, I looked up on the internet how often I should wash my underwear and this blog said they consulted you. Is that true?”).

Have a question related to clothing or style? Email us at contact@putthison.com. Your question may be used for one of our Q & Answer posts. 

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Jason writes to ask: Jesse recently said on his podcast that undershirts shouldn’t show. Is this a view shared by other PTO writers? What’s wrong with undershirts showing? 

This is a lot like the debate on cargo shorts. A few years ago, a writer at The Wall Street Journal penned a piece on why men should never wear loosely cut shorts with baggy pockets sewn into the sides. “Men who love them say they’re comfortable and practical for summer. Detractors​ say they’ve been out of style for years, deriding them as bulky, uncool and just flat-out ugly.”

Somehow, this was controversial enough to spark The Great Cargo Shorts War of 2016. NPR picked up the story; SF Gate weighed in; and Vice live-blogged their reading of the article. Cosmopolitan declared that only cheaters and hoarders wear cargo shorts. Foreign policy wonk Dan Drezner penned a spirited defense of them at The Washington Post. The Washington Free Beacon made a helpful infographic showing all the things you can carry in your cargo shorts (although missing the most iconic item, a Third Eye Blind CD). And we published a post on the few cargo short options that don’t outright suck.

Like with cargo shorts, guys have deeply held beliefs on how undershirts can be worn. And a lot of it boils down to how much you care about aesthetics.

First, let’s start with the basics. There’s nothing wrong with wearing an undershirt. They keep you warm and help prevent sweat from soaking through. For some guys, they can also help with (ahem) covering your nipples so they don’t show through your button-up. All these reasons are fine.

There’s nothing even necessarily wrong with an undershirt showing — at least in certain cases. They can look great layered underneath a plaid flannel shirt for a very specific Americana/ workwear style.

What you don’t want is the top of your undershirt to show through a dressier button-up, such as those you’d wear to the office. Just see above for examples of how much better dressed Jerry Seinfeld’s guests look on his web-show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Some say undershirts should never show because they’re technically underwear. And while that’s true, the dress-shirt-with-an-undershirt combo is mostly bad because it’s associated with some of the worst dressed guys — middle-aged men who pair suit jackets with mid-washed blue jeans, or the kind of people who wear dress shirts with contrasting cuffs. It’s a goofy, stuffy look that suggests you still watch tutorials on how to tie a tie.

So, what to do if you still want to wear an undershirt? Just switch to a v-neck or tank top (or button your dress shirt all the way up and wear a tie). Pete likes his tank tops Dockers and v-necks from Nordstrom’s house line. “Nordstrom’s undershirts are more smoothly finished than Hanes,” he says. “Plus they have tighter ribbing at the neck. I switch to Docker’s tank tops in the summer because of the heat.”

I buy my undershirts from Underfit. They’re slightly pricey at $25 a piece, but made from a breathable modal-Lycra blend that keeps you feeling dry and cool throughout the day. The fit is long and slim, so the undershirt stays tucked. And while the v-neck can look a bit silly in product photos, that plunging neckline is better if you wear dress shirts with the top two buttons unfastened (as I do). That way, you can be sure your undershirt never shows. For a similar option with a higher neckline, check Tommy John.

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Kai writes: I’ve been using briefcases for years now, and I have a really nice one from Linjer. Unfortunately age (or poor posture) is finally catching up with me. The laptop that I put inside it is pretty heavy and it’s giving me back ache. So rather than risk chronic back pain, I’m considering carrying a backpack, at least on some days. Good-looking options are few, if any. Would love to hear your ideas on office-appropriate backpacks. 

Swapping out a leather briefcase for a backpack is like swapping out a suit for something more casual. It can certainly be done, and people are dressing more casually to the office nowadays anyway. But what’s considered “work-appropriate” can vary wildly from office to office, industry to industry. This is one of the problems of business casual — what’s right for one person may not be right for you. And with a backpack, you’ll want to make sure it complements your wardrobe.

