Fabric for Bachelors

January 11, 2007 1:24 PM

Fabric for Bachelors:: How to Shop for Work Clothes: A Primer for 'Bachelors' of Any Gender
posted by anastasiav (9 comments total)

Interesting information. I've been trying to learn how to sew and it's nice to have a clear description of what all these wierd terms mean. It sure would be nice to have some images alongside, though.
posted by arcticwoman at 2:02 PM on January 11, 2007

Shop for work clothes? You mean there's something else other than 501's or Carhartt's?

Weird.
posted by elendil71 at 2:51 PM on January 11, 2007

You know, this is all well and good, but it's hard to take clothing advice from anyone who shops almost exclusively from the LL Bean catalog.
posted by chinese_fashion at 4:06 PM on January 11, 2007

All in all a decent guide (I especially liked "Is this garment made well?"), but there are quite a few unsupported assertions:

If you are wearing a polyester shirt rather than a cotton one (to use a common example) the moisture will stay on your skin, although some of it will evaporate into the space between your body and the shirt.

Why? If you have a woven polyester shirt and a woven cotton shirt (let's say with equivalent size thread and same weave), why should they breathe differently? The little holes in the fabric's weave are the same size, and polyester clothes do soak up water.

Is it because the cotton fibers themselves absorb water, while a polyester fiber repels water? Well, in that case what about wool? We love wool because it still insulates when wet, unlike cotton. (And of course polyester does too -- cf. "fleece".)

It would have been better to just leave it at "polyester clothes breathe better" than to try to provide a half-explanation that's not very compelling or convincing.
posted by phliar at 5:01 PM on January 11, 2007

I don't see what being a bachelor (or 'bachelor') has to do with any of that.
posted by needs more cowbell at 5:12 PM on January 11, 2007

It's always nice to broaden my horizons in this department. Thanks for the post!
posted by Dr.James.Orin.Incandenza at 5:20 PM on January 11, 2007

I am interested in this subject, however, I want to know more than a text document (c) 1999 can tell me.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:20 PM on January 11, 2007

Fabrics have changed so much in this new millennium, eh? (I admit, I was a little put off by the retro web design, too.)
posted by Dave Faris at 7:45 PM on January 11, 2007

the slacks chapter is just plain dirty.
posted by kickback at 8:55 PM on January 11, 2007