The Linen Doctor

We get this question all of the time. The main reason is that mattresses are no longer a standard size and most are much thicker now than in the past since the “high profile” mattresses are considered more luxurious. A very common complaint years ago was the fitted sheets were too tight or didn’t have long enough sides to completely cover their mattress. And certainly now long enough to have bit of tuck under to prevent the fitted sheet from riding up the mattress and coming “undone.”

Now because of the wider mattresses, manufacturers are typically making them 15-17” deep, which is fine for some pillow top beds, but way too much for the older mattresses, which used to be a standard 8-9” thick. It’s even too much for some 12” thick mattresses. T here is also a trend to make them oversized and this just adds to the problem.

We have a simple fix. We have our workroom just cut them down, usually after a few washings so we know what the true size is after shrinkage. It’s kind of like getting your pants length altered because it is too long. We are so used to just putting a new sheet on the bed that it seems like a real nuisance to wash it and then return it for altering. But it will fit perfectly. We also make fitted sheets from fabric for odd sized or shaped beds, e.g., a round bed.

A full bed, also called a double bed, measures 54×75. A queen measures 60×80 and so many manufacturers make a full/queen flat sheet that is really a queen flat sheet and a full/queen comforter that is really a queen comforter. It is simply less expensive to produce and stock one sized flat sheet (typically 90” wide) and one sized comforter (also typically 90” wide) for both sizes. They obviously can’t choose the full size because it would be too narrow and since today’s mattresses are so much thicker, the queen will often work for the full without too much complaint.

When I first started in the business in the 70’s, full was a much more common size, but not so much anymore. People now want a wider mattress so they have the luxury of more width and now spend more time in their bedrooms since so many have either a television or even a whole entertainment center in their bedrooms. I’ve never seen a statistic on which rooms people watch the 10 o’clock news or Leno or Letterman, but I have a hunch a fair number are watching from their beds.

But the good news is fitted sheets and mattress pads still have to measure a true 54×75 or they simply won’t fit.

I agree with most people that the clothes in the movie Sex and the City are fabulous, but the bed linens are really boring.

We get to see two sets of Carrie’s sheets. The first one, early in the movie, shows a plain white top sheet plain white with three lines of blue embroidery. The pillow case has just one line. Surprising that she would buy a set with the case not matching the sheet. Why not compromise and get Sferra’s “Grande Hotel” with two lines of blue on both? The second set, seen much later in the movie, is just plain white. Plain white is also the sheet of choice for Miranda and Steve — more boredom. No way to tell the quality or thread count, sateen or percale.

Charlotte and Harry at least have a 1” appliquéd border, like Matouk’s “Lowell,” on their sheets, and their daughter has plain white in her very pink room. There is also some color and pattern on the bed where the four girls are hanging out the night before the wedding. We see a silk or sateen sham in gold and a pillow with an ethnic pattern being tossed around, similar to Yves Delorme’s “Serail’ a pattern made in 2007, discontinued this year.

The guys have more interesting sheets. Mr. Big has a set with 1” appliqué on the face and on the edge of the sham, black on grey, similar to Matouk’s Legato, which has three rows rather than two, sitting in front of plain light grey solid. At least I think they’re light grey. They could also be white, hard to tell. He also has a silk quilt with rows of quilting near the edge, like Kumi Kookoon’s “Classic Silk Throw.”

Out in California, we get to see two of Samantha’s hunk’s sheets. The first is a rather conservative tone-on-tone small plaid, like Christian Fischbacher’s “Batist Web.” The second set looks like zebra stripes, except blue on a white ground. We don’t have any pattern like that at Scheuer Linens but they must be out there somewhere. Too bad we don’t get to see any of Samantha’s bed linens since I suspect they would be more interesting than plain white.

Given the cost of the clothes and accessories, it is really kind of surprising that the girls don’t make more of an effort to have their beds look a little bit more interesting. It’s certainly not the cost since plain white sheets can also be very expensive. In a film where the clothes tell us so much about each character, why is the bedding so nondescript?

Maybe they don’t have time to shop for bed linens or maybe they just don’t think it’s that important, which is surprising given how much importance they put on the sex part of Sex and the City.

When my father died in 1982, I was suddenly in charge of the store. I was really scared. Even though I had worked at the store for 11 years at that point, I really didn’t know exactly what to do. I could sell, do basic bookkeeping, and do shipping and receiving. I always seemed to have lots of ideas to suggest to my father, but when I assumed control, I was not so sure I could successfully implement those ideas. There was no training program, no manual or written guidelines for buying, and there were things my father (pictured on the right, with his parents, Rosel and Fred, and his wife, Leonore, at the store’s opening in 1953) did that I had never done, like going to Madeira, Portugal on a buying trip.

I decided to call George Matouk, Sr., another second generation owner of a respected wholesale company in our industry. He gave me advice that I have never forgotten. He told me not to worry, that I would make lots of mistakes the first year, would correct them in my second year, and start seeing success in my third year. I listened to him and believed him. He ultimately was right and his words of wisdom got me through some challenging times when I had lots of doubts about what I was doing.

I am the third generation of my family to run Scheuer Linens and George Matouk, Jr. (pictured on the left, with his father, George Sr.), is the third generation of his family to run Matouk. In 1929, John Matouk founded a company whose “mission was to give American homemakers ready access to the world’s finest, most luxurious linens.” My grandparents started in 1937 by selling fine linens in customers’ homes. There was no Scheuer Linens store in those days. As both companies evolved and grew, both stayed committed to having the very finest quality linens and never compromised on quality or service.

As the years went on, both Matouk and Scheuer Linens diversified their product lines of bed, bath, and table linens. We still offer the full line of Matouk linens. George, Jr. and I often talk on the telephone about our future plans and every so often, we reminisce about our fathers and grandfathers. It always gives me a warm feeling to know that we are successfully carrying on the traditions established by our grandfathers.

“I just opened the box this weekend.  Never have I had such a beautiful bed.  It is magnificent!  I cannot thank you enough for your creativity and instinct - bravo!  The material is gorgeous…it looks so rich on the bed.” - E.W.