The London Lounge

Every time I receive a new jacket, I am a touch disappointed. They always seem a touch rigid and like they are not yet mine. I am always reminded how much I like my "old" clothes. Then I forget about it and they mold to my body and become my old clothes. The cycle always repeats.

I never keep track of the changes, so I never know exactly what to expect. How long does the "breaking in" process generally take with a new suitcoat or sportcoat?

I can't speak for the tailors ... but insofar as my shirts I kind of figure they start to feel just about right in year 6 or 7.

AlexanderKabbaz wrote:. . . [M]y shirts . . . start to feel just about right in year 6 or 7.

Goodness! And I thought that a good cotton shirt would last only two hundred or so wearings, and that one of finer cotton even fewer. Am I mistaken, as I hope?

AlexanderKabbaz wrote:I can't speak for the tailors ... but insofar as my shirts I kind of figure they start to feel just about right in year 6 or 7.

Alex-

I don't know if you are joking, but I have found that I prefer a shirt to have ten or so wearings and washings before it feels like it is mine. I can't think of an item of clothing other than cotton socks that doesn't need a little wear to get right.

iammatt wrote: How long does the "breaking in" process generally take with a new suitcoat or sportcoat?

I'd say between 1 and 2 years for worsted suit coats and over 5 years for tweed sport coats. This is why I simply love to wear flannels. They feel comfortable after wearing as little as 5 to 10 times.

I believe that one of the fundamental differences between quality RTW and real bespoke, totally hand-made garments is that a RTW suit or sports-coat is like a flower: it can look and feel quite magnificent the first time you wear it, but its beauty is doomed, and it’s going to fade away with use and time, while a bespoke item of clothing is a living, breathing tool of elegance that will grow up, slowly mature and even past its prime will age and eventually die in style.

Alex- I don't know if you are joking, but I have found that I prefer a shirt to have ten or so wearings and washings before it feels like it is mine.

Joking? Yes and no. I agree that around the 10th wash is when they begin to feel like 'mine'. But it is around the 50th wash that they begin to feel like nothing is being worn - they are just a decorous extension of my skin.

Goodness! And I thought that a good cotton shirt would last only two hundred or so wearings, and that one of finer cotton even fewer. Am I mistaken, as I hope?

On the finest cottons (170s) which have existed long enough to judge (since 1984), I count on 250 wearings. Mind that even one bad commercial laundering can easily cut that number down by 249. Eventually (2008-9) I'll be able to express similar thoughts on the 200s which I have been making since 1999.

iammatt wrote: How long does the "breaking in" process generally take with a new suitcoat or sportcoat?

I think that it depends on how often you wear the garment. My newest summer weight dinner jacket has been averaging three or four wearings a season in its three year life and it's worn for only a few hours each time and under little duress. This DJ may take a decade to break in. Conversely, I've found that the garments that I travel with, which necessitate being worn in a very tight rotation, for often long hours and with some duress, will have an accelerated break in time.

Generally, because of the depth of my wardrobe and the fact that I live in a multi-season environment(requiring what amounts to two separate wardrobes), I have many pieces that still feel new after several years of life. Maybe I should employ Fred Astaire's method for breaking in brand new jackets, upon receipt he would spend some time throwing them up against a wall to soften them up.

What I've found somewhat successful for breaking in new clothes is to hang them in the bathroom and take a hot shower. It seems to make clothing less rigid. It also works well as a quick fix for wrinkles.
James

Astaire's methodology is well known for its success in this instance. Delighted to read this being mentioned here.