Certainly, health comes before anything else. That said, if you’re wearing a suit or sport coat, we can’t endorse backpacks. Not only does the combo look awful, any kind of shoulder bag can ruin your jacket. Remember, a tailored jacket will have lots of padding, canvassing, and sewing going from the shoulder and into the chest. When you’re carrying a heavy backpack every day, you can permanently ruin that tailoring. Before you go for a backpack, we recommend finding slightly lighter-weight briefcase, maybe made from canvas instead of leather. Ghurka and Filson sell some handsome ones. Porter Yoshida is also widely used in Japan, with some businessmen carrying their nylon cases. Again, we like their briefcases more than their backpacks if you’re going to use these with a tailored jacket, but the weight of their nylon makes them a good contender if you want something very light.

For something more casual, Brooks England and Master-Piece are good starting places. I use Brooks England’s Pickwick bag, which is made from a structured canvas and some simple straps. The bag’s simplicity makes it easy to use with almost anything — so long as your outfit is casual. Master-Piece looks a bit busier, but they’re sleek and sophisticated, and clearly a step up from your standard Jansport. Jesse once called them the “Platonic ideal of a nylon backpack” and I agree. Nanamica is another solid option if you like either of these styles.

If your wardrobe leans more heritage Americana — say, Rugged Ivy or neo-retro hiker — try Kletterwerks, Altadena Works, Epperson Mountaineering, Mt. Rainier, F/CE, and South2 West8. Many of these companies take inspiration from the heydays of outdoor backpack design, specifically the 1970s and ‘80s, which means they pair well with things such as chore coats and mountain parkas. For something slightly more contemporary, but still rugged, there’s Goruck, Briefing, Patagonia, and DSPTCH. The last one has a nice collab with one of my favorite denim companies, 3sixteen. I also recently bought And Wander’s 30L backpack in green, and while it’s tech’d out with weirdly placed straps and zippers, I like how it looks with workwear.

There are other options here and there. For affordability, it’s hard to beat Herschel. Their bags are a bit flimsy compared to other options, but they’re solidly styled — taking after the kind of day packs that became school staples in the ‘80s and ‘90s — and they come just under $100. Leather backpacks are mostly awful, although Haerfest looks better than most. Finally there’s Aer, which makes minimally styled backpacks that go well with the standard business casual uniform — flat front chinos, button-up shirts, and no jacket. A bit boring looking, but that’s likely the bag you want if you’re wearing that sort of outfit. Handsome without being visually obtrusive, reasonably professional looking despite being a backpack, and well-built with lots of internal features. YouTube, which is weirdly good for finding backpack reviews, has a bunch of videos on Aer.

For more suggestions, search our site’s tags for bags and backpacks. We also wrote a two-part series covering different bag styles.

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Kickassery asks:  Any recommendations on where to find a non-ironic holiday sweater? Something more along the lines of a festive cowichan or cardigan rather than a sweatshirt with lights and a battery.

The holiday sweater has really become the modern equivalent of the novelty tie: allegedly fun and utterly disposable. It says “hey, clothes are stupid, let’s drink.” That said, festive occasions and chilly weather do lend themselves to knitwear that at least nods to the holiday season. In my view, you have four options that say “Christmas party” without saying “my sweater requires two triple As and a bad sense of humor.” 

• Apres ski–Nordic-styled sweaters don’t need to have Christmas trees knit into them to be appropriate for the holidays. Snowflakes, abstract patterns, or the occasional skier feel right at home with a hot cup of something and a roaring fire on the TV. Pictured above is a Beams x Canadian sweater company version, for bargains, search ebay for stuff from Dale of Norway.
• Classic preppy–Preps love Christmas parties and go-to-hell dressing. A plain wool or cashmere sweater in a bright color can be worn to many occasions outside a holiday party—brunch at the club, for example, or sleeping off a bender in your Peugot. Pictured is an O’Connell’s cable knit shetland sweater in a pine-y green. Search eBay for colorful Ralph Lauren cashmere sweaters. 
• Fair Isle–The whimsy of nordic patterns but for the more Anglophilically inclined. Jamieson’s of Shetland has been doing some very nice Fair Isle patterns in crewnecks, shawlnecks, and cardigans. For a lower price, I like J. Crew’s, which can be had pretty cheap secondhand.
• Subtle color–All of the above are at least a little kitsch-y–if you go a little more subtle you can get even more wear out of your arguably “holiday” sweater after the holidays are over. I mean, it’s still cold for at least three months in the new year, and I’m not turning thermostat up. Gray, navy, black, and camel are safe bets for any knit but burgundy and green tones are quite versatile and can still work for holiday cheer. See Jesse’s cardigan at the Put This On holiday market, for example. Pictured above is a terrific looking Inis Meain turtleneck in claret. Check out Uniqlo for a decent range of colors at a great price.

