Look After Your Suit and Be Well Groomed

Good grooming is part of first impressions so always be well groomed and nothing is worse than seeing a badly creased or dirty suit. It is important to care for your suit, so it lasts longer and looks good every time you wear it. When you look after your suit it will look after you as you look stylish and presentable to the people you meet.

Here are my 10 Tips for Looking After a Suit

1. Hang it  up properly – as soon as you get home take your suit off and  hang it up.
2. Empty all your pockets when you have finished wearing it for the  day.
3. Wooden Hanger – use a good wooden hanger designed for a jacket  and trousers.
4. Breathe – leave it hanging to breathe and put it away the next day.
5. Dry  Cleaning – avoid dry cleaning your suit too often, it  usually only needs to be dry cleaned a few times per year. Too much dry cleaning makes natural fibres like wool more brittle and it will not last as long.
6. Brush your  suit –  give  the suit a quick gentle brush with a clothes brush which is made of natural bristles.
7. Don’t  wear your suit every day – if you wear a  suit every day then have at least five suits.
8. Press Your Suit – press on the wrong side and for pleats use a damp tea towel to iron on and use the iron on a steam setting. Often the  back of the knees of trousers, elbows of sleeves and centre of the back of  jackets need a press.  Alternatively ask your dry cleaners to just press it  for you.
9. Trouser  press – although it is not as good as a professional press it can help to remove the creases from the backs of the  knees each day.

Travelling

Packing your suit – turn the jacket inside out, ensuring that you pull the shoulders all the way through; then there will be fewer creases when the lining rubs against each other. As wool fibres need moisture to maintain their elasticity the best way to get creases out is to steam your bathroom by running the shower and hang the suit in the misty atmosphere for a few hours or overnight.

If you are on a tight budget, ensure you budget for at least two new suits a year.

Ensure you have clean shoes, hands and nails plus tidy hair and that your blouse or shirt is well pressed to complete the look.

You need to look the part at work and as I say “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have!”