Creases and Shirt Stays?

[Hussar]

Hello Marines, and friends of Leatherneck.

I have a question. What tips do you have for keeping your creases in your shirt sharp while wearing shirt stays. I often wear six shirt stays to keep my shirt tucked, but the problem is that my creases which I just took two hours to iron in have suddenly become flat. Does anyone here have any tips to prevent that? Thank you very much in advance.

[PaidinBlood]

Hello Marines, and friends of Leatherneck.

I have a question. What tips do you have for keeping your creases in your shirt sharp while wearing shirt stays. I often wear six shirt stays to keep my shirt tucked, but the problem is that my creases which I just took two hours to iron in have suddenly become flat. Does anyone here have any tips to prevent that? Thank you very much in advance.

The creases in my cammies are permanent and I've never worn my chucks for more than an hour or two.. I'm such a boot.

Seriously, though, what kind of uniform are you talkin about and what kind of starch/sizing do you use?

[Hussar]

Hello. I am currently in the Sea Cadets, and I am talking about the Winter Blues. They would be comparable to Service Bravos. I don't use starch simply a lot of steam for my creases because it makes the shirts unserviceable due to there color. The shirts would shimmer after being starched. However, I am switching in a few months to the new Navy Service Uniform, which is exactly like the Service Charlies, except black trousers and a black garrison cover. I have ironed very sharp creases into my winter blue shirt, but as soon as I put on the shirt stays it pulls them tight and they do not appear very pronounced.

[PaidinBlood]

Depending on the material, you just have to ease up on the heat to get the starch in without looking like a shiny polyester leisure suit. Also, don't use too much. I don't know how frequently you wear them, but having a dry cleaner press and starch them might help. Honestly, there is no easy way around it. Ask the old salts who used to starch their ****. Sometimes sizing can be a helpful alternative. Hope this helps a little.

[CarolinaMarine]

Honestly i cheat and have the permanent creased shirts.

[Hussar]

Depending on the material, you just have to ease up on the heat to get the starch in without looking like a shiny polyester leisure suit. Also, don't use too much. I don't know how frequently you wear them, but having a dry cleaner press and starch them might help. Honestly, there is no easy way around it. Ask the old salts who used to starch their ****. Sometimes sizing can be a helpful alternative. Hope this helps a little.

Hello PaidinBlood. Thanks for all the help so far. It helped a little but the major problem with the uniform is that its a mixture of polyester and wool. The wool is black wool and it glazes easily. Add even a tiny amount of starch to that and it glazes to the max. My dry cleaners in the area of really inept, I just use them to clean it but do the pressing myself. Thanks for the help so far.

[PaidinBlood]

No problem.

[FromMD]

Hello PaidinBlood. Thanks for all the help so far. It helped a little but the major problem with the uniform is that its a mixture of polyester and wool. The wool is black wool and it glazes easily. Add even a tiny amount of starch to that and it glazes to the max. My dry cleaners in the area of really inept, I just use them to clean it but do the pressing myself. Thanks for the help so far.

Most dry cleaners I have been to know what military creases are (police officers, fire fighters, various security guards, etc... all use them). Ask the dry cleaner if they can do military creases before dropping off your dry cleaning. I put my shirt stays (4 of them total) right next to the creases on the back and front.

[pnwhite]

Well Hussar - It's been a while (like back in 1960) and I never worried about my creases when I was in the Corp, but,,,,,,,,,,,,
I was on a drill team at Purdue University when I was in college and we were very (VERY) conscious of our appearance when we were in competition or in a parade. We used to get our uniforms pressed with the military creases and then when we got dressed, we helped each other put on our pants (or trousers, whichever) One of your buddies would fold the creases (the two outside creases) in and hold them while you would pull up your pants. Then when you had your trousers pulled up, he would reach inside (ya! we never thought about "don't ask, don't tell" back then) and straighten out your shirt while you held your pants up and then when he was done, you would pull your pants together, button them and zip them up and tighten your belt buckle. I can remember that right after getting your shirt on, it took some effort to even get your arms up above your shoulders, your shirt would be so tight.
Now as for how long that would last, I'm sure that if you wore your uniform all day long, at some point things would get loose, but for the duration of the exhibition, it would stay looking pretty snazzy - one reason why we had won 10 out of 11 national competitions at that time. And, we did get our shirts starched, too.

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

All I'm going to say is that fishing line can be your friend.

[Integrity57]

I've ironed creases in my utilities so many times that they're still there after I pull them of the dryer, then I just starch and iron them as usual and attach my shirt stays to my shirt. I personally use the shirt stays that loop around your foot instead of the ones that clip to your socks and rip the hair out of your legs, also I attach the shirt stay a half inch to the outside of the crease so the damn things don't twist it around throughout the day and **** me off.

[Integrity57]

Damn I should have read your other post too lol. The new Navy Service uniform shirt already has permanent creases in it so no worries there, but the trousers you can just take to the cleaners to have them pressed and they'll be set for life. But don't ball the **** up and throw in the bottom off your locker at the end of the day, hang 'em up on a hanger and stow them neatly. Same should work for your Sea Cadet uniform, taking 'em to the cleaners and having them pressed that is.

[chitown1]

I am in NROTC and a Marine Option and we too are very conscious of our appearance. I think know exactly what you mean by the creases are "going flat." The reason for this is probably because your shirt/blouse is a little too big. The way I do it is to have someone help you the first time. Put on your shirt and have someone pull the excess material into a military tuck in the back. Once they have that military tuck with the material pulled under put a safety pin through both the top material and the folded under material, vertically, slightly inboard of the crease. Make sure the pin is far enough down that it doesn't show above the trousers.

[ecom]

I've ironed creases in my utilities so many times that they're still there after I pull them of the dryer, then I just starch and iron them as usual and attach my shirt stays to my shirt. I personally use the shirt stays that loop around your foot instead of the ones that clip to your socks and rip the hair out of your legs, also I attach the shirt stay a half inch to the outside of the crease so the damn things don't twist it around throughout the day and **** me off.

I switched to the loop type shirt stays also and never looked back. It was much less a PITA to put those on compared to the ones that attach to the socks.

[silverdollar]

Well I guess I am getting old, I have never heard of attaching your shirt to your socks. tell me one thing, do your socks fly off when you fart?