Garment covers: Canvas/plastic?

[J.S. Groot]

Gentlemen,

As the title suggests, I am in need of advice on garment covers. What material is the best? Should it be canvas or is some synthetic material more suited? I once read somewhere that some plastics could release vapours that could risk discolouration of the contained fabric. I have no idea if this is true (glory to the web, eh?), but there might be other things to consider, such as whether the material is breathable.

If canvas is advisable, does anyone know of a good (European) online source? I have had serious trouble locating canvas covers, whereas the synthetic counterparts are readily available almost everywhere.

Cheers.

[trulhaug]

The garment bags from http://www.HangerProject.com are excellent. The company is located in US, but I had no problems ordering from Europe

[J.S. Groot]

I'm sure Kirby's bags are great. His hangers sure are; the suit hangers anyway. However, I am not looking for a travel bag; merely dust covers to hang in my closet (covering suits of course). Hence, $55 + shipping and customs is... somewhat too extravagant, I feel.

[Concordia]

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/clos ... 0083&N=150

[~ Monsieur Xu ~]

I've found that the garment covers that the Savile Row tailors that I've patronised included at collection of garments somewhat unsatisfactory, with the interior feeling cheap and plasticesque, and the zip of an inferior build.

I have considered once commissioning bespoke garment covers out of cotton, linen or corduroy, with a button "fly" or brass RJW zip, but never got around to it. Perhaps this could be worth investigating as a negligible supplement over the cost of a well-made suit.

Curiously, most of the Row uses the same green canvas cover, with their respective initials - anyone know who makes for them? They all also seem to use the same hanger - a woefully inadequate shirt hanger which beggars belief.

Off-topic, but any opinions on how Hanger Project hangers compare with Toscanini's. Huntsman sells the latter with one's monogramme.

[Concordia]

The Hanger Project's hangers are sufficiently good that I have no real desire to look any further.

[Jordan Marc]

J.S.

You want to use canvas bags for your suits, preferably one bag per suit which has enough room for the coat, a pair of trousers or two, and a vest. If you have double-hanging rails in your dressing room, you
don't need long bags for your suits and odd jackets, though the long bags work well for overcoats. Again, one per topcoat. Google The Container Store for the best canvas bags available. I imagine TCS
is capable of shipping anywhere in the civilized world. Buy more than you need in various sizes for an evergrowing wardrobe.

If you have a collection of sweaters and knitted long-sleeved pullovers, The Container Store has canvas
and clear plastic bags for your needs, each of which accommodates one bulky knit or three two-ply
knits.

To ward off moths and other pests, The Container Store sells cedar blocks, balls and a spray to refresh
the cedar. By the way, moths munch and lay larvae during the warmer moths. They stop eating around
October.

For some of the best hangers available, Google Kirby Allison's THE HANGER PROJECT and read Jeffery
Diduch's comments about properly sizing hangers, which can be found on his Made By Hand blog.

JMB

[J.S. Groot]

I have already bought into the Hanger Project and secured myself some suit and shirt hangers. The suit hangers are truly excellent and unlike anything I've ever seen. The shirt hangers are very handsome, but I don't see exactly how the are superior to standard wooden hangers.

Regrettably, The Container Store does not ship internationally. Their supplies are perfect, though.

[couch]

As JMB suggests, pure cotton cloth is ideal from a purist preservation point of view, if free of chemical treatments. In real life, canvas has three (not fatal) drawbacks: it's relatively heavy, doesn't slip easily over clothes, and it holds dust. I have not seen Kirby's luxury garment bag in person. It's cotton twill, so may be a bit less adhesive to dust than canvas; at 12 oz cloth weight, it's good that the gusset is fused so the bag doesn't collapse onto the suit inside. It's also pricey for a storage solution at $55 per bag (you'd want one per jacket/suit).

I think woven nylon is adequately stable chemically for this purpose, and what I use is a lightweight 44" garment bag made of 210 denier nylon with a 5" gusset. It's inexpensive and inoffensive (black). The construction is fine for storage, though I wouldn't give it very hard use as a travel carrier. The nylon fabric is smooth, as in a light wind shell, so it's easy to clean when needed and slips over clothes as easily as taffeta lining. Since it's tightly woven, it's breathable but moth resistant, and the weight will not deform worsted cloth. I crease heavy blotter card (as is used for sampling scent) into a kind of u-shape with a central hole punched to slide over the hanger neck to fit under the garment bag's hanger slit; I apply essential oil of western cedar to the blotter every couple of months except in winter. This discourages moths entering at the only opening they could fit through (and the vulnerable spot for all such bags). In the off season, I also use a similar bag and cedar-impregnated card over a ladder hanger holding four or five pair of wool trousers.

You can find several online dealers for these garment bags here. Some of them will sell by the case of 12. They also come in a 'dress' 54" length which works fine for overcoats and tails.

[Robert Watkins]

The best garment bag I've ever come across was from "Hold Everything," a now-defunct Williams-Sonoma subsidiary. Each single suit bag was heavy cotton canvas on one side, thick transulucent plastic on the other, with a three inch wide gusset along the top and edges. Nothing ever gets crushed in one of those. I've used up my stock and have not been able to find anything comparable.