A tailor-made suit is an investment in your future. Whether for professional or personal use (or both) you’ll want to ensure you can maximise its use over its life. Learn how to maintain a suit with our simple suit-care tips.

It’s surprising how a thing as simple as a coat hanger can impact a suit. A good quality hanger will never let you down. Preferably wooden, and shaped to accommodate the jacket’s shoulders, a proper hanger will help to retain the suit’s shape. The suit will drape correctly from the shoulders, meaning the cloth won’t warp, nor will the shoulder pads flatten and lose their shape. A great hanger is also the best way to prevent a wrinkled suit.

It’s good practice for a gentleman to remove his jacket before sitting at a desk for an extended period. Wearing the suit jacket can cause unnecessary stress through the sleeves and armholes, and the cloth will rub against the desk. If the office air conditioning is particularly arctic, a waistcoat can keep you warm and still present you as well dressed even when strapped to the keyboard.

Trousers tend to wear out sooner than a jacket. When ordering a suit it makes sense to order a second pair of trousers so you may rotate them. The seat of the trousers will last longer and you will have a backup pair in case of any lunchtime spillages.

When dry cleaning, always be sure to clean the entire suit (and the spare trousers) at the same time. They’ll receive the same exposure to the dry-cleaning chemicals, so if there’s any discolouration it will occur evenly. Dry cleaning is something you should do sparingly—once or twice a year is a good amount. While dry cleaning is a necessary evil, you should never hand wash a suit. A damp cloth for small touch-ups won’t harm a suit, but any immersion could cause the fabric and interlining to bubble.

Maintaining your suit is simple; all it needs is a little care and attention. If it's rumpled a light pressing with a warm iron through a towel will fix it, or a steamer will do the same without harming it. Suit care should be easy and your suit should last you years. Just avoid the dance floor when a Lionel Richie song drops.