(Belated) Men’s Fashion Tip For August

I’ve been washing my own clothes since I was nine years old.  I started doing it because I felt that my mom wasn’t washing them well enough.  Sometimes they’d shrink.  Other times they’d fade.  Though I occasionally had those same problems myself, at least I could spend the time to do whatever was most appropriate for the garment.  In turn, my clothes have generally held up well and looked nice for a long time.  (This isn’t to say that I always look nice, but to suggest that the clothes I’ve taken care of don’t wear out quickly.)

 

Which brings us to last month’s belated fashion tip: take care of your clothes, guys.  While that may seem like a simple, or even obvious statement, I’ve found that many guys don’t have a clue about how to take care of what they wear. 

 

The first, and most basic, part of taking care of clothing is knowing how to wash it and washing it yourself.  If someone else is washing you clothes for you (mother, wife, girlfriend, roommate, etc.), you’re already doing something very wrong.  It’s important to wash your own clothes because you (should) know how they fit and (should) have the largest stake in making sure they don’t shrink or fade.  Conversely, if you don’t wash your own clothes don’t be surprised when that cool new shirt you got is suddenly three inches shorter and two inches wider.  So, check the tags and sort the colors yourself.  Again, this may seem basic, but if you don’t want to look like a dork all the time it's the very least you can do.

 

The next part of taking care of your clothes is acquiring an awareness of what kinds of fabrics they’re made out of (again, check the tags).  Most of my clothes are made out of cotton, and if you’re in the same boat you might want to consider taking some extra precautions.  For example, if you have a cotton t-shirt and you ever put it in the dryer, it will almost certainly shrink.  Also, most cotton clothing continues to shrink indefinitely.  It’s true that most of the shrinkage will occur in the first few washings, but that process may never stop.  (How much and how long your clothes continue to shrink depends greatly on the quality.  A three dollar t-shirt will become ridiculously deformed after two or three washings, while a twenty dollar t-shirt will last much longer.) 

 

Similarly, if you have dark jeans (which are perfect for the cooler weather!), they will continue to lose color as long as you have them.  This frustrates me to no end, but if you want proof just go to the nearest thrift store; most of the shirts will be short and wide (i.e. very shrunken), and most of the jeans will be very light (i.e. faded). 

 

For cotton there are a few things you can do.  First, always wash anything cotton in cold water.  Second, hang dry your clothes.  (Hang drying is also cheaper and environmentally friendly.)  Third, if you have a colored garment, wash it inside out.  Taking precautions like these won’t keep your cloths in mint condition, but it will extend the life by months or years. 

 

The other big thing you can do to preserve you clothes, no matter what they’re made of, is hand wash them.  I was lucky enough to learn all about hand washing while in Brazil, but my sense is the few people have hand washed something before.  To hand wash something you can either go out and find all the proper materials (washboard, ringer, etc.), or you can just find a clean bucket.  The easiest way to do it is to fill the bucket up with cold water and a little soap (don’t use too much), and let the clothes soak for a while (I let them soak overnight when I have time, or for an hour or so if I don’t).  Then gently plunge the clothing up and down in the soapy water, making sure the they’re moving against each other and that water is moving through them.  When you’ve done that for a few minutes, empty the bucket out and fill it up with clean water, non-soapy water and repeat to rinse.  Finally, hang them to dry. 

 

Some people might express doubt that that this process gets clothes clean because its not mechanized, but in fact you can actually get things much cleaner by hand washing.  In fact, I often hand wash my favorite clothing both to preserve it and to keep it fresh. 

 

Ultimately, the point is that to look presentable you have to be conscientious of you clothes even when you’re not wearing them.  A hands-off approach to clothing care will leave you looking like a fool.  (When it comes to fashion I’m reminded of the old quote “I didn’t say it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.”  So true.)  And remember, there is no fashion neutrality.