A New Shirt, A Classic.

[Scott]

Try a long wash...it might just be factory 'dressing' making it scratchy.......

Label says dry clean only, do you think this should be strictly adhered to? Cheers for the suggestion...

[Nobby]

Ah...I that case it might shrink......does your washing machine have a 'wool' cycle?


Whatever you do don't tumble dry it.......hang it to dry.

I guess the clue's in the name...Wool Rich then?

[Stathamender]

Don't wash it - you'll ruin it. Yes wool is horrendous next to the skin (unless you're into hair shirts). Keep it for winter and wear a long sleeved vest or similar underneath. Keeps the dry cleaning bills down too that way.

It does depend on the wool, I never have any problems with merino and often wear that next to the skin but they don't use that for shirts. I also recall the old Army shirts you got from surplus places which for cotton were extremely abrasive.

Best vests for me are those cheapo long sleeved thermal ones from Decathlon.

[Nobby]

There are some modern washing machine powders purposely made as suitable for wool and they seem fine. My wife spends a good part of her time knitting and always washes a newly made garment before passing it onto the new owner. I think it is the way the machine washes the garment that can be unsuitable for woollens, but most modern machines have a 'woollens' programme.


A good deal of the time when one sees clothes that are 'dry clean only' it is simply because the maker has not bothered to have the garment independently tested to 'earn' the symbols used and one can in fact use a washing machine without any problems....but I have no idea if this is the case with Wool Rich clothing.


The idea of an 'outdoorsey' shirt that can only be dry-cleaned is a bit laughable really.......

[Scott]

Thanks for your help guys, I'm going to go perch fishing on Ullswater this evening and will try it out with a long sleeve vest, I'll let you know how I get on

[Stathamender]

If that's you in the top picture then yes, its a very good look

But beware, baseball caps have a habit of making people look dumber than they are - 'IQ reducers' my dad used to call them. American country ware is one thing, Redneck chic is something entirely different y'awl.

Yuk Yuk!

Some of my best friends are 'rednecks'. Can hardly be any worse than the 'Benny From Crossroads' look that comes from wearing certain kinds of woolen headgear: http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2015 ... -launches/

[MHC]

The type of shirt that you seem to favour Scott is loosly known as a 'lumberjack' shirt, namely because N American lumberjacks wore them. Lumberjacks often worked in the dead of winters when the cut trees could be dragged onto thick lake ice to wait until spring thaw when they would be floated or 'driven' down the rivers until they reached larger lakes or indeed the sea. Period photos would often show lggers in shirt sleeves working in minus 20 degree temperatures as (presumably) the effort of work kept them warm..

They wore woolen shirts as they were all that was available for the outdoors at the time, and in my opinion woolen fishing shirts (unless they are lined) are very uncomfortable for fishing purposes. They will ich next to the skin, they will also be a production to clean. On a crisp October day fishing for brookies from a ceder strip canoe in Maine they will look and be the part, but for any kind of warm weather or exertion you will want to get it off as soon as possible. If it would get clammy it is hard to dry as it will absorb moisture rather than wicking it away. Often such shirts are more like light jackets which are lined with some insulation, these are favoured by hunters.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/73907?fe ... -primaloft

There are much better modern well made N American fishing shirts made in a variety of materials from courderoy to cotton and synthetic which look traditional, though I have moved away from cotton in the last few years preferring synthetics. L L Bean may be good to peruse for ideas. Baseball caps are not worn as often as you would think by N American fly fishers, wide brims are the way to go and very traditional.

[Scott]

The type of shirt that you seem to favour Scott is loosly known as a 'lumberjack' shirt, namely because N American lumberjacks wore them. Lumberjacks often worked in the dead of winters when the cut trees could be dragged onto thick lake ice to wait until spring thaw when they would be floated or 'driven' down the rivers until they reached larger lakes or indeed the sea. Period photos would often show lggers in shirt sleeves working in minus 20 degree temperatures as (presumably) the effort of work kept them warm..

They wore woolen shirts as they were all that was available for the outdoors at the time, and in my opinion woolen fishing shirts (unless they are lined) are very uncomfortable for fishing purposes. They will ich next to the skin, they will also be a production to clean. On a crisp October day fishing for brookies from a ceder strip canoe in Maine they will look and be the part, but for any kind of warm weather or exertion you will want to get it off as soon as possible. If it would get clammy it is hard to dry as it will absorb moisture rather than wicking it away. Often such shirts are more like light jackets which are lined with some insulation, these are favoured by hunters.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/73907?fe ... -primaloft

There are much better modern well made N American fishing shirts made in a variety of materials from courderoy to cotton and synthetic which look traditional, though I have moved away from cotton in the last few years preferring synthetics. L L Bean may be good to peruse for ideas. Baseball caps are not worn as often as you would think by N American fly fishers, wide brims are the way to go and very traditional.

Cheers MHC! Yes the shirt is incredibly warm. I wore it whilst perch fishing the other night with a long sleeved vest underneath. There was a bit of a chill to the wind but I was super toasty! The shirt will be reserved for the colder months and isn't itchy at all with the vest...

My wicker creel is an LL Bean by the way. The straps are a bit strange, took me ages to work out, it appears you have to step into them...