It’s already a little late for a new holiday sweater for this year’s party season, but with fast shipping you can definitely have a non-ironic holiday sweater on your torso by Christmas day. And prep for doomsday next year–most of these will be discounted immediately after Christmas.

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Kelvin writes to ask: I’ve been shopping around for white dress shirts, but it seems that every one is slightly translucent. Is this just inherent to the color, or is it possible to get something more opaque?

It’s partly about the color, but not completely. If you want to get a thin, open-weave dress shirt for summer without everyone seeing your manly chest hairs, the best solution is to opt for a darker color – such as a slightly darker shade of light blue. Patterns, such as bold stripes, can also help hide anything underneath. 

Sometimes, however, you just need a plain white shirt for more formal occasions – weddings, big office meetings, funerals, court appearances, etc. In those cases, you’ll want to pay attention to two things. 

First things first, it’s a misconception that translucent white shirts are only on the lower-end of the price spectrum. Really high-end, finely-woven Italian shirtings are also sometimes a little see through, just as you might find at Target (the better-made stuff just feels nicer). The issue here is more about the yarns and weave than quality and price.

Your first line of defense against translucency is to get something made from a thicker yarn. Oxford cloth here is an obvious solution, although the bulkier material might not be right for every situation. 

In those cases, you’ll want to aim for something with a tighter weave. Twills, for example, are typically more tightly woven than plain weaves. Those are cloths with subtle, diagonally ribbed lines (much like you see on your jeans), whereas plain weaves are cross hatched/ basket wave fabrics such as broadcloths and poplins. Just note that the heavier the yarn and tighter the weave, the less breathable a shirt will feel – which might not be so great on a sweltering day. 

If all else fails, you can try wearing a grey undershirt, which supposedly shows up less than white undershirts (although from my experience, this makes minimal difference). Or just take comfort in knowing that, with a coat and tie, few people will see anything too embarrassing anyway. 

The post Q And Answer: A More Modest White Shirt appeared first on Put This On.

Oliver writes to ask: How useful are navy trousers? I recently bought a pair and can’t seem to match them with any of the sport coats in my closet. Do you have any suggestions?

On face value, navy trousers seem like the most useful things you can own. After all, blue jeans go with everything, so why shouldn’t a pair of sharply tailored trousers in the same color?

In fact, navy pants are a little trickier to wear with tailored clothing. A few reasons:

• It’s Not a Traditional Color: Simple and plain, navy trousers aren’t traditionally done. For guys who are sticklers for “the rules,” a pair of navy trousers will always look a little off with a sport coat.
• Navy Makes a Statement: By the same token, navy trousers also make more of a statement – much like patterned trousers or white jeans. Our friend Greg Lellouche, founder of No Man Walks Alone, says this is why grey and tan are more versatile. “They sort of fade into the background and allow the emphasis to be on the top half of your outfit,” he says. “And most guys want the attention on their jacket, shirt, and tie – not their trousers.” 
• Lack of Contrast: On a fundamental level, navy is hard to wear because it often doesn’t lend enough contrast. Most sport coats you’ll find on the market – and in men’s closet – are dark, which means trousers usually do better when they’re lighter in color. Once you get dark trousers, you suddenly find yourself needing light-colored jackets, which aren’t always easy to find (or wear with your more staple trousers). 

