How to Pack a Suit So It Arrives Ready to Wear

Two questions come up whenever a client is about to travel with a suit. Fold it or hang it, and what to do with it when it comes out of the case. Most of the damage people worry about is not caused by the folding at all.

This is what we tell clients at 221 Culver Blvd before a trip. Five minutes at each end is the difference between walking into a meeting in a suit and walking in carrying the evidence of the flight.

What actually creases, and what does not

Two things decide how a suit comes out of a case, and neither is your folding technique.

The first is the yarn. Hard-twisted yarn has spring in it: the fibres are wound tightly before weaving and want to return to where they were. A soft, loosely woven cloth with a flat finish has no such memory and holds whatever shape you leave it in. That is why an unremarkable worsted travels beautifully and a lovely flannel does not. Our piece on cloth weight and super numbers explains the yarn.

The second is how the jacket is built. In a fully canvassed coat the chest is wool and horsehair loosely stitched to the cloth rather than stuck to it, so each layer moves, flexes under a fold and springs back on the hanger. A fused chest is glued, and a hard fold in a warm hold lifts the glue away and leaves a bubble that cannot be repaired. See full canvas, half canvas and fused construction.

Hang it if you possibly can

A garment bag carried over the arm beats every folding method. Use breathable cotton rather than plastic, and fold the bag once over the hanger hook rather than in three. If you are flying, ask the cabin crew as you board: many aircraft have a small wardrobe at the front.

How to fold a jacket so the shoulders survive

Fold it this way when it has to go in a case. The shoulders end up inside, protected, because the shoulder is the least repairable part of a coat.

1. Unbutton it and empty every pocket, the inside breast pocket included.
2. Hold the coat by the shoulders and turn one shoulder inside out so its lining faces outward.
3. Slide the other shoulder inside the inverted one so the two nest together, lining outward and both shoulder pads face to face in the middle.
4. Smooth the lapels flat against each other and lay the sleeves down the length of the coat.
5. Make one soft fold at the waist. One, not two. Two folds puts a hard crease across the chest.

Trousers are easier. Fold them along the crease already in them, then once behind the knee. Never across the front of the thigh, and never rolled.

Packing the case

A fold creases because it has an edge. Give it a radius and it does not: roll a shirt and lay it inside the fold so the cloth curves around it. That trick does more than anything else here.

Beyond that: the jacket goes in last, flat across the top, nothing on it. Shoes in bags at the hinge. Compression straps loose, and no suit near a vacuum bag. Carry it on if you can, because sustained pressure is what sets a crease.

The first five minutes at the other end

Unpack the suit first and hang it on a broad hanger with shaped ends. Wool recovers on its own, and many creases are gone by morning with no intervention at all.

For the rest, run a hot shower and leave the suit in the bathroom for twenty minutes, then let it dry on the hanger. A travel steamer does the same in five. Leave the hotel iron where it is: direct heat on worsted leaves a shine that does not come out. Hang the trousers from the cuffs overnight so their weight pulls the legs straight.

Worth packing: a bristle brush, two broad hangers and a cotton garment bag. Care between wears is in our guide to caring for a bespoke suit.

When it is a tailor's job and not a cleaner's

Some things do not steam out, and a dry cleaner makes them worse. A crease that has set hard, a shoulder gone soft, a lining split at the armhole, a torn pocket bag. All of those are hand work. A press on a tailor's board works the cloth back into shape; a machine press flattens everything it touches, chest included.

Every garment we make carries one year of complimentary alterations from collection, and after that alterations are $80 an hour, most jobs taking an hour or less. We also press and reline garments we did not make; the suit alterations Los Angeles page sets out what is involved.

Commissioning a suit that travels

If a good share of your wear happens on aircraft, say so at the consultation, because it changes the cloth we put in your hands. A hard-twisted worsted recovers from a suitcase far better than a soft flat-finished cloth at the same price. A second pair of trousers in the same cloth at $450 is the other sensible order, since the trouser is the half that suffers.

A two-piece starts at $1,795, cut from a pattern drawn for one client, built full canvas and made by hand in our atelier in Southern Brittany. Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported. The process is on our bespoke suits Los Angeles page.

Come and see us

The first consultation takes an hour and costs nothing, and you will meet Robb or Ben. Bring the suit you travel in and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth saving. More about the house is on our custom tailor Los Angeles page. You can book a fitting online, reserve a private consultation, or telephone 310-503-3592. We are at 221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey.

Questions we are often asked

Is it better to fold a suit or hang it for travel?

Hang it whenever you can, in a breathable cotton bag carried over the arm, and ask the cabin crew as you board. Folding is the fallback, and done properly it is safe.

How do you fold a suit jacket without creasing it?

Turn one shoulder inside out, slide the other into it so the two nest with the lining facing outward, lay the sleeves flat and make one soft fold at the waist. One fold rather than two keeps a hard crease off the chest.

How do you get wrinkles out of a suit after a flight?

Hang it on a broad shaped hanger and leave it alone, because wool recovers by itself. For what remains, use a bathroom with a hot shower running for twenty minutes, or a travel steamer. Avoid the hotel iron, which leaves a shine.

Can you pack a suit in a carry-on?

Yes, and a carry-on is better than hold baggage. Fold the jacket as above, lay it flat on top with nothing above it, and roll a shirt inside the fold so the cloth curves rather than closing on an edge.

Will travelling ruin a suit?

Not a fully canvassed one. The chest is stitched rather than glued, so it flexes under a fold and springs back. A fused jacket is the one at risk, because a hard fold in a warm hold can lift the glue and leave a bubble.

Should a suit be pressed or dry cleaned after a trip?

Pressed, almost always. A set crease, a soft shoulder or a split lining is hand work rather than a solvent bath, and a machine press flattens the hand-shaped chest. Pressing and repairs are $80 an hour after the complimentary first year.