Your closet is like a tool box for your job. Maintain the items you need properly and in a reasonably organized fashion and they will be right there to support your business endeavors.
1. Storage: The number one favor you can give your highest investment business garments is to hang them properly. Suits must hang on broad good quality suit hangars, which is likely NOT the ones you bought them on. Retailers use narrow hangers to have space for more garments out on the shop floor, so you will need to purchase these separately.
There are two schools of thought for pants: hang upside down with clips from the bottom cuffs to maintain their shape, or hung by folding them over a pants hangar at about the 1/3 point down which maintains the crease. I have seen so many men put on a pair of pants that was carelessly hung at the knees, and the crease is damaged, that I opt for the former.
2. Suit care and cleaning: Avoid over dry cleaning; the process is stressful to the fibers and causes the suit to wear out faster. Even in the summer, a tropical wool suit you wore in rotation for the season might need to be cleaned just at the end of the season. Maybe a cotton suit exposed to more perspiration a little more often. And remember to take it out of the plastic wrapper when it comes home – natural fibers need to breath. A clothing brush will take care of many stains after they have dried and negate the need to dry clean.
Giving your suit a routine quick brushing after you take it off is an excellent practice. And you will look very spiffy doing it. 🙂 For wrinkles, the seriously sartorial will own a steamer for de-wrinkling, but even better is to hang the suit in the bath with the door shut and the shower on hot for a few minutes. Wool fibers actually increase in elasticity, and odors are expelled with this steam treatment, so you can employ this for regular maintenance as well. If you ever are tempted to iron a suit, approach with caution and always place a damp cloth between the iron and the material to prevent shiny marks.
3. Shirt care and cleaning: A dress shirt should be washed, not dry cleaned and if it’s really fine, or custom, pay the extra for it to be “non-machine” pressed. I like them better hung, especially with a shirt wardrobe that featured more patterned shirts so you can easily see what you are pulling together for your outfit. Some men prefer folded, which is fine. It’s really more of a storage issue.
No Time? That’s the beauty of hiring a professional!
The easiest way to look your best is to make a single phone call. What happens next? A Personal Image Consultant shows up and effectively and efficiently
- transform a disorganized, overloaded closet into a lean, mean business tool machine
- does the shopping you know you need for you – you show up to a pre-stocked dressing room!
- OR, brings the beautiful quality, high value J Hilburn line of affordable custom clothing right to your home or office!
I am a Personal Image Consultant and a J Hilburn Stylist, Trainer and Recruiter
I bring confidence, organization, efficiency to your life.