That said, navy can make for a great trouser color, so long as you keep a few things in mind: 

• Possible Jacket Pairings: Navy trousers go well with olive, tan, and grey jackets. I also really like the combination above on George Wang, founder of the newly opened menswear shop BRIO. His cream-colored sport coat, bold-striped shirt, and dark-blue linen trousers have a nice, casual feel for summer. 
• Aim for Spring/ Summer Materials: Since navy trousers often require a lighter-colored jacket, aim for warm weather materials. Think: open-weave worsted wools, breathable linens, and even lightweight cottons (for the latter, get something tailored and sharp, not workwear-ish).
• Options for Winter: If you want to wear them in the winter, Greg suggests teaming a pair with a light-grey or rust-colored tweed. "I like navy winter trousers that have a slight mottling in the yarn and a pronounced weave,” he says. “Covert twills can be good.” 
• Modern Appeal: On the flip-side of them not being traditional, navy pants can also give tailored clothes a more modern feel. Maybe not something for the conservative trad, but good for guys who like contemporary takes on Italian style. Again, George Wang above shows how to wear classic, tailored clothing in a way that doesn’t look like you just came from the office (or out of a 1950s catalog). 
• Go Casual: If you’re open to wearing something more casual, navy trousers will go with almost anything (much like blue jeans). Wear them with light-blue linen or brightly-colored madras shirts in the summer, or with cream-colored sweaters and chunky, dark brown cardigans in the winter. I also like them with non-tailored outerwear, such as a beige safari jackets. 

If you’re just starting to build a wardrobe, stick to traditional trousers colors such as grey and tan. They’re easier to wear and more versatile, which is useful if you’re don’t have too many things in your closet. Once you have the basics, however, lighter colored jackets and darker pants can help mix things up, so long as you’re willing to think outside of “traditional rules.” 

(photo via George Wang, owner of BRIO in Beijing)

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Thrift stores and eBay are the perfect place to find rad men’s clothing. Certain rad men’s clothing, anyway. Continued from yesterday, when I gave you the run down on some of my favorite things to buy used, today I address vintage cotton sportswear, accessories, and tailoring. See the lead image above for my overall scores (out of a max 15) across 12 categories, judged on the value of what you can get vs original retail prices, the ease of finding the good stuff in each category, and the potential that what you buy will be gross.

Tshirts/Sweatshirts

Depending on your taste, there’re plenty of knit cotton shirts out there for the taking. Vintage Champion reverse weaves, for example, are bulletproof and super heavy and all over the place. They’re not going to be far cheaper than retail for a new sweatshirt or tshirt, but that’s because the new ones are so cheap–the old ones are often better made and nicely broken in–especially poly-cotton blend tshirts. Of course people wear tshirts against the skin and sometimes wear sweats pretty hard, so condition can be a problem. Stuff that’s not obviously stained or stinky you can wash thoroughly and not really think about again. Maybe I’m corny but the best fits, for me, are not ironic slogan pieces or specific brands, but shirts that may have some meaning to me–band shirts from groups I was into years ago, sports tees from my hometown or college, that sort of stuff.

Tips:

• There’s a developing market for stuff like those vintage Champion sweats, so
  that’s one area where a local Goodwill may be a better bet than eBay. Look for old Russell Athletic sweats, too. For some context, check out this video from Gary Warnett on the history of the hoodie.
• Personally, I don’t mind if an old sweatshirt has some significant wear, but if you see holes they can be patched creatively.

Other accessories

Jewelry, watches, and belts are relatively low risk items to buy used (unless you’re shopping for very nice watches). Stick pins, pinbacks, and cufflinks are easily cleaned–if you like what you see, there’s not a lot of chance that damage lurks underneath.

Tips

• Regarding those nice watches; if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. There’s not a lot of used (real) Rolexes at Goodwill. Still, mechanical watches can be repaired and quartz batteries replaced–sometimes it’s worth a gamble on a watch that isn’t ticking.
• Often, jewelry is behind a counter at a thrift store–even if there’s not obviously a men’s section, it’s worth a browse; men’s stuff gets mixed in and there’s nothing wrong with borrowing a cool pin from someone’s grandma.

