It is not merely three times a year that your wardrobe deserves a check-up — no, its care should be on your daily agenda. For only a well-kept wardrobe is a smart wardrobe and truly serves its purpose; after all, you wish to present yourself at your best every day in the world of business.
Let us proceed systematically. Order in your wardrobe is very important here, and if you follow my advice I can guarantee you consistently well-groomed clothing.
Let us begin with the suit. You surely wear suits of the finest wool quality, for the more exclusive the wool, the more alive it is. That also means the fabrics have undergone only minimal chemical treatment during production and can thus retain their properties — breathability and resilience. No, this is not a shampoo advert; when we speak of wool, we are, after all, speaking of nothing other than animal hair.
SUIT CARE
Caring for a good suit is very simple. The wool mentioned above needs only a little moisture. Where possible, therefore, hang your suit outside overnight, for at night the wool can absorb moisture from the surrounding air and allow the fibres to relax. In the morning, the suit may be brought back into the warmth. Only through the warmth does the moisture escape from the material, thereby leaving your suit crease-free. (If only it were that simple with us humans!)
A word of warning, though: please always give your suit two days’ rest before wearing it again. Remember — no suit should be worn on two consecutive days.
FABRICS
If your suit is made of a smooth cloth, it does not necessarily need to be brushed. A particular offender is dark flannel — usually navy — for it attracts lint like a magnet. But have no fear: it suffices to run the famous lint roller over the fabric once or twice.
THE CREASE-FREE TRICK
A well-known trick that many business travellers gladly use to remove creases from their suit is to hang it in the shower cubicle and let hot water run onto the floor. The rising steam makes creases in the material vanish as if by magic. This trick works not only with your suit, but with many other garments too.
A little caution is required, however, for the desired crease in the trousers can also disappear, and your trousers may then look untidy again.
So what to do? Does dry cleaning help?
CLEANING
Only to a limited extent — a good suit will do very well for years without dry cleaning. A suit is not a shirt, which should be washed or cleaned after every wear. Only the trousers should be given for pressing after seven to ten wears. Should you have a stain on the suit that you cannot remove yourself, then it is time to visit the cleaner. But you should know that many stains can be very easily removed with a damp cloth and gentle rubbing. Do not be afraid to take matters into your own hands with your suit.
PESTS
It is not only you who takes pleasure in your exclusive wool suit — so do moths and their larvae. They like to nest in woollen materials, where they find ample food and nutrients. You should therefore always hang moth paper or moth balls in your wardrobe.
Wardrobe care: the lint roller is your friend with dark blue or dark suits!
THE SHIRT
Caring for your shirt begins the moment you take it off. We are agreed — shirts should be changed daily and put in the laundry in the evening. Before doing so, however, take the shirt off over your head, having first undone the top two or three buttons. This way your shirt is already almost entirely inside out. Pull the sleeves inwards too, so that the shirt is completely inside out.
The reason for this is as follows: the less the outer surface of the shirt comes into contact with the drum of the machine, the less wear your shirt sustains. And the mother-of-pearl buttons will not chip or break either. Furthermore, you should not spin your shirt at the highest speed and should iron it before it is completely dry. After ironing, hang your shirt directly on a hanger — but please, do not fold it.
If you do not trust yourself to clean your shirts, or simply have no time for it, then you should send them to a professional laundry.
Although this means less work, you will have no guarantee of receiving a perfectly well-kept shirt in return.
THE TIE
The silk tie, which is of course folded fivefold, is not hung up for storage but rolled and stood on edge. In this way your tie relaxes and, after a few days, looks like new again. Believe me, the era of the tied and dangling tie left hanging in the wardrobe is — hopefully — long past since one’s student days.
Ties should be rolled and stored on their edge
SHOES
Last of all come the shoes. Since we all know that this is one of the most important topics, I shall soon devote a separate blog post to it. But this much may be said: please, never leave the house with unpolished shoes.
Further reading
The business essentials — More joy in your wardrobe!
Stylish on business travel — How to pack properly for your business trip.