Shirt Care

They say that no trad is an island, but I say that if there is one area in which each trad stands alone, it is shirt care. I have great admiration for those who can wear their OCBDs unpressed, but this is not the way of longwing. And those who send their OCBDs off to be professionally cleaned and pressed I consider to be downright masochistic (it is longwing's POV that anyone who sends their shirts off should switch to pinpoint). For me, it is the middle way.

I'm a self care shirt care junkie (no starch, thank you). I am a man that is never happier than when performing a completely mindless task, and ironing is just the thing.

Oxford cloth must have been invented for the self care shirt care man. The beautiful thing about it is that it doesn't matter if you do an excellent ironing job or a lousy ironing job, the shirt always ends up looking the same. It's wonderful. Broadcloth is a completely different matter. I can't seem to make my broadcloth shirt look worth a dang no matter what I do and if I weren't so cheap I'd send them off. This is why I'm still thinking about those non-iron shirt over at Brooks.

Be warned though, like everything else trad, there is a dark side to ironing. I am the father of two teenage boys who often arrive at the house with friends, both male and female. It is not every kid's dream to walk in, friends in tow, on dad ironing his shirts. It seems to give the wrong impression. This is something we have had to talk about. It has even been suggested that perhaps dad could be a bit more discreet with his ironing habit. Such is the life blah, blah, blah.