Your suits are a valuable and, let's face it, expensive part of your wardrobe. No wonder why most clients are curious to know how long their suits will last.
Unfortunately, we cannot give an exact answer to this question but what we can do is to give you some useful tips on how you could extend the life of your suits.
We have come up with a simple list of do's and don'ts in order to help you take good care of your most precious garments:
• Avoid dry-cleaning…as much as possible. Even with the best cleaner in town, dry cleaning your clothes will hurt your garments to some extent, over time. Send them to the cleaners only if you really have too, up to a couple of times per season, especially jackets. In between visits to the cleaner, have your suits steamed and clean spots when required.
• Find the right cleaner. A high quality suit is an investment, same goes for a high quality cleaner. Pay a little more to get a better level of service from a reputable place.
• Use the right hangers. Be sure to hang your suits on wide shouldered, preferably wooden, hangers.
• Store your suits in a clean and wrinkle free place away from light. Make sure that they are not stuffed with your other clothes, always hang them and avoid throwing them on a bed or a chair.
• Remove the garment bags. Avoid leaving your suits hanging in a garment bag for a long period of time. Remember that the fabrics are natural and they need to breathe.
• When putting away clothes for the season, make sure to have them cleaned. This will prevent attracting unwanted moth that go after body oil, perfume and food smells.
• Avoid wearing your suit jacket as a blazer or your suit trousers as sports pants. Always wear them together; otherwise one piece will wear out faster than the other. Same goes for dry cleaning, as much as possible, send both pieces together so that the colors fade at the same pace.
• Try to rotate your suits as much as possible to have them wear evenly. This way, for example, you won't end up having to buy three years worth of suits all at once.
• Avoid overloading your pockets with heavy accessories; a cell phone, pocket change or a big set of keys, this could cause your pockets to lose their shape and sag down. It could also damage the lining inside the pockets and potentially the fabric. A big faux pas is the big wallet in the back pocket of the trousers; look for alternatives like the inside pocket of your jacket or perhaps lightening your wallet.
• When it rains or snows, try to brush off the water rather than pressing it into your garment. Water can only do harm. Always make sure to have an umbrella handy.
• A great tip to eliminate wrinkles when travelling: hang your clothes in the bathroom of your hotel room, turn on the hot water. The steam combined to the hanging weight of your clothes will smoothen out the wrinkles.
• Remember to always unbutton your jacket when sitting down. This way, you will put less pressure on the buttons, the buttonholes and the fabric. You could also pull your pants up a bit at the knees so you don't stretch the fabric.
• Avoid keeping fountain pens inside the jacket pocket as they can often leak and leave permanent stain marks.
