Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette! In today's video, we'll discuss the most
efficient ways to fold different kinds of garments so that you can maximize
space and minimize wrinkling. This video is the second in another series we're
doing on garment care; the first video in the series covered shoe care, this one
will cover garment folding and storage, and the third will cover how to wash
your suits at home. Also here's a reminder to take a look at
our previous garment care series which covered removing the musty smell from
vintage clothing maintaining and washing wool sweaters some cheap and easy
laundry hacks and how to remove stains from any garment. Moving to the topic at
hand then, whether you're looking to pack a suitcase efficiently for a vacation or
just looking to maximize space in your own closet, knowing how to effectively
fold different types of garments will be a handy tool in your sartorial arsenal.
One quick note before we get to these specific methods today, there's no one
magic method that will completely eliminate wrinkles altogether, that's
just not how fabric works, however, the methods we're outlining
today will at least minimize wrinkles so that after you take your garments out
again, a quick hit from an iron or garment steamer should get those
wrinkles out. By the way, to take a look at our videos on ironing you can go here.
Let's begin today with shirts. Start by laying your shirt flat on a table or
other work surface and buttoning it up. Buttoning all the buttons is best for
eliminating odd wrinkles but in a pinch, just buttoning the top button, bottom
button, and a few buttons in the middle will be good enough. Next, flip the shirt
over to the back side and gently run your hands over it a few times just to
smooth out any potential wrinkles. Take one of the shirt sleeves and fold it
over making sure to create a straight fold where the sleeve of the shirt meets
the body at the armhole. Next, fold that sleeve upward at about a 60
degree angle so that the cuff is parallel to the top of the collar. Of
course, you're going to want to repeat these two sleeve folds with the other
sleeve. Next, fold the entire shirt lengthwise into thirds making sure that
all of your folds are straight and precise. Finally, fold the shirt into
thirds, width wise, and that's it! You're finished. Alternatively, instead of
folding width wise, you could roll the shirt up from the bottom to the top. This
might be a better storage solution for a carry-on or if you're putting your
shirts in a drawer. One additional tip, this folding method can also be used
effectively for sweaters. For more information on how to effectively care
for sweaters you can take a look at the relevant video in our previous garment
care series. Next up are trousers and all in all, they're pretty simple to fold. For
pants with pleats and/or a central crease on the legs, start with the pants
folded on that crease. Essentially, you can think of it like a side view of the
pants. Also, to make sure things are aligned here, you can check that these
seams are lining up at the bottom hems. Meanwhile for pants without a crease,
like denim jeans, you can start with the pants laid flat on a table or work
surface and simply fold them in half at the fly. Next, take the bottom hems and
fold them about a third of the way up then fold again so that the bottom fold
meets the waistband, that's all there is to it! With pants, as with shirts, you can
also roll from the bottom to the top instead of folding into thirds. There is
also another method of trouser folding that's especially good for wrinkle
prevention; if you want to hang your trousers in a closet, it's sometimes
known as the Savile Row fold after the street famous for fashions in London.
Start as before with your pants folded either on the creases or at the center.
Next, take the hanger you're going to use, any material can be used, of course, but
we do recommend that you avoid wire hangers and slide
the hanger between the pant legs about halfway up the leg. Take the top leg and
fold it under itself around the hanger with the bottom hem aligned with the
crotch. Then lay the hanger and the leg flat, making sure that the leg isn't
bunched up under itself. Next, take the bottom leg and bring it through the
opening in the hanger over the top. Now, your trousers are ready to hang and
they'll have fewer wrinkles. Finally today, we'll cover what might perhaps be
the trickiest possible garment to fold, jackets. Why would this be the case?
Simply put, it's because the additional structural elements, like the lapels and
possible shoulder padding that you might find in a jacket, are a bit more to deal
with when folding. Still, an effective method does exist to fold jackets and
we're going to share it with you now. Start with the jacket unbuttoned and
with its collar and lapels up. With the back side of the jacket facing up on
your work surface, take the left shoulder or whichever side has a breast pocket
and fold it back over the jacket about a third of the way. Next, take the right or
opposite shoulder; carefully turn it inside out and bring it over the left.
This may be easier to do while holding the jacket upright as opposed to on a
work surface as we're showing here. The important thing is that these shoulders,
lapels, and edges of the jacket should all meet up
as cleanly as possible. Finally, you can either fold the jacket in half to store
it flat or roll it up from the bottom to the top to eliminate one more potential
wrinkle. There you have it! Your jacket is folded. This method can also be used
effectively for overcoats but instead of folding the material in half at the end
of the process, you can fold it into thirds or more to take care of some of
that extra length effectively. Waistcoats can
simply be folded in half lengthwise and then fold it into thirds or rolled from
the bottom to the top to be effectively stored or packed.
With these folding techniques at your disposal then, your suitcase closet or
chest of drawers should see a lot of additional space open up and your
garments should only have a few wrinkles to deal with at whatever time you decide
to unfold and wear them. Of course, we recommend storing your
garments on high quality wooden hangers for long term storage. On that note you
can find our video on storing your winter wardrobe here.
and our video on how to effectively pack a carry-on or other suitcase here So
which of the techniques for folding we mentioned today were you most surprised
by and do you happen to know of any alternate methods of folding that you
think work better? If so share with us in the comments below and as always don't
forget to subscribe to the channel and hit the little bell icon so these videos
can come straight to your inbox in today's video I'm wearing a casual
outfit that would once again be good for some around the house garment care the
central element is a cardigan sweater from Charles Tyrwhitt in a color they call
wine and I'm wearing it over a shirt also from Charles Tyrwhitt in white with
a subtle check pattern of pink and blue also the shirt does have French cuffs
but I'm wearing them configured in a barrel style today so they fit more
easily under the sleeves of the cardigan as such I'm not wearing ornate cufflinks
but just some simple black ones that will also fit easily my trousers are
plain Navy to pick up the blue tones in the check pattern of the shirt and my
socks are also plain Navy in color just to harmonize simply and well with the
trousers the outfit is rounded out by some new oxblood penny loafers I've got
to replace the old ones which were a little bit more dilapidated stay tuned
for some upcoming videos on my shoe collection and how it will probably be
growing in the future as my outfit today is so casual I'm not really wearing very
many accessories still the Fort Belvedere shop has a wide selection of
different kinds of accessories such as ties pocket squares and very
different types of men's jewelry and you can take a look at all of our different
offerings by clicking the link here