Wooden Suit Hangers: The Key to Every Professional’s Wardrobe

If you work in a professional setting, you likely need to wear a suit to work most days, if not every day. Mint suggests that most professional men will need to own, on average, four suits, at least one of which should be navy and one should be black or charcoal.

When you’re building your suit collection, you’ll likely want to start by purchasing a standard, two-button jacket that you can regularly wear without this repetition becoming obvious. Later, as you acquire more suits, you can start considering adding variety, like one or three-button blazers and pinstripes.

Professional women will also find that they’ll need a variety of suits. The same rules apply as you’re building your collection: start simple, then add in variety.  

Even if you only have a limited number of suits in your closet, building your collection will nevertheless be costly. Business Insider suggests that the lowest cost for a high-quality suit is around $500; anything less than that likely won’t last or will look cheap.

With an investment like this one, you want to make sure that your suits will last. That’s where many suit-wearers go wrong. After paying the price of the outfit, they think they can scrimp on the hanger the ensemble spends significant time on. But this strategy doesn’t make sense in the long run! Cheap hangers will inevitably hurt your clothes and shorten their lifespan.

Here, we’ll talk about why wood hangers are vital in keeping your suits looking sharp.

Comparing Suit Hanger Materials. Which is Best?

There are three standard types of hangers: plastic, wire, and wood. Here, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of each:

Plastic Hangers

Pros:

• Easy to find
• Cheap
• It comes in many colors

Cons:

• Looks tacky
• Environmentally-unfriendly
• Breaks easily
• It does not hold up to heavy fabrics

Wire Hangers

Pros:

• Affordable
• It can be found everywhere
• Comes home with you after you have your clothing dry cleaned

Cons:

• Bends easily
• Hard to dispose of
• Causes unsightly marks on clothing

Wood Hangers

Pros:

• Holds the shape of heavier fabric
• Looks attractive in a closet
• Won’t bend or break

Cons:

• More expensive
• Not portable

Hanger Features Every Suit Needs

Why are wooden hangers more appropriate for suit storage than plastic or wire? 

Here's the answer. If you want your suits to last as long as possible, they should sit on hangers that mimic the shape of your body.

"This way, when they're not on our bodies, they can help clothes to maintain that natural, just-off-the-model look," says Maeve Richmond, a home organizer.

"The suit hanger comes designed to follow the natural shoulder profile, thus maintaining the overall shape of the jacket. Nothing looks worse than a jacket that droops and loses its natural drape," Dickie Bow reiterates.

The base of the hanger should be as thick as possible, especially when hanging heavy clothing. This need is why wood hangers beat out the alternatives every time. Like those made from plastic or wire, flimsier hangers can bend, causing your clothing to wilt. 

At the same time, while this isn’t good for the lifespan of your suits, it also makes your closet look sloppy.

What's more, each end of the hanger should come to a gentle curve. If the sides of the hanger come to a point, as wire hangers do, they can cause dents in the material. 

Even if your dry cleaner puts your suit on a hanger like this one in transportation, that doesn’t mean you should leave it there. Wire hangers ``create marks, dimples or creases in your attire that will be hard to remove.”

In sum, plastic and wire hangers can do a lot of damage to your suits. These cheap hangers can damage the padding in your shoulders, and if you hang your jacket on plastic or wire for too long, its shoulder pads will start flattening. In turn, these hangers will stretch out the collar and the shoulder fabric, which creates “lumps and shoulder bumps,” according to Hangorize.

Instead, when choosing a hanger for your suit, consider these three factors:

1) What is the Hanger’s Design?

Some hangers are just not designed for the heavy fabrics associated with suits. For instance, if you have a wool suit, you need a hanger that is just as hearty.

2) How Was the Hanger Constructed?

Plastic and wire hangers ARE NOT designed for long-term use. They are fine for short periods, like if you need a suit for a conference, but the crisp structure of your outfits will wilt if they’re hung on these hangers too long.

3) What is the Hanger’s Purpose?

All-purpose hangers might sound great, but they don’t give each garment what it needs. For instance, if you’re looking for a jacket hanger, it needs to mimic the shape of your shoulders. Otherwise, the jacket will soon begin to droop. If you need to hang a pair of trousers, they need a velvet-wrapped bar, so they don’t fall to the floor.

Why Wooden Hangers Are Better for Suits

Wood hangers are the hanger option that is the most similar in shape to people's shoulders. This step ensures that it will look the same as it does on your body, even when stored.

There are other problems with plastic and wire suit hangers, as well. It is no secret that you’ll have to throw out hangers in these materials when they inevitably bend or break. But it’s no easy task to replace these hangers – and you shouldn’t want to, either.

Plastic hangers are as harmful to the environment as plastic bags; if they are in a landfill, they will take more than 1,000 years to disintegrate. Wire hangers also can’t simply be recycled; you’ll have to look for a scrap metal plant if you want to reuse them.

On the other hand, wooden hangers are sturdy enough that you won’t have to replace them every few years. In fact, with minimal dusting and cleaning, your wooden hangers will last for a lifetime.

You also don’t want your closet looking the same way it did when you lived in a dorm room, right? Plastic and wire hangers look cheap, and in addition to the fact that they can hurt your suit, they can also make your closet look unsophisticated. After all, even an ensemble that costs thousands of dollars will look less than professional on a white plastic hanger.

Where to Buy Wooden Hangers

When you’re ready to buy wood hangers, take time to search for some that look as good as your suits! That’s what Butler Luxury can offer - a wooden suit hanger that elevates the sophistication of your closet.

Butler’s Women’s Suit Hangers come with clips that hang the skirts typically paired with blazers or jackets. The hanger comes in three smooth finishes: Dark Walnut Espresso, Deep Butterscotch, or White Wash with corresponding matte chrome or brass hardware.

Men’s suit hangers come in the same smooth finish options but have a velvet trouser bar for draping pants instead of clips. The bar won’t crease even delicate fabrics.

Both men and women can choose Rosewood Tailor Made® suit hangers. Made from Grade A Rosewood, the hanger comes in two sizes for smaller and larger suits. The hanger is ideal for suit trousers because it also comes with a velvet trouser bar. Men can also opt for the Tailor Made suit hanger in Grade A Beech wood instead.

If you’re ready to purchase your Butler Luxury wooden hangers, you can do so via the company website or through their Amazon storefront.

What People Are Saying About Butler Luxury

A wooden suit hanger from Butler Luxury will preserve the life of your suits better than any alternative. Here are some of the reviews from style and fashion publications explaining the benefits of these hangers.

Gentleman’s Gazette was impressed with Butler Luxury founder Mike Cregan’s process for creating hangers:

“After a few months, [Mike] came up with a new three-piece construction and a superior neckpiece that truly provides the best possible hold for a tailored garment. The widest shoulder pads in the industry had just the right shape; the weight was hefty, and the finish felt luxurious…To date, I have not seen a better suit hanger on the market, and hence I consider it to be the best suit and jacket hanger available today.”

The Stylish Man also comments on how Butler Luxury hangers keep clothes looking better for longer, noting:

“For comparison, I matched these hangers up against ones that came with my custom suits. All of them were similar in their solid wood design – though all other hangers we looked at were lighter, possibly from using a wood of lesser density. We are not particularly fond of how thin the limbs are, either. The hangers from our tailors didn’t stand a chance of competing. While they aren’t cheap hangers, the shoulders could have been thicker. Overall, the Butler Luxury hangers had the best fit and stood the best chance of extending the life of each suit.”

Wooden hangers are the best alternative for your suits, and if you're looking for the best wooden hanger on the market, it's time to update your closet with Butler Luxury wood hangers.

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