are you self-sufficient?

I was curious how many of you are self-sufficient and prefer doing things yourself when it comes to your wardrobe. Do you iron your own shirts? Do you polish your own shoes? Or, do you take your garments to the dry cleaner and get your shoes polished at a shoe shine shop?

I'm old fashioned in the sense that I believe every man should know how to do things for for himself. I iron & starch my own dress shirts and shine my own shoes. in this day and age of technology it's pretty easy to find DIY tutorials via google, so in that sense i've learned a lot. believe it or not it wasn't up until a few years ago that I didn't know how to tie my own tie. but I have now become a huge fan of the Pratt/Shelby knot.

what about you?

There are degrees of self-sufficiency. A few years back, I saw an exhibition / demonstration at a local Scottish Highland Games gathering. First you shear the sheep. Then you card the wool. This is followed by spinning the thread, and finally weaving the fabric. Only then do you actually make the clothing. All very fascinating..

As for myself, I do mix up my own laundry powder and hand wash or use a type of hand powered laundry machine which I got from Lehmans. I also do minor sewing repairs and darn my socks which is fast becoming a lost art. Never actually put together an item of clothes (sew or weave) from yard goods, though.

I'll wash & iron my own shirts, polish my own shoes (not that there's anyone in town who'd do it for me, paid or otherwise), and sew buttons (back) on myself.

Cleaning suits, hemming and altering suits ... well, I let someone else do that for me.

Cynomys said:

There are degrees of self-sufficiency. A few years back, I saw an exhibition / demonstration at a local Scottish Highland Games gathering. First you shear the sheep. Then you card the wool. This is followed by spinning the thread, and finally weaving the fabric. Only then do you actually make the clothing. All very fascinating..

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... but you've borrowed the sheep, so it's not really self sufficiency yet.

I can't even pick out my own clothes. I can never seem to understand what goes with what.

I wash, iron, shine, etc. my own items. (Save those that really need dry cleaning.) I also will adjust the size if they're not way out of whack, as well as mending, etc. I've made some casual shirts, and some clothes for the wife and kids on occasion, but my sewing isn't to the point that I'm comfortable trying to make a real dress shirt, etc. I've certainly made some really comfy casual pants and pajamas for the family when I've felt like messing with it. I tend to like to be VERY self sufficient, and have made my own bedroom furniture (except mattresses and things like that) as well as some of the other furniture in the house. I take a lot of pride in making things that function the way I want them to, rather than just the way they come designed and built by someone else. I laughingly call it "custom" but in most cases it's "cheap!" (because it'd have to be custom made by someone else if I didn't do it.)

This is a strange question. Sort of FWP thread (First World Problem). Only a very unusual person has any excuse not to shine his own shoes or put some clothes in the washer. I knew a woman who was very stylish and charismatic. I was quite smitten with her until she said "I refuse to clean, cook or sew". I lost my respect for her after that.

Well our apartment doesn't have a washer/dryer nor is there one in the building so it's not really an option. So we call "the guy" and they come get it and bring it back when it's done. $18 for 15 lbs then $1 per additional pound. Beats sitting in a laundromat.

Ben

I shine my own shoes and send shirts and pants to the cleaners. I can iron. I choose not to iron.

as far as making my own clothes... no. i will sew a button back on or a tear in the fabric (if i feel the item is worth it) when the Army was still using BDU's with black boots, i would starch my uniforms and polish my boots since they went to ACU's i havent touched an iron lol. there have been a few times when i wish i still had one at the house.

the one thing that i dont ever want to pay for is my lawn. i suppose i unjoy it at times but its mostly that it isnt that hard, esp when these new homes have extremely small yards. i can prob mow my front lawn in 5 minutes. yet half the people on my street pay someone (who knows how much) to do it for them. makes no sense to me.

benvh said:

.....our apartment doesn't have a washer/dryer nor is there one in the building....

Ben

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I find this a symptom of baffling decadence and/or laziness.
I know there are apartments in New York which do not even have a kitchen as they are designed for those who consider cooking beneath them.
This is a sad state of affairs. A food culture is vital to the health of a soceity.

The only thing I get "professionally" cleaned are items that require it. Dry clean dress pants, suits, wool sweaters. Most of my shirts are non-iron these days, but I iron those that require it. Also my khakis get ironed. With a needle, I can put buttons back on, but that is about it.

I take care of my own shoes. Heck, the only places I know of to get a shoe shine are Metro stations and Nordstrom.

Generally I'm the type to try and do things myself, or try and learn. I guess it comes from being a bit of a tightwad and a desire to be a well rounded man, in a generation of men who would get laughed at by their grandfathers (and sometimes fathers). Off topic a bit for the haberdashery, but I'm trying to get educated to where I can start taking over maintenance of my car (basic stuff anyway). I just need to assure myself I know how to use jack stands without killing myself and I think I'll be ready.

Working for the RAC really made me realise how little people think about the most basic aspects of their car. People calling up to change a tyre and being prepared to wait for an hour for someone else to do a 15 min job. Not sooo bad until you looked at the history of the account and realised they'd done this 6 times and never even bothered to learn how to do it themselve. Or losing an engine due to not checking oil levels for 5 years.

I can do all that stuff. As a kid our mother worked nights, so we learnt pretty early on how to clean a house, then when I joined the ACF mother showed me how to iron my squaddie shirts, and then decided I could iron my school shirts as well. Then in my previous life I was married to a midwife who worked shifts, so we split the chores between us.

However, then I moved to Jakarta and the company supplied an apartment with a maid. Since then we have lived in Bangkok, had a maid, and now in Singapore we have one here as well. The thing is, everyone has one. Apartments are designed with a maid's room out the back. Maids from the Philippines basically provide something like 50% of the foreign currency going back into the 'pines. Ours has been in Singapore for about 10 years and put two of her nieces back in Manila though nurse training school, and pays for her mother and brother's house and medical bills. If you don't have one here, people think it strange, unlike the West where only the rich can afford "help".

Ours does not cook for us, but she does all the cleaning, washing and ironing. And polishes my shoes. I can still do all this if need be, but I choose not to.

I do wash my own clothes and shine my shoes. My nicer slacks go to the cleaners. Shirts only if they are stained. I do pretty much wear no iron shirts- but will iron clothes as needed. Did a lot of ironing and polishing as a kid- went to catholic school- so was expected to have nicely pressed clothes and shiny leather shoes. Do basic mending- buttons basically. Have tried hemming- but it shows my lack of prowess in tailoring. It is indeed sad, that a lot of the younger generation as clueless about some basics. I honestly have never given much thought to it. Its just things I do myself- plus trying to live within my means. Reading posts here has given me a lot of insight, but some are way beyond my means, e.g expensive dress shirts etc.

My staff does all that stuff.

If I did that.....What would the servants do? Just kidding.
I cook all meals, wash all clothes, polish MY shoes, Iron...if I really have to and clean the house, wash the car ,etc; etc.

professorchaos said:

I shine my own shoes and send shirts and pants to the cleaners. I can iron. I choose not to iron.

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Me too - I don't mind ironing...it just takes so much time for me.

i can do it "all", but i choose not to becuase of competing priorities and convenience... i chose to have a partnership with my wife and others so that we can maximize our lives, not be bogged down doing everything ourselves..

Absolutely.

I don't like ANYONE to do my laundry.

Uncle Jackie said:

Absolutely.

I don't like ANYONE to do my laundry.

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really, i have no issues when my wife volunteers to do the family laundry, which includes my stuff.