Your Suit
After Care
Knowing how to care for your tailoring isn’t innate wisdom: after all, suit maintenance isn’t exactly the sort of thing you get taught at school. But if you want to extend the life of your suit and ensure it looks the business for years to come, there are a few basic guidelines to keep in mind. Here’s how it’s done.
Tailor It
Once you’ve found a style you like, it’s important to choose the correct size. For more info on how a suit should fit, you can find some expert advice from the man himself in Paul’s tailoring guide. It might sound simple, but it can be easy to get wrong without the proper guidance.
Our ready-to-wear tailoring offers the signature Paul Smith style and quality without the complications or wait times of custom tailoring. But even when you’ve found your preferred style in the right size, it still might need a few alterations to fit just so. So, bring your new suit to your nearest Paul Smith shop, and our skilled staff will help you to achieve that all-important perfect fit.
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Steam (Don’t Iron)
To protect the fine fabric of your suit, you should avoid direct contact with an iron, unless the care label specifically advises it’s OK. Instead, invest in a good steamer to smooth out any wrinkles and creases between wears – as a bonus, you’ll find it will also deodorise and lightly clean your suit at the same time. Don’t worry, you don’t need a commercial-grade appliance to do the job – any at-home model should suffice. It will also be an invaluable tool when it comes to caring for ties, shirts and more.
But if you find yourself in a wrinkle-based emergency without a steamer to hand, then here’s a little trick: hang your suit up in the bathroom while you shower, and the steam from the hot water will have a similar effect.
Give it a Brush
Another pro tip is to invest in a good suit brush to keep your suit in tip-top condition between wears. Giving your suit some regular attention from a good quality suit brush will help to remove dust and restore the fabric’s natural lustre before you wear it again. When you put your suit away, hang it in the suit bag with the zip left open. This will keep it dust-free while letting the fabric breathe. We recommend brushing your suit before and after every wear, using gentle downward strokes. You can also combine this with the use of a lint roller.
Spot Clean Stains
Cleaning your suit after every single wear is unnecessary and will degrade the fibres more quickly. In any case, the traditional suiting cloths – wool, mohair, cashmere – are made up of natural yarns that are excellent at looking after themselves (with a little helping hand of course). Most of the time your suit will only need a quick brush down and an airing after each wear. If your suit smells of smoke or food, hanging it outside for a couple of hours should be enough to freshen it up. However, if you have a mishap, such as a spill or stain from food or drink, don’t panic – most marks will come out with a simple spot clean (using a damp cloth, or in a pinch, chemical-free baby wipes) and do not always require a trip to the dry cleaners.
Dry Clean (Irregularly)
On that note, like wool knitwear, you’ll find that most suits won’t fare well in a standard domestic washing machine. When the time comes for a deep clean, take your suit to the dry cleaner instead. Find a trusted specialist – be on the lookout for eco-friendly dry cleaners – and make sure you tell them exactly what your suit is made from. The internal care label will tell you all you need to know about the fabric composition. For environmental and longevity reasons, we recommend dry-cleaning your suit no more than three times a year.
Follow the Twice-a-Week Rule
Just like you, your suit needs time to rest and recover. We suggest wearing a suit no more than twice a week, in rotation with other suits. This will allow the suit to air and regain its shape between outings. Another tip is to buy an extra pair of trousers. The trousers are the first things to show signs of wear, especially if you’re a desk-bound office worker, so an extra pair can help your suit age more evenly.
Hang Out
A suit should be well taken care of even when you’re not wearing it. For instance, avoid putting the suit on wire hangers when possible, opting instead for wooden hangers. For jackets and blazers, it’s worth investing in specific jacket hangers that will maintain the shape and structure of your suit’s shoulders without stretching the fabric. When you’re out of the house, try to hang your jacket up properly wherever you can, rather than on the back of your chair or on a door hook. In your wardrobe, you can keep your suits in their garment bags – like the Paul Smith one your purchase came with – which will keep them wrinkle and dust free between wears.