How to pack a suit for travel and avoid wrinkling
Do you know how to pack a suit for travel and minimize wrinkling? The last thing you want when traveling for business or pleasure is to arrive at our destination only to discover that our nice suit has been seriously wrinkled.
Ron and I have traveled with our suits for many years now. Unfortunately, the best way to travel with a suit is simply to not put it into any piece of luggage. Period! Ideally, you transport it in a garment bag and hang it from something. But when most of us travel, we use the overhead compartment on the plane.
So, you usually have two options. Either you wear your jacket onto the plane and wear it while seated, or you pack your suit in a bag. None of us really enjoy wearing a suit jacket during a three hour flight, but if you did, I don’t think it’s the worst idea because you would probably only see minimal wrinkling. For a short flight, taking your jacket off, gently folding it in half, and laying it across your lap is a smart move.
But most of us will need to actually pack our suits at some point. Therefore, how should you do it?
Luggage options
When you have a great looking suit it doesn’t feel natural to stuff it into a piece of luggage. If you’re checking your bag, your best bet is to find a piece of luggage that folds over onto itself. This way, you’re basically just folding your suit once. This is Ron’s go-to strategy and he’s had great luck with it. Here’s a great bag by David King & Co that we like. Slightly more compact, is an innovative design by Biaggi. It’s a bit of a tri-fold design. I haven’t tested it myself, but it has some great reviews and will apparently work for carry-on, although it looks a bit large for my taste. We also sell a lightweight bag perfect for storage and travel within your suitcase.
I have a soft-sided Tumi bag and so as long as no other flyer puts anything on top of my bag, or otherwise compresses it, I’m in good shape. After landing, the first thing that I do is remove my jacket and put it on. If you have a hard shell piece of luggage, be careful to not over pack. There’s a good chance that your jacket will be compressed and come out pretty wrinkled.
When you arrive at your destination, take out your suit right away and hang it up. Fine quality fabrics are likely to return to their normal lengths. You can also hang your suit up in the shower and give it a bit of a steam. Or, call up the concierge and have them give it a proper steam treatment. But the thing to remember is that even a badly wrinkled suit will normally come back to life overnight.
How to pack a suit for travel, other opinions:
From Business Insider: How to pack a suit for business
From GQ: How to fold and pack a suit
Related reading:
What is a dopp kit and how to shop for one.
