Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style

Following up on yesterday’s “flight suit” article, here’s a quick guide on how to fold a suit and shirt to avoid wrinkling in your suitcase.

The suit

First, lay the jacket flat: Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style The key is that all four panels are laying perfectly flat (front and back, including the vents). The pin is optional (I wouldn’t use it on cottons or fragile fabrics):Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Flip the perfectly-flat jacket over:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Fold the side of the jacket, lined-up with the center back seam:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Flatten and smooth the sleeve along the fold line:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Repeat on the other side:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Now to the trousers. Fold them in half, keeping the front crease in tact by inverting the front waistband (fly open):Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style One more fold to get the trousers into quarters:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Place the trousers on the top half of the jacket, waistband along the sleeve edge:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Fold the jacket in half over the trousers:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Flip it over. Boom.Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style

The shirt

Fully button the shirt and lay it on its front. Fold the right sleeve straight back at the shoulder:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Fold the sleeve upward over the center of the collar:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Fold the cuff (buttoned) downward:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Repeat with the left sleeve, on top of the right:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Fold the right side of the shirt over the folded sleeves, creating a straight fold roughly one inch from the edge of the collar:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Repeat with the left side over the right side:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Fold the bottom third of the shirt upward:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Fold one more time from where the hem landed. The first folded edge should land just below the collar:Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Flip it over. Boom.Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Dan Trepanier/Articles Of Style Finally, to really avoid wrinkling, place the garments in extra-large ziplock bags and seal them with a little air so that the garments do not get squashed by other items in your suitcase (the pressure creates wrinkles). For a video tutorial check out this guy – he really gets it.

Another trick to avoid being a wrinkled mess while traveling is removing all of the garments from your suitcase and hanging them on proper hangers ASAP upon arrival. If needed, most hotels have irons, too. If not, you could always get away with the old shower steamer trick.

Thanks for reading and safe travels!

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