Ironing techniques by professional craftsmen (shirt)

As much as I admire the ironing and the production in this video, don’t you get the sense that guy is a real hard ass? Right after this he headed out to some bar, knocked back six Sopporos while smoking twice as many Seven Stars. No, I’m wrong! This guy drinks what they called misu-wari in Japan — whiskey and water.

Notice how hard he presses. One reason he’s pressing so hard is that he’s not got a steam iron. When I fell in love with industrial ironing, back in the 90’s when I was taking classes at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) it was partly the weight, the masculinity of the equipment, and the power of the steam system that made me think, ironing is cool.

If you’ve read my first novel Grey (and I know almost everyone has by now!) that experience at FIT is where I got the idea for the competitive ironing. This video reaffirms my belief. Someday there will be a CIL.

The video was produced Garra, which is a Japanese men’s cosmetics company. It was part of a bachelor’s “how-to” section on their site, including how to tie a tie, mix a cocktail, do magic tricks, etc. The ironing, because of the man and his muscular style, is far and away the best part.

None of them have any speaking, but the ironing because of the blank stage really ends up emphasizing the ironing action in a tea-ceremony way.

Their site is at: http://garra.jp/style/tailored/index.html