I’ve got a pair of black pants with a small pink pinstripe, and a nice fitted black shirt with a stripe pattern in the weave. Can I get away with wearing them together?
How do I properly press a 100% cotton shirt? Should I bother with starch and all that?
Thanks in advance, Dopers.
I’d have to see the pants and top to make an informed comment, but I’ve noticed that there is waaaaay more freedom in mixing and matching patterns and stripes than there used to be, so my initial guess is that yes, they’d probably be ok together.
I never use starch. It’s a personal preference thing. I just mist the item and iron. It’s really nice if you can afford to have them professionally done. They always do a better job than I can.
As noted, there seems to be more freedom with mixing patterns these days. That said, I’ve never seen it look GOOD on anyone. But I favor fabrics without pattern for the most part anyway, so what do I know?
Shirts: professional cleaning and pressing is best. If you’re doing it at home, take it out of the dryer while it’s still a bit damp and use Niagara Spray Sizing (which you can get at any grocery store in the laundry supplies section). The sizing gives fabric a crisp feel but is not as stiff as starch. Plus, I think it smells good.
Correct way to press a shirt- collar, cuffs, yoke, sleeves, back, front. Starch if you like.
Is the stripe in the black shirt pink?
Is the shirt the exact same shade of black as the trousers (yes, black can have different shades, ver few “black clothes” are acutally truely black)? Is the pink the same shade? Is the stripe in the shirt narrow, wide or variegated?
For example, a shirt which is shiny silk-cotton mix in a brown-toned black with a broad pastel-pink stripe would look horrible if teamed with shiny poly-cotton true-black trousers with an acid pink pin-stripe.
If I were you, I’d got with a white shirt and a tie which picked up the exact shades of black and pink from the pin-stripe trousers, and wear the striped black shirt with plain grey or black trousers. If you can’t tell if patterns are clashing in a good way, assume they aren’t.
I’ve never used starch; my grandmother was a seamstress (I inherited my “professional ironing habits” from her) and she only used it when she knew that the specific customer “confused ironed and ironclad”.
Cotton goes on the highest setting; use steam. If the shirt is embroidered or has colors that may be delicate, iron it inside out. To iron ANY shirt, except military:
If a spot is badly wrinkled and you’re ironing something that’s delicate (i.e., the iron doesn’t get high enough to use its steam), sprinkle distilled water on it.
military dress shirts get marked-on-purpose straight cresses; any other kind shouldn’t
I only use starch when I want the fabric to be very stiff. These days, stiffness is not required in most garments, so I don’t bother with it. Sizing is good when you want a bit of shape, and it’s not so irritating to wear, IME. My husband was in the Air Force and my daughter was in the JROTC, so I had quite a bit of ironing to do.
If you really want to do a nice ironing job, mist the garment with water and/or starch or sizing, roll it up, put it in a plastic bag for a couple of hours, and then iron it. Letting the water evenly distribute itself on the garment makes for a better ironing job.
Just to be clear: is the black shirt striping only woven (so it’s black on black)? If so, I give a hesitant ‘yes’, but I’d rather get more information about how narrow/widely spaced the pinstripes in the pants are and the same information for the woven stripes in the shirt.
Yeah the stripe in the shirt is only woven in. It’s a little wider (it’s about 3/4") and more involved than the stripe in the pants (the stripe here is about 1 cm). I’m guessing that this is a bad thing.
Thanks for the ironing tips too, everyone. All of a sudden, The Highwayman and I have, y’know, a real wardrobe. It’s a little overwhelming all at once. 
Some hints on ironing a shirt from Thomas Pink:
www.thomaspink.com.uk/uk/construction
(safe for work if you don’t mind a pink background – scroll down to the bottom of the page)
If it’s a good quality 100% cotton shirt, I would avoid using starch. From talking with the people at Thomas Pink and Fil-A-Fil (shirts made in France and Singapore - www.filafil.com.sg – note, Flash site), going overboard with the starch will ruin the thing since starch permanently bonds with the cotton fibers, making you feel like like you’re wearing cardboard.
I go to my friends for fashion advice, but it seems like these days, you can have more freedom in mixing tops and bottoms. As long you can look at yourself in the mirror and not immediately wince in pain, you’re fine.
I second irishgirl’s advice in getting a tie that picks up the colors of the trousers. Makes your ensemble look more intentional and sophisticated.
Now that 2 of you have mentioned it, I’m curious (not being snarky):
Are ties for women back “in” now? Is that just a UK thing? I haven’t seen it around here, or even in the store displays.
D’oh, I forgot that The Sausage Creature is a girl!
My bad.
I sort of assumed anyone asking if striped shirts work with pinstriped trousers as an office ensemble would be a guy- replace “tie” with a pretty necklace, brooch, earrings/hair accessories or silk scarf in the “right” shades of blacks and pink.
Obviously, however, not a necklace and a brooch and earrings and hair accessories and a scarf- just one or two things!
Oops, same here!
Ties are usually worn by younger women around here, as a variation on the ties worn by girls attending Catholic schools (some schools replace ties with the flat bows seen on flight attendants or those working airline ticket counters).
Having said that, it’s probably better to go with irishgirl’s suggestion of a non-tie item.
Even if it weren’t for my sex, I won’t be able to accessorize much at all because of the nature of my work. But I get to play dress up with my husband the law student, so tie advice is still good. 
Thanks again everyone.