Pattern placement makes or breaks

This post will challenge you to identify the best version of a printed garment for your colouring & body shape based on how a print is placed on that garment. 

When you buy high street, usually the print pattern is placed differently within a style & within a size.

Why? Because doing it this way they use less fabric instead of waiting for the pattern to repeat on the fabric roll before cutting more units.

Expensive garments can afford to use more fabric to place the pattern in a desired spot for each size within the style and even between sizes.

Pattern placement will affect where the eye goes when you are wearing the loot. That means it will affect whether you look taller, shorter, thinner, fatter etc. 

Does the eye go to your face? your waist? your arms? your hips? your legs? north- south? east-west? diagonally? where else?

What do you want to highlight? What do you want to hide? Does the pattern work with you on this or against you?

The colours near your face should be the best colours for your complexion. This one is not negotiable. Ever.

SIA has photographed 11 of these tops with a view to having you assess which is the best for you and which is the worst.

You don't have to like the top or its pattern to do this. 

If you want, do it imagining the print in your best colour, then in your worst colour. Also consider the background colour.  You also need to consider the pattern & its placement waist down. 

Don't worry about sleeve lengths, neckline widths, hem lengths or whether it's lop sided on the hanger. Just focus on the pattern placement of the front.  

The best way to handle this is to compare the first two. The winner is then compared to the next one on the list. The winner here is compared to the next one. And so on, until an ultimate winner is found. Then do the same to find your worst pattern.

The beauty of this is that there is no copping out. Because every print placement is unique, you cant say that they are the same. There has to be a winner & a loser.

This is really important stuff - if you want to be well dressed, it's in the 101 category. 

Fabric & construction 101: those tummy holes

Some tee shirt holes are deliberate.

Like the $1.6K Balmain khaki tee from a few seasons ago.

Some tee shirt holes are not deliberate. 

Like those tiny holes on the tummy area of your tee shirts.

Fact: Most of the time, those tiny holes are not a manufacturing issue nor a fault of the brand. 

Sorry, that's not what you want to hear.  

But it's the truth.

Fact: Those tiny holes are caused by friction - when the tee rubs against something. That something is generally an external surface or your clothing. Often both. 

Fact: The nasty external surfaces tend to be seat belts or the sides of bench tops.

Fact: The nasty clothing tends to be your jean fly - because the fly is a really rough surface or the edge of the fly, which is also a tough section of fabric. 

Fact: Tee shirts come in a variety of fabrics & weaves.

Fact: The tiny holes are pretty much guaranteed on cotton tees, especially where it is a fine weave.

Fact: The fact that the tee cost alot of money (think uber designer or James Perse, Majestic, Enza Costa and anything in pima cotton) makes absolutely no difference. 

In fact, the expensive brands do fine weaves far more often than cheaper brands, so you will see the issue more in that more expensive space. 

Fact: the tiny holes are rare on tees which have elastene or a synthetic mix. 

Fact: The tees which tend to exhibit this issue tend to be worn loose. So wearing a tee loose doesn't make the problem go away.

Fact: Doing the half tuck with your tee may help to manage the problem as the tee isnt rubbing against the fly front. But if a tee is fine, the half tuck may cause other pulling issues. 

Here is a blog to inspire you with the half tuck: 

http://styleintoaction.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/10-ways-with-half-tuck-top.html


Fact: If you want to make this problem go away, short of locking yourself in a room for the rest of your life and not moving much, don't buy those tee shirts which make this problem highly likely. 

Fact: If you insist on buying those tees, then wear a cami underneath than covers the jeans fly area, so the tee doesnt rub directly against it. The stretch strappy singlet tops which are sold in discount stores are fine for this - just make sure they dont rise up as you move around, hence exposing the fly front to the tee. Make sure they have enough length in the torso. 

Fact: If you buy one of these fine tees, there is a good chance the hole will happen on the first or second wear. But I can guarantee you that it wont happen on a thick model with elastene.

Usually I am the first person to expect more from the retailer. In this case, it's not the retailer's fault. 

Frankly I think these tees should be flagged as "delicate around the tummy especially with jeans", just like garments are often flagged as open weaves and delicate with jewellery. 

Fact: The factors mentioned above all contribute to create these tiny holes. It's a reasonable outcome. It's reasonable wear & tear. 

Normally brands won't provide a remedy to the customer for wear & tear. Normally remedies are for faulty goods, where a product wont stand up to reasonable wear & tear.

The tiny holes are not a fault. They are simply wear & tear. 
They are reasonable wear & tear. 

But if you use your common sense and buy something else, this wont be a problem. 

Please dont wait until you have five tees, all from the same brand, all with the same problem to complain. 

Why not complain after it's happened say, the second time?

Why complain if it's not a fault?

A retailer will often resolve your issue favourably in the interests of maintaining customer goodwill. Even if they are not at fault. This is good. 

The more of an issue you make it, the more publicly you raise it, say in the store in front of other customers or on social media, the more likely it will resolve in your favour. 

But instead of complaining about an inevitable issues, it may be better to avoid it by altering your buying habits.