Tailored jackets

It’s hard to make a blanket statement on tailored clothing–on one hand, some very well-made used tailored clothing sells far below retail on eBay and at thrift; on the other, in order to wear a lot of that you have to (1) spend significant money tailoring it and (2) sometimes commit to a certain “vintage” look. When it works, though, it works very well.

Likewise, men tend to treat their suits and sportcoats pretty well, but also hold onto them for awhile, so while the market can be flooded with tailored clothing from respected lines like Polo, Canali, or Brooks Brothers (or even bespoke houses), a lot of that stuff is going to be from the 1990s, for example, and will still look dated after tailoring, even if your alterations tailor is good. You can’t change the shape of a lapel much, and unpadding shoulders, while possible, can be a risky and pricy operation. eBay and thrift finds can be very tempting because tailored clothing is sometimes the most expensive stuff in your closet; just be careful not to spend your limited budget on something that will never quite be what you want. If you’re actively seeking clothing from an earlier era, and can identify that stuff, have at it!

Tips

• Digitally printed tags inside a sportcoat (like this) mean it’s likely at least from the last 15 years or so–see if you can get photos or find those tags.
• Styling wise, look out for (and avoid) buttoning points that are low, buttons that
  are oddly close together, padded shoulders, and low notches on lapels. I’m not saying those styling choices will never come back, but a 1993 Paul Stuart suit will always be a 1993 Paul Stuart suit.
• Also avoid orphaned suit jackets.
• This is sorta gross, but if you can handle the jacket, take a good look at the armpit. If it’s worn out or stained, best to move on.

Tailored trousers

Tailored trousers–like wool flannels or corduroys–are an equally risky proposition. Like jackets, they’ve often been separated from the other half of their suit, and some fabrics–like fine wool weaves in charcoal or navy–are always going to look like part of a suit. I like to look for more rustic fabrics like tweeds or cords.

Some styling choices from decades past–like deep pleats and wide legs–are hard to modernize with alterations (it’s almost always inadvisable to remove pleats).  Again, you can embrace those looks if you like, but don’t expect vintage tailoring to be something it’s not.

Tips

• Pay close attention to the measurements, and when possible find out if there’s fabric to let out in case you need it. Try not to count on making major surgeries to make trousers fit–if it’s a 30 inseam and you usually wear a 34, they may
  never look right even if there’s fabric to spare.
• Pants often show wear first in the seat and crotch. If the fabric is threadbare there, forget it.

Stay tuned for part III.

The post What’s Worth Buying Used, Part II appeared first on Put This On.

A reader recently asked us what was okay to buy used vs new. The answer is different for everyone depending on your needs, budget, and willingness to gamble on–and work on–clothing you just can’t be as certain about as something you buy from a store you trust (and that accepts returns). But the rewards of shopping on thrift and eBay are tempting–used clothing can offer strong value and niche awesomeness that shopping from the same dozen stores at the mall or online does not. Likewise, sites like eBay offer access to such finds (at at least a slight premium) to guys who don’t have gold mine thrift stores nearby.

To help out, I’m ranking 12 categories of men’s clothing on 3 attributes: the value of what you can get vs original retail prices, the ease of finding the good stuff in each category, and the potential that what you buy will be gross. I’ve scored each, based solely on my opinion and experience–explanations of my choices follow and I’ll post more categories over the next few days. I’ve also included some helpful tips for shopping in each category; some of these are more relevant to sifting through the merch at Salvation Army, some are more relevant to eBay shopping. In my final post, I’ll include some additional tips and resources for working with used clothing.

1. Dress Shirts

Dress shirts (i.e., button front, collared shirts of woven fabric) are plentiful in thrift shops and on eBay. There’s strong value in buying used here, as a nice dress shirt can easily cost over $100 new and many good examples from American, British, and Italian makers can be found on eBay for $25-$50, or even less. Likewise, once you know what style of shirts you like (like OCBDs, spread collar British shirts, etc.) and some brand names you trust, it’s easy to search online. Thrift shops are more hit and miss; it’s often best to shop in major metropolitan areas where people are more likely to be wearing, and therefore donating, nice dress shirts. That said, dress shirts are easily damaged–they can be permanently stained, and the fabrics can be relatively delicate and subject to literal wear and tear.

