Storage Insert/Frame for Men's Dress Shirts?

February 17, 2011 3:11 PM

This may be so simple as to be a waste of a question, but help me out: I have a bunch of dress shirts that are traditionally hung up, but due to a (favorable) change in my dress code at work, I’d like to take them down and put them away to free up some closet space. I seem to remember there being some sort of framework/insert that you could buy and insert into such shirts that would help them keep their shape better or not get permanently irrevocably wrinkled. Any idea what these things are called and where I could buy them online?
posted by WCityMike to clothing, beauty, & fashion (7 answers total)

i don't know about special inserts, but putting a couple of sheets of butcher or tissue paper between each fold and not packing them away too tightly will help. then just take them to a dry cleaner for a good pressing when you're ready to wear them again.
posted by thinkingwoman at 3:21 PM on February 17, 2011

Lazy solution: wear each one once more. When they are all dirty, take them to the dry cleaners and ask for no starch, folded. They will come back neatly folded w/ cardboard inserts and be all ready for storage. Ta-da!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:27 PM on February 17, 2011 [4 favorites]

I might try that, but my dry cleaner is the most abysmal dry cleaner on the planet, and it wouldn't surprise me to find something coming back from them not only unfolded but with a new family of guinea pigs sprouting in one of the sleeves.
posted by WCityMike at 3:28 PM on February 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

...go to a different dry cleaner?
posted by brainmouse at 3:49 PM on February 17, 2011 [11 favorites]

No firsthand experience with these, but you might look into the Eagle Creek Pack-It folder. I see that they're recommended for travel, so I'm not sure how they'd do for longer-term storage. Anyhow, the instructions for folding a dress shirt over a board may be of help.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:33 PM on February 17, 2011

Find a better dry cleaner and asked for them to cleaned and boxed. Easy storage comes with the clean shirt.
posted by cestmoi15 at 5:54 PM on February 17, 2011

The only thing I've ever seen that matches your description are the frame hangers you find in some children's clothes in retail stores. The thing is, kid sizes aside, these aren't really made for flat storage - they're explicitly hangers, they just keep the item from crumpling. So if you're clearing out your closet, they might not be your best choice for wrinkle-free storage.
posted by clerestory at 4:19 AM on February 18, 2011