Fear Not the Non-Iron Shirt
November 26, 2011, By Gin A. Ando 2 comments
My father never taught me how to shave with a straight razor. He never taught me about the “birds and the bees” or how to build things or change the oil in my car. I learned those things from trial and error (oil changes from my older brother.) But what Pop did teach me has helped me far, far more than any of the things on that list: He taught me how to cook (steak is the most important here), spend and save money, wear a suit and, lastly, how to iron a shirt.
Flashback to a few years ago. I receive a very nice gray point-collar shirt with black pearly buttons. It fits nicely—the most important aspect of any shirt. It’s a damn fine shirt. To my surprise, however, it said quite clearly on the label in bold, serif font, “NON-WRINKLE.” What? A no-iron shirt? A dress shirt that doesn’t wrinkle? I thought it was some sort of strange novelty, like that car that can parallel park itself.
I am a person who does things for the sake of doing them. A cup of coffee while ironing a shirt and listening to Charles Mingus is my ideal morning. It’s therapeutic. With a wrinkle-free shirt, I was confused about what to do. I don’t want to just walk down to the laundry room and stare at the wall behind the ironing board while drinking coffee and listening to Mingus.
NEXT: To Iron or Not to Iron
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