Just linen, hemp or 100% cotton for me, how about anyone else.
Linen, hemp or cotton!
- Thread starter rummwa
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Wool??
Depends what we're talking about. Pants? Shirts? Suits?
I'm shying away from cotton. I find it holds sweat and water way too long, gets smelly easily and unless it's got stretch added to it, bags out and loses its shape. I'm loving - even in the heat, so far - merino wool for top layers, and linen or linen-cotton blends for summer pants, or synthetic breathables. Yes, I get hot in merino wool - but I also get hot and sweaty in cotton, when the weather is warm. Plus, merino has great stretch and recovery.
I'm shying away from cotton. I find it holds sweat and water way too long, gets smelly easily and unless it's got stretch added to it, bags out and loses its shape. I'm loving - even in the heat, so far - merino wool for top layers, and linen or linen-cotton blends for summer pants, or synthetic breathables. Yes, I get hot in merino wool - but I also get hot and sweaty in cotton, when the weather is warm. Plus, merino has great stretch and recovery.
Dress trousers: worsted wool in summer / flannel in winter. Although, with the office a/c being the way it is - they are both year round choices.
Dress shirts: Cotton
Casual clothes: I tend to be New England prep and all that goes along with it
Dress shirts: Cotton
Casual clothes: I tend to be New England prep and all that goes along with it
Cotton is not a high performance fabric. I was astonished to discover how good modern fabrics can be. My T-Shirts are all polyester with elastaine but woven in such a way as to make them far more comfortable than cotton and very very good in the heat.
I have a few pairs of linen pants that I just dearly love, but they are such a pain to iron at times. My shirts all tend to be cotton, and with the heavy starch I give them, they all tend to look sharp and fresh. I have never worn any hemp, so I cannot comment on that. Most of my pants that I wear for work are all cotton and with a bit of starch and a good ironing they look good for the entire shift. I find that many of the man made materials just do not breath well enough for my taste. My suits are all wool (even the summer suits)
all cotton shirts for me,cotton khakis as well..tried silk,hemp,ramie..they all lose their shape after a few washes,in cold water even...I really miss the old Frisko jeans and Ben Davis work pants...they were made from very thick sailcloth in the old days,sometimes called "cotton duck cloth"....
I tend to drape myself in velvet.
I go with cotton dress shirts and wool dress pants. Other stuff I dont really pay attention to what it is made out of, more of how it feels.
I go with cotton dress shirts and wool dress pants. Other stuff I dont really pay attention to what it is made out of, more of how it feels.
This is what I thought until i tried Uni- Qlo's "Dry" range. It's much more breathable than cotton, linen or hemp.
I guess this is similar to Champion's "Duo Dry" materials which are advertised to "wick moisture away" and keep you cooler and dryer. I can say that the underwear actually works well, much better than cotton in hot, humid weather. However, the Champion range seems to be limited to underwear, gym shorts and t-shirts. At least, that is all I've seen.
There is a world of difference between cheap synthetic clothing and the new breed of performance-oriented fabrics. If you go to a knowledgeable outdoor specialist and get kitted out with a superwicking base layer and breathable mid/top-layer for summer it really does it's job. Add a merino sweater (I don't think that material has been beaten for it's combination of warmth and breathability as yet) with a high quality Gore-Tex or other shell, you can climb mountains or wander around town in winter going from heated malls to the windy high street in comfort. When I first wore a Peak Performance mountain jacket it was so breathable it left me wondering why I wasn't cold. I was so used to the associated slight clamminess that comes with traditional winter clothing. Add a 30 min run on a bike and the breathability and windproofness of a fabric becomes extremely obvious. Waxed cotton is dreadful to wear in high-energy situations and the breathability of many linen weaves comes with wind-porousity which saps your strength. Ventile is good, though it needs to be proofed with Nikwax. Paramo stuff is great. All high tech applications which give genuine benefit to the wearer.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Silk. It feels SOOOOOOOO sensuous!
I am shying away from non-natural fibers in a major way, and love my cottons. I have found the offerings of hemp clothing locally to be very tatty, and not something I'd wear. I got a couple of linen shirts last year for the wedding, which I love dearly. Light, comfortable and decent-looking for vacation-time.
On a normal day, when going in to the office, I wear jeans and either polo shirts, or a cotton shirts, and these days, all my shirts are exclusively fine grade egyptian cotton. They cost more, but are far more comfortable in the long run, and tend not to show the wear as quickly as the cheaper shirts I have had.
Last year, I bought two new three-piece suits, both in very fine wool, and they are great. I wore one of them on my wedding day, on the island of Mykonos, Greece. It was a warm day, and I wore all three pieces, and yet had no issues with overheating.
I am planning on getting a number of trousers made for every-day use, based around the same sort of cut that my suit pants have; fairly wide, straight legs, with blousing in the waist-line. This makes for comfort, and they usually look pretty good, and a lot better than trousers that fit tighter around my legs.
The only exception to my rule about non-natural fibers is that whenever I exercise, I wear synthetics where appropriate. E.g., I'll wear spandex when riding my bike, and my running shorts are made of some sort of synthetic, though I usually wear cotton t-shirts.
On a normal day, when going in to the office, I wear jeans and either polo shirts, or a cotton shirts, and these days, all my shirts are exclusively fine grade egyptian cotton. They cost more, but are far more comfortable in the long run, and tend not to show the wear as quickly as the cheaper shirts I have had.
Last year, I bought two new three-piece suits, both in very fine wool, and they are great. I wore one of them on my wedding day, on the island of Mykonos, Greece. It was a warm day, and I wore all three pieces, and yet had no issues with overheating.
I am planning on getting a number of trousers made for every-day use, based around the same sort of cut that my suit pants have; fairly wide, straight legs, with blousing in the waist-line. This makes for comfort, and they usually look pretty good, and a lot better than trousers that fit tighter around my legs.
The only exception to my rule about non-natural fibers is that whenever I exercise, I wear synthetics where appropriate. E.g., I'll wear spandex when riding my bike, and my running shorts are made of some sort of synthetic, though I usually wear cotton t-shirts.
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