(no subject)

[tylik]

So, do any of you really dig the really high threadcount sheets? Because I usually top out at about 200-250 or thereabouts, but to read the product placement, it's all more = better. Bah. I don't think I've yet run into sheets much about 250 tpi that breathe decently. (Oh, and I hate sateen. I mean, it's okay unless you ever sweat in it, but...)

Also, most modern sheets wear like crap. Again, there's a lot of misunderstanding threadcount here. Sheets that start out really soft? Will almost always fall apart in a few years. (And yeah, I like flannel sheets, and yeah, I pretty much am resigned to destroying them.) If you want nice sheets that wear well, my pick is a nice high quality cotton percale - long staple cotton, with highly twisted threads. When they're new, they'll be almost papery crisp, they breath beautifully, the highly twisted cotton is sturdy, and they'll wear like iron. They're generally considered to be at their best after 10-20 years of service, depending on how hard you use your sheets. (Which sounds terribly suggestive, but I suspect the hardest wear sheets have generally gotten from me has had to do with my insomnia, not my sex life.)

Or, if I'm feeling cheap, cotton 200ish tpi will generally do the job. Which is what I just got. When I destroyed the fitted sheets for both my flannel and lightweight cotton sheets last year, I decided to just replace the flannel, because I used them in the winter, when it's cold and I don't turn on the heat in my room, and in the summer when I have the air conditioner on in my room. This missed the fact that in the spring in fall there are periods where the nights are warm and the air conditioner is not on. We hit a few of those recently, and now I have new sheets. (Ordered online. I won't know until I've washed them a few times what I really think of the fabric, but they were an order of magnitude less than what I consider good sheets, organic cotton, and an inoffensive ecru.)



And what do people do for dress pants? Particular people built vaguely like me? (I'm tall, kinda curvy, with a really muscular butt and thighs, and a waist that if not really small in absolute terms is a lot smaller than my hips and butt.) And is there any way to do it that minimizes time spent in department stores? Oh, and I want to be able to kick over my head, and drop into crouch stance in them.

Okay, this might just be another repeat of Tylik doesn't know how to dress. Or maybe Tylik has special needs. But, see, I finally found dress shirts that don't suck. (Heavyweight raw silk men's dress shirts. They even have the right arm length and fit me in the cuff. Though they'll suck for summer, and I need to pick up some short sleeved button down shirts.) However, I am somewhat dress pants impaired.

Part of this is a size thing, but there's got to be more to it than that. I just took in the elastic on my favorite capri yoga pants so that they stay up. They are extra large (considering my general proportions, this seems only fair.) I have now taken in the elastic nine inches (relaxed elastic length) to get them to stay up when I train. Though I really like how they fit now. I have been told that they were supposed to be way tighter, and I should have gotten a large. I really don't think this can be right.

But dress pants... So, first off, plus sizes pants are generically totally the wrong shape. Bah.

But actually, the last time I went shopping for dress pants, the size 16s more or less fit and looked right.

...except they're horrible. They are stiff. They bind. They are not designed for kicking. And the fact that I look vaguely like I want to bite people, and not in a nice way, severely detracts from the professional appearance. Ugh. I think what I want is relaxed fit dress pants. Preferably in either organic fabrics or in something technical that still looks kind of dressy. (Hidden crotch gussets! Wrinkle free wicking fabric! Bulletproof! I mean, isn't this the point of ex-officio?)

Suggestions?

Oh, and ideas for blazers meeting similar requirements would also be appreciated, though historically I've had less trouble finding blazers.