Traveling doesn’t mean you have to leave your style behind. You’ll need a suit or two for that important meeting, a special date, night out…
But compared to the rest of your clothes, you need to pack your suits carefully. Your suit needs to stay fresh and unwrinkled no matter your destination and the size of your travel bag or suitcase.
And packing your suit without ruining it can be quite a challenge.
Read on to learn how to pack your suit the right way…
There is a technique to folding a suit jacket. Below is my preferred way of folding my jacket for all my business trips…
Lay your suit jacket flat on the table with its front facing towards you. Button it up so that the panels of your jacket don’t move across the seams as you make those folds.
Flip the jacket over and iron it thoroughly and gently with your hands to eliminate all cloth bulks. Make sure that all the side seams of the jacket are firmly lined along the edges.
Fold the right shoulder straight to the back and tuck it inside the other shoulder as if the former is enveloped by the latter. See to it that the seam on the right shoulder is in line with the other as you secure the envelope fold.
Pull both of the sleeves down just to make sure that they lie flat with one on top of the other. Fold the jacket in half either from the top or from the bottom.
Watch this video to see how to fold and pack a suit properly:
Folding Your Dress Pants
Folding your dress pants should be a whole lot easier than tucking your suit jacket away. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide on how to fold a pair without ruining it:
The technique in folding your dress pants properly lies in finding its crease. To do this, hold the pair upside down from hems with one hand while your other hand works on combing through the crease.
Lay the pants down on top of a table with one hand still holding onto the hems and the other making that gentle and smooth hand-ironing from the center towards the crease.
Fold the pants in half and make a repeat fold until it’s reduced to a quarter of its original size.
You can fold your pants with your folded jacket nested inside it. Moving back to step two, place folded jacket on top of your pants. Fold the bottom of your pants on top of the jacket and follow through with the topside of your pants. Carefully secure both your folded pants and jacket into your luggage and you’re good to go.
Helpful tips to travel in style
If you are planning on bringing two suit jackets, wear at least one of them as you travel. This will help free up more space in your luggage while minimizing risks of getting your suit overly pressed.
If you’re up to it, bring along at least one full-length garment bag for your suit. This will save you the trouble of folding your suit jacket and dress pants into your travel bag.
Don’t be enthused in folding your suit. The lesser folds you make, the better.
Make sure that the outside portion of your jacket is protected or covered by a portion of it with the inside lining facing outward. This helps in keeping your suit from sustaining surface damage.
Secure a protective plastic cover like those provided in dry cleaning service and place it in between your folded suit jacket and dress pants. This will help keep both clothes from rubbing against each other throughout the duration of your travel.
Traveling doesn’t mean you have to leave your style behind. You’ll need a suit or two for that important meeting, a special date, night out…
