Wednesday, April 7, 2010

oh shirt

Remember the song from Mr.Ed - "a horse is a horse of course ". Unless the horse was Mr. Ed. ( got ya singing that one all day long). So what does Mr Ed have to do with shirts. Well - a shirt is a shirt of course unless it's Mr. Silk Shirt, Mr. Rayon shirt, or Mr. Wrinkle -free shirt. So like the amazing Mr. Ed ( who we all remember talked) your shirt that isn't a shirt also talks.

How does a shirt talk? Ok - I'll give a few minutes to think about it. The shirt doesn't talk aloud- so don't go into your closet and think those shirts are talking behind your back when light is out. Those of you who read this blog - you got the answer- yep it's talking on the ....... wait for it........care label. (ha - and you thought i'd finally finished my care label diatribe).

So let's talk shirts. Oh shirts- those bastians of maleness. The indesputable foundation of every mans closet. Let's talk about those regular everyday everyman man shirt. These come in cotton or cotton/ polyester blend. Aside from differences in color, sleeve size and neck size - they are pretty much all the same. And that my male friends is why you're shirts are the least expensive item to clean. It is the one gament that we have machines that with a well trained operator will allow faster production. ( some cleaners will stop there - but we make sure each shirt is touched up by hand after production to remove any and all wrinkles). Starch ? No starch? Which is better ? Honestly, I could make some testostorone laden comment about real men use ..... but the truth is - What do you like? It is really up to you. ( however, I will say that starched blue jeans - kinda like a denim girdle - so always a good way to hide those extra lbs - maybe that's a woman thing)

Now, let's take a trip to say ... the Bahamas? How was that for subtle? Those shirts are made of silk. Most will say drycleaning recommended or dryclean only. So could they concievable be done like your everyman shirt? No. The dyes on that shirt can not be washed, starched and pressed wet. That shirt will shrink with high heat. That shirt, gentleman, requires special care. So buy them if you understand they need to be drycleaned and the dyes are sensitive. But do not buy these type shirts if you don't want to pay the drycleaning bill. Don't get me wrong - these are great shirts. My son loves them ( but his mom owns the cleaners). All I'm saying is these shirts are going to be more expensive to maintain. So its kinda like buying a Lexus or a Ford. Both good cars but one is more nicely equipped and it will cost more to maintain. So if you choose to go to the Bahamas in your shirt buying - remember it's a Lexus.

So guys - here's the deal . When you buy a shirt .. think ... do I want to spend the money to maintain it? Why buy a Lexus to never change the oil and let it fall apart? Why go the shirt Bahamas - spend all that money on a seriously fine looking shirt - to wash into the junk yard?So a shirt is a shirt of course unless it's ...

Next week Oh shirt part 2 - so what the deal with wrinkle free? ( ask any woman - no shirt or face is ever wrinkle free with out a heck of a lot of chemicals)