Anything linen. I cave in and send it all to the budget dry cleaner. They won't do white, though.

Iron? What's an iron?

I'm a disaster with an iron. I've ruined so many garments, I've lost count. I bought a steamer, but I'm chagrinned to admit that it sits unused in my closet. The bottom line is that if it doesn't go to the dry cleaner, my weekly cleaning lady irons for me.

I actually like to iron, even bought a new iron recently. I love linen so I do it. What I hate the most are the tabs they put inside the sleeves for rolling up the cuffs.

What's dry cleaning?

If it's washable and wearable, I'm good. Otherwise, it never makes it into my home. I can't recall the last time I had dry cleaning, either.

Jim's cousin gave him a very nice oxford button-down shirt for his birthday last year. He was worn it once. If he wants to wear it more often, he has to learn how to iron it.

But then, no one ever pointed at me and said "now there's a true fashion maven..."

If it needs ironing, spray it with that Downy Wrinkle Reducer I love that stuff.

If it still needs ironing, I dont wear it.

LOL, sushipup, no one has ever accused me of being fashionable either!

Nope, I don't iron. At all. I have an iron....somewhere, but if I get an article of clothing that needs to be ironed, I throw it away, I'll never wear it.

I don't have a cleaning lady to iron for me and there is no drycleaner here in my town, so it's strictly wash and wear. Oh, and my hair is styled by gravity and the prevailing winds...

What am I wearing right now? It's "Casual because we care" day, give $2 to the quarterly charity (This quarter it's the animal shelter) and dress casually for today, so I'm wearing jeans and a green men's t shirt that I bought at the grocery store for $1. It doesn't need ironing, LOL.

Annie

I have one pair of white capri pants that are 100 percent cotton that must be ironed if you don't want to look like you slept in them. They also require flesh or pink undies or they show through big time. I suppose thongs would work but I can't stand butt floss.

I used to keep my ironing board set up all the time but I put it away recently and seem to be doing fine without it. I pay more attention to grabbing things from the dryer and hanging them right away.

I iron table cloths and linen napkins...and linen slacks and shirts....but this has it all beat....I think I'll spray it with Scotch guard before I wear it again!!

I love this line and have several of the shirts, none with French cuffs though. White, black and white stripe, blue and white stripe.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jones New York no-iron shirts

I don't mind ironing so much but I hate looking wrinkled 5 minutes after ironing.
I have an ironing board permanently set up in the closet. When I need to iron, I throw everything stacked on it on the floor and press away. Stuff does tend to accumulate on open flat surfaces....

I'm going to grab some Downy wrinkle reducer next time I go to the store. Now that I'm "working" part time, and expected to look the part, I'm ironing way too often. Although, truthfully, DH is kind enough to iron for me, since he's always ironed his own shirts and much better at it than me. DS is now in Bar/Bat Mitzvah mode with 2 or 3 per month, so he needs ironing as well.

Eileen, are those shirts true to size? I may order a dozen as that could solve all my problems. They just need to look good peeking out from my lab coat.

AM

AM, Kim has some of the JNY sleevless suit blouses that she got in the spring, that are no iron and they do up great. Don't even need a touch up. She wants a sleeved version for winter. Kim wears lab coats everyday.

Here is a link that might be useful: This is the one

Those JNY no-iron blouses are worth every penny! They are well made, the fabric is wonderful. I wash them in the washing machine and hang them on a hanger to dry and they look like they are freshly pressed.

I wear a petite (I'm 5 feet tall) and find that they are one of few petite shirts that actually have boob room. I would say they are true to size. Nordstrom and Macy's carry the line so you can try there. I sometimes find them on sale.

The shirt sizing seems to be consistent from style to style which is a big plus.

Yes indeedy. I have a wardrobe of jackets because I'm cold natured and places here keep their air conditioning down so low that I have to wear them indoors even when it's 100 outside. I bought two such jackets about 3 or 4 years ago and when I wore them they would immediately look like something I had slept in they were so wrinkled. Consequently they just hang in my closet unworn.