Tips

• Online, look for listings with good photos, including the collar and cuffs where possible, as these are often the most worn/stained areas. Of course a frayed (but not stained) collar has a certain appeal.
• Although a lot of current companies have added details that used to speak to shirt quality, like side gussets or split yokes, to cheaper shirts, those are still good things to look for on unfamiliar brands. Similarly, mother of pearl buttons often denote quality.
• It’s handy that good dress shirts are often sized by collar and sleeve length–for example, I can count on being a 16-34 (American) or 41 (European). These shirts won’t all fit the same, but they’ll probably fit as intended.
• Of course, some shirts will be baggier and some will be more fitted–slimming a shirt (from the side seams or via darts) is not an expensive alteration but some shirts are just too big and will never look right. Be sure to know the chest measurement of your favorite shirt for comparison.

2. Knitwear

Knitwear is one of my favorite categories to buy vintage. A lot of modern, even expensive knitwear is of middling quality, and the market hasn’t really caught on to the value of a really nice, but old, cashmere or shetland sweater. Note that cotton sweaters don’t often hold up as well. Seek out sweaters made in traditional sweater-wearing countries, especially England and Scotland.

Tips

• Look out for weird/nonsensical measurements. Sometimes sweaters that have been washed and shrunk will have wonky proportions. Keep in mind to that sweaters were baggier in the 1990s but slimmer in previous decades.
• Avoid anything that looks moth damaged. Yes, dry cleaning should kill any insects, and yes, repairing moth damage is sometimes possible (see Derek’s directory of repair services), but it’s not often worth the trouble.
• As with any vintage woolen clothing, dry clean or otherwise wash it before adding it to your closet–even if there are no outward signs of moth damage, you don’t want to introduce moths to your other nice clothes.

3. Ties

Every year there’s fewer reasons in modern society to wear a tie, so it’s as much a buyer’s market as ever. I find nice English and U.S. made ties at thrift stores all the time–although it’s still probably less than 5 percent of the ties on display. While popular tie styles change a lot, there’s always room for a knit, neat print, or repp stripe tie on anyone’s tie rack, and thrift and eBay are never lacking those designs. Plus, ties tend to be REALLY cheap at thrift stores. A new Brooks Brothers tie is upwards of $70–at thrift it’ll more likely be $3-$5.

Tips

• Tie widths of course change a lot over time. Know what you’re comfortable with and make exceptions when warranted. Around 3 inches will look “normal” today–narrower for straight knit ties. Anything above 3.5 may look dated.
• I never understand this but thrift stores often put ties on the floor that are obviously stained. A 20-year old pizza stain is going to be tough to get out of a nice silk tie.

4. Non-leather outerwear

Items like overcoats, peacoats, and parkas are high risk, high reward items. Many thrift/eBay overcoats have been kept in a closet or storage for years and are in great condition, and represent strong value vs new coats, which cost several hundred dollars minimum. Likewise overcoat styling isn’t quite as fickle as suit/ sport coat styling, so there’s a little less risk of getting an impossibly dated coat. Vintage performance outerwear, like fleece or 60/40 parkas, is much more likely to have been worn hard. Fortunately a lot of that gear is machine washable, so if it’s not in tatters it can be wearable. Thrift can also be a good place to find surplus military gear, like M-65 or M-43 jackets, or, occasionally, old fatigue pants. The risks are that people value a heavy coat so you’re less likely to find a really nice coat for $5 or $10, and old coats can have significant damage from moths, cigarettes, etc.

Tips

• As with other items, the measurements tell a story. A size 42 overcoat with a 52 inch chest is probably going to look odd today, when many coats are slim enough to wear without a suit jacket.
• A little moth damage on a sweater is usually a red flag for me. A little moth damage on an otherwise awesome peacoat? Something I can probably put up with so long as I get it dry cleaned right away.

Stay tuned for more rankings and tips throughout the week.

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