Packing a suit?

April 5, 2006 11:57 AM

How best to pack a suit?

I'm flying to a job interview soon, and have a suit and a sportcoat that I want to pack. What's the best way to do this? I have a nice, older Samsonite suitcase with plenty of room, but am afraid everything's going to come out wrinkled. Any tips for keeping these items from getting wrinkled, or for getting the wrinkles out with a minimum of fuss upon arrival?

posted by cog_nate to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (14 answers total)

If you hang it right (jacket over a curved hanger, pants clipped and not hung), leaving it in the bathroom while you take a steamy shower smoothes things somewhat.
posted by glibhamdreck at 12:02 PM on April 5, 2006

Invest in a carry-on garment bag, for 2 reasons: First, a nice garment bag will be designed in such a way that you can pack a suit and minimize wrinkling. But, second, and more importantly, you really don't want to check the bag with your interview suit, and risk it getting delayed or lost.
posted by .kobayashi. at 12:04 PM on April 5, 2006

Garment bags are made for this. Or, depending on arrival time, get the outfit drycleaned when you get there if you're really serious (which you probably are if you're flying for it).
posted by jimmythefish at 12:04 PM on April 5, 2006

I've had luck with layering the suit separates with tissue paper or plastic from a dry cleaner's bag, then rolling into a roll. The plastic or paper layer should help prevent wrinkles. I find typical suiting material pretty wrinkle resistant.
More suggestions here.
posted by exogenous at 12:06 PM on April 5, 2006

Buy a travel steamer or iron -- it's probably worth the extra few pounds if you really want to be crisp.
posted by o2b at 12:14 PM on April 5, 2006

Depending on your schedule, you could get the suit dry cleaned at the hotel. I think they can do this overnight for you, but to be sure, call ahead to your hotel and verify. I have traveled with a few folks who swear by this - they pack dirty shirts and dress pants, get it all cleaned when they arrive.
posted by drobot at 12:16 PM on April 5, 2006

This was asked previously here.
posted by phoenixc at 12:17 PM on April 5, 2006

Put it into the dry cleaning bag with the arms crossed over the chest and jacket unbuttoned. You will need to fold it over in the suitcase. Don't just fold it on itself as that is likely to leave a big crease. Fold it over something like some shirts or a sweater.

A garment bag or a carry-on rolling bag is really the way to go. Even the rolling bags usually have suit and shirt accommodations to allow them to be folded over without creasing as easily. The plastic dry cleaner bag works even better on the shirts. Suits usually survive unscathed and wool ones will straighten out on overnight hanging unless really mangled. Cotton shirts require more care. For the suitcase you may want to have your shirts returned from the cleaners boxed rather than on hangers. You still get creases around the cardboard form, but they are hidden by the suit jacket, and they are less likely when packed this way to get extra creases in the suitcase.
posted by caddis at 12:38 PM on April 5, 2006

Wear it on the plane. Seriously. When you get to the hotel, take off the suit and hang it up to get some air. In the morning, hang it in the bathroom while you shower, so that the steam helps you with any remaining little wrinkles.

As a bonus, airline people treat you better when you're wearing a suit.
posted by bingo at 12:51 PM on April 5, 2006

My three-day suitcase has a garment bag-esque thing for keeping suits nice. (it straps the hanger, has some padded bits to fold it over twice, and some straps to keep things from shifting.) I put it in that, leave them in the dry cleaning bag while I travel, and they're usually fine.

When they're not, I pony up to have everything pressed by the hotel.

Warning: hotel dry cleaning and pressing prices are insane. Like $20 to get a suit pressed, $30 to get it dry cleaned, and another $10 to take care of a shirt. As such, it's real handy if the suit actually manages to travel well.
posted by I Love Tacos at 1:39 PM on April 5, 2006

No matter how I pack it it ends up wrinkled. What I do right after check in is unpack the suit, fill up the iron with water and place it at the hottest setting. Hold the suit up with the hanger and press the release steam button on all of the wrinkles. Do not put the suit on the ironing board! As long as their is no opposing pressure the iron should not harm the suit. Just hold it as close enough to the suit that the steam does it's stuff. This has the same effect as hanging it in the bathroom when you shower but it's much more concentrated.
posted by any major dude at 3:05 PM on April 5, 2006

Scroll down to bundle folding section on this page. It does work.
posted by desuetude at 3:15 PM on April 5, 2006

Wear it. It's the only way.
posted by Nelson at 7:12 PM on April 5, 2006

If you wear it the pants will wrinkle on the plane, unless it is a very short flight. I travel with suits all the time and packed inside a dry cleaning bag inside a garment bag and then stowed in the overhead luggage compartment (rather than being checked - serious business travelers never check bags) my suits never get wrinkled. They are regular wool suits, not the wrinkle free stuff designed for travel abuse. All this obsessing here over suits is ridiculous. Suits generally travel well. The shirts on the other hand are worth the obsession. Cotton shirts do not travel well; they wrinkle easily and those wrinkles will not come out just by letting the shirt hang for a period. The good news is that for an interview you generally keep your jacket on and no one is likely to see any wrinkles your shirts might pick up.

While your on your way you might as well spring for a shoe polishing at the airport (and don't forget to tip the guy).
posted by caddis at 5:29 AM on April 6, 2006