I’ve never had this problem before, but I’m mostly a bluejeans type of guy. They’re my preferred attire, but when circumstances dictate something dressier, I generally put on a suit. I really never liked the in-between business casual dockers and polos look. Suits, on the other hand, look impressive and make a statement–so that I’m beginning to be more comfortable wearing them, and now wear them in situations where I never would have done 10 years ago.
So the problem is that we’re going on this cruise in May, and the dress code forbids jeans in the public areas of the ship during evening hours. So that means I’ve got to take along a suit or two. It’s not a problem really; I don’t mind dressing for dinner. But how can I pack the suits in a suitcase so they won’t be too badly wrinkled when I want to wear them? There won’t be any time on the first day to send them to the ship’s dry cleaner. And I don’t want to wear on as we embark, 'cause that would mean I’d be wearing it while we go through the lifeboat drills, which would look and feel ridiculous.
I’ll buy a garment bag if I have to, but I’d rather not have an additional piece of luggage if I can help it.
I don’t really know of a good way, but there are suitcases that have a little fold-in garment bag. Otherwise, many men’s stores will have a plastic garment-bag shaped zip-up cover you can buy which makes suits easy to carry without adding much weight. You might also ask your dry cleaner to box them. I don’t know how well this works with suits, but it’s great for shirts.
I’d recommend that you find some casual clothes as well or you may find yourself feeling conspicuously overdressed in the evenings outside the dining room. If you don’t like polos, then you can wear oxfords with a sportcoat, which looks pretty sharp with or without a tie. (Suits without ties look silly.) This can be worn with dockers-types pants or the dressier thin slacks which are available anywhere.
Lucky for you, I once worked in a posh tailor shop. Unlucky for you explaining this in words might be difficult.
Start with the suit held in front of you, with one hand in the shoulder of each arm, with the suit lining towards you. As if you were about to put the suit onto a hanger.
Now fold the shoulders together so they touch at the back of the suit. The arms should hang down allong the back of the suit. Ensure the suit’s collar is flat to the suit.
Now fold the shoulders further arround and away from you until you have the suit folded in half with the lining outermost, and the arms both running down the inside of the folded suit.
If your case is long enough, you can now put thesuit like this into the case. Otherwise you will want to fold the suit as gently as possible near the middle in half lengthways.
For a really good suit, or very best results, place tissue paper between the two sleeves of the suit where they come together in this folding process.
Sorry, but I can’t find this process defined with pictures on the web anywhere. This is how we would package suits for postal delivery, and I have used the same method for suit jackets whenever packing a suitcase with very decent results.
I disagree with you there. I almost never wear ties; with my suits I generally wear these thick-material T-shirt like shirts that are meant to be worn out and actually look good under a suit. Maybe it’s a California thing. I also wear turtleneck shirts. Of course, I do wear a tie if it’s really called for, with a regular dress shirt. For example, on the really formal night I’ll certainly do that. But otherwise, without the tie, a suit is a way of hewing to a no-jeans rule while still being almost as comfortable as in jeans and a T. Remember, the standard isn’t to be perfectly and correctly turned out, but just not to be wearing jeans.
Your description is very good, I think I can understand it.
Now that I think about it, a luggage shop would probably have something you could use to keep a suit folded in a certain way after you put it in the case. I’m sure I seen something like that–it looks like a little portable rack.
Any time you have to fold it, place another item (like a t-shirt) on the inside of the fold, right up against the folding point. That helps keep creases from forming.
That’s essentially it: it’s not just how you fold it, but how you pack it. If you pack your suit first, carefully using other filler peices in the way I mentioend above, you can end up with a very wearable suit when you pull it out later.
My solution on a recent cruise involved wearing one suit for the trip to Puerto Rico, and packing the second suit and dealing with its wrinkles using the humidity of my bathroom. It was a pia wearing a suit for travel.
If I don’t use a built in suiter, I use a method similar to Bibby’s. Line the bottom of the suitcase with a shirt or pants. Button the coat up, and with the buttons away from you, place the collar flat on the bottom of the suitcase – assuming something the size of a rollaboard here – with the collar nearest to the hinged end of the suitcase.
Fold the shoulders back far enough that the sleeves drape, and let the bottom of the coat and sleeves hang out of the suitcase for the moment.
Place the pants with the waist at the extreme right or left, and the legs hanging over the opposite short edge. Fill in with two or three layers of other clothes.
Fold the pant legs over these layers and into the case. Fold the coat over and on top of the pants. Have at least one garment go on top of the folded over coat.
I find the exact folding method Bippy describes better for dress shirts, and that the method above is better for leaving a coat crease-free.
The trick I learned from a company salesman is to hang the suit up in the hotel bathroom after the hot water has been running for a while in the tub, so that the moisture in the air can help get the wrinkles out.
