Comment by cletus | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cletus | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

I saw this post and ignored it on first glance. I just assumed it was some guy and as such it's pretty easy, particularly as an engineer. At work picking out the engineers is largely trivial (jeans, tshirt, runners). There are variations (eg SF engineers have more an affectation for, say, checked shirts at present).

As a guy this seems totally fine. Women seem to have it much harder and not really because of men either. Women (generally speaking) are highly critical of other women and much more conscious of their appearance and behaviour because of other women (take women's shoes: the only people who care are other women) so it's interesting for me to hear this "utilitarian" approach from a women's perspective.

I find the comments on jeans interesting. She's right in that there is a lot of variation in women's jeans but this in itself sends an interesting signal.

In the past couple of years there has been a style of skinny leg jeans. By and large these look ridiculous. Below the waist straight leg jeans are basically timeless so right there you have an easy differentiator between those women governed by the fashion of the day and those governed by other considerations (like actually looking good; yes there's a difference between that and being a slave to trends).

Anyway, for wearing the same thing there sure seems to be a lot of clothes on that page.

There is huge variance in t-shirt quality and fit. In my experience, American Apparel tees are the best I've ever found, and I order them 150-200 at a time (in black, of course). I have to lie and say they're for screenprinting, due to some weird requirements Am Appy instituted for their (now pretty restricted) wholesale customers. In bulk and in quantity (free shipping), they are $6/ea stateside. (Retail where I live is €27.)

I firmly believe from experience that no t-shirt looks better than a washed-once American Apparel black T in the right size. It's the closest thing we hackers have to a suit, I think.

By "runners" I assume you mean running shoes? Those aren't all-weather and can't be worn with an actual suit. I've a nice pair of black Doc Martens which shine up wonderfully, and have been treated to be fairly waterproof. They are perfect universal-occasion shoes, and incredibly comfortable.

Have you thought about using one of those fabric softeners designes specifically for black clothing?

My t-shirts last about 3 years. Business-presentable up to a year or so ... that's hundreds of washes considering I cycle through most of my t-shirt stack every 1.5 weeks.

After 5 years they're only good enough for the gym, on account of the fabric becoming weird. The colour is still mostly fine.

Also, I think you're doing something seriously wrong when washing your t-shirts ... you are doing cold washes right? Nothing above 40C and all that ... also, is your washing machine filled with sand or something?

T shirt... Business presentable...?

You live in a world that is quite distant from mine and anyone I know.

If it's from Armani

...that would still be a definite no.

> I order them 150-200 at a time

Wow. That's is a HUGE pile of t shirts.

You say "washed-once" is a good look but do you throw them away afterwards?

I think 150 t shirts would last me 150+ years

The whole mess of them fit into one of those plastic 22-gallon (ca 80L) storage tubs.

They are business-presentable for 3-4 washes, and around-the-house for another 4 or 5 after that.

A big part of it is that I live somewhere with exceptionally hard water for a major city (Berlin), so they tend to develop the characteristic white edge thing that happens to black clothing more quickly than "normal" (for other locales).

I figure my latest batch will last me ~3 years?

Buying them in big batches is a huge time and money saver, even if I just tossed them after 3 washes.

So you dump your shirts after only 7-9 washes? I hope you donate them to a charity thrift store.

Have you checked to see what treating your water would cost? Chemical water softeners are relatively cheap. This one[1] costs roughly $0.30 per load of laundry. If it doubled the wash lifetime of your shirts you're throwing away a ton of money by not doing it.

[1] http://www.walmart.com/ip/Calgon-Water-Softener-1-qt/1342460...

I've tried it. It's a combination of hard water causing greying and the fact that the hems on the t-shirts (usually the collars) end up curling after 7 or 8 washes. It's not a 100% gain, maybe 20-50% for substantial additional hassle.

T-shirts cost me ~$400/year presently. I live on a 4th floor walkup, my washer is on my second floor (yet another floor up), chemical water softeners are heavy, and shirts simply don't cost enough to jump through hoops of buying, carrying, and stocking another heavy supply fluid (already doing that for detergent and fabric softener).

I try not to add significant inconvenience to my life for things that will save me under $1000/year.

To put it in perspective, I spend more on bottled water than I do clothing.

Why not buy white tshirts instead?

my personal preference - Hanes Beefy-T, black, there is none better; much thicker T than American Apparel; started printing t-shirts in high school (20+ years ago) been wearing them ever since.

Woah, in the UK[1] that's a £2,250 (~US$3,500) order.

[1] http://store.americanapparel.co.uk/2001.html

They retail from AA in the US for $18 each, but are available from limited wholesalers for $6 in quantity with free shipping, presuming you convince them that you're a screenprinter and won't be selling them unmodified.

200 of them is only $1200 that way, and it'll last me 3-4 years easily.

T-shirts: SOLVED.

"... and I order them 150-200 at a time (in black, of course)."

Cyberpunk will never die as long as one person is still living the dream!

"Women seem to have it much harder…" -- as a woman who has totally opted out of this, I can tell you that women make it much harder… on themselves. Not even on each other, not unless you're hanging out with the wrong people.

I think of this as the "Boohoo, societal beauty standards are brutal, please pass the Cosmo" conundrum.

Her essay was a fun read and I loved her pixel art. But I think my wardrobe is less complicated than hers and it would never occur to me to write about it. I rather think she's romanticized a completely normal and unremarkable way of living… the CPU quote as a sign.

FWIW, nobody's commented on or criticized my clothing choices since an ex's mother, nearly 7 years ago, bought me fancy button-up shirts without asking, but I think she just thought I dressed the way I did because I was poor. Ha. :)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com