I never buy linen and don't mind ironing too much if something looks like it's been ironed for a few hours, but when it wrinkles immediately - I just quit wearing it.

I sure am glad to know about Downey Wrinkle Reducer. Never heard of it before.

Thanks for the Jones New York website. I can rarely find anything that brand here and it's one I really like. I don't know why I had never thought about them having a website before.

Thanks Nancy & Eileen. I appreciate the recommendation. I'm going to order one for size (there's a Macy's around here, but I get hives just thinking about walking into a mall), and if it works I'll order a bunch.

Now, if I could just find a flattering lab coat....

AM

Those Jones shirts are wonderful, as are the Foxcroft (no iron) shirts from Nordstrom. If you're looking for Jones don't forget to check some of the major outlet malls, they sell them there too. Jones also has some wonderful wash and wear slacks that look like a lightweight gabardine. I love them! I'm not a huge fan of outlet malls, especially if Macy's is having a sale and you have a coupon, but I imagine the outlet malls stores will ship around the country.

I still iron - mostly tablecloths & napkins, plus some shirts/blouses. I use Magic Sizing by Faultless. It comes as an aerosol & I get it in the market near the aerosol starch. It's great for relaxing wrinkles & is not as stiff as regular starch.

There is also the alternative of making your own clothes, which I used to do much more than I do now. I would sometimes find linen with yarns that had a certain twist to them that would help in wrinkle reduction, and I would always pre-shrink the linen before making any garments with it, so that they would be washable. I made linen clothes for my mother as well, and I designed them so that they would be easy to iron, although really if she hung them up immediately from the wash and let them drip dry, they would not need ironing. She tried to get me to make her clothes out of polyester, but I refused. I made her several silk blouses instead, which of course had to be dry cleaned. I made my brother silk and linen suits, but those had to be dry cleaned as well, since the jackets and vests were lined.

When you design and make your own clothes, you can design them so that they are easy to iron or need little ironing.

Lars

I don't mind ironing. I used to put it off and only ironed as I needed things, but one day I realised it slowed me down gettig ready so now I iron in front of the TV once the laundry is all done so there's not too much and I always have clothes all ready to go. I prefer the kind of clothes that need ironing, I even iron T shirts (though not underwear, nightwear or bedding :-) ).
Lars, I am so glad you wouldn't make polyester clothes. Sure they're non iron but in summer polyester is like wearing your own personal sauna :-P Ugh.

Growing up, my mother always ironed our sheets and my dad's underwear. But, she rarely cooked anything (unless you consider heating up things in a can or those nasty TV dinners "cooking"). I wish she would have gotten her priorities straight and let me sleep on wrinkled sheets while she used that ironing time to cook some really good meals instead :(

dlynn, my Grandma made me iron the dish towels and Dad's white hankies too! Sheets, pillowcases, underwear, we ironed it all, she hung everything outside to dry, even in the winter. Those t shirts would freeze and we'd bring them in and iron them dry. If Grandma did the ironing all blue jeans had a crease right down the front, like dress pants, LOL.

She cooked too, though...

Annie

My grandmother ironed under duress if at all. She LOVED polyester! Even in Arizona. She cooked every meal, though.

My mother does neither as far as I know. Years ago when she was a youngish mom to my much younger sister, sis and her dad suggested politely that she not bother cooking. Reports are that they ate every meal either in a restaurant or from a take out container forever after.

I learned my ironing technique from my mother...pile it up until you have nothing to wear and then iron just what you need, every day!
There was always the ironing board set up in the butlers pantry, we lived in a big old 1903 house. Every day before school I ironed my skirt and blouse, my mother ironed my father's shirt the night before.
One time my parents were having a small gathering of good friends....and one woman came into the kitchen where my mother was cooking and dropped her purse on the floor. My mother asked her why she did that....and the friend said I thought I was dropping it on the ironing board. My mother had put it away because she was having company.
The blouse is ironed but every time I think about wearing it I remember what a pain it is to iron!
Linda C