Luxury Hangers by Butler Luxury

I once wrote a rant about the importance of hangers to fine tailored clothing (you can read it here)

Like any investment piece, it worth spending a little extra to take care of it, whether it's a cover for your iPad or a case for your phone or a cover for your boat or classic car. Clothing is no different. Most hangers do not provide adequate support to the shoulder and collar and cause actually distort the garment while it is hanging. Good quality hangers will prevent this distortion.

Butler Luxury contacted me to see if I would be interested in seeing their line of luxury hangers. Naturally, I was; they sent me a set of four pieces.

The shirt hanger



The sport coat hanger



The trouser hanger



And, most importantly, the suit hanger



The suit and sportcoat hangers are made extra-wide at the ends, which provide the necessary support for the shoulder of the garment.



An important feature is also the wide, flocked trouser bar. The flocked finish prevents the trouser from slipping off, and the extra-wide bar prevents impressions being left on the trouser where they fold over the bar; other hangers which have a locking bar or a strap to prevent slipping will all leave marks on the trouser. I definitely like these features. I also love that the hangers come in four different sizes- it's just as bad to have a large hanger poking out of the sleeves of a coat as it is to have then shoulders of a coat hang off the end of a hanger that is too narrow. The hanger sizes are suggested for approximate coat size, which is a help for people who wouldn't know what size is most appropriate to order.

From a technical standpoint, these hangers have it all. But they are also very handsome, and the finish is really very nice. Available in two colors, it occurred to me that the Walnut Espresso finish matches the wood in my walk-in and that matching hangers for everything including my shirts, while perhaps not strictly necessary, would look very nice.

In any case, if you are the type who invests in quality clothing, I highly recommend investing in proper garment storage, which includes these lovely luxury suit hangers.

The importance of hangers

Bear with me while I rant a little bit.

Nothing makes me crazier than those stupid little wishbone hangers that some stores use to hang their garments. I really, really hate them. The way that you store your garment has such an impact on it, the same way a shoe tree is so important to the life of a good shoe. Two of the most delicate parts of a coat are the top of the sleeve and the collar, and they are shaped to contour your body; it would make sense, then, to hang a garment on something that closely resembles the body, no? Then why do department stores insist on those skinny little wishbone hangers which in no way resemble the body, are usually too wide so they poke out the sleeves, do not support the top of the sleeve so the sleeve buckles, and do not support the collar?

Take a look at the way this coat sits on this hanger. The ends are poking into the sleeve and the sop of the sleeve buckles; there is a piece of canvas in the sleeve head which is meant to support it because, over time, the rippling you see can become semi-permanent, requiring a skilled pressing to remove. If the garments are stored too closely together on these hangers, the creasing can actually become very difficult to get out, even by an experienced hand. Worse, if you expose the garment to humidity while on this hanger, like hanging it in a steamy bathroom to remove other creases (not something I recommend doing, by the way), the damage can be even worse. Maybe you've never observed this before but I hope now you will.



See how the collar sits away from the hanger with nothing to support it? It can get crushed or stretched out like this, again requiring a good pressing to fix.




Better makers know that hangers are important so the garments are placed on hangers with a very wide shoulder that supports the sleeve and collar. Not only are these hangers, themselves, much more expensive than standard EQ14-type hangers, but they are also more expensive for shipping. But we consider it important to the garment. Some stores choose to switch these hangers at their distribution center for the smaller ones, others don't. The ones who don't, I thank you. The ones who do, well, grrr.

Why do the stores use these awful little hangers, then, if they are so bad? Well, space. And space is money. Space in the distribution center, space in the trucks which ship the product to the stores, and space on the selling floors. They can cram more garments into less space using these little hangers, which saves them money. Grrr.


You probably know where I'm going with this.

I got a message from Kirby Allison, asking if I would mind putting an ad for his products on my blog.

He offered to send me some hangers for review, but accusations of shilling are rife on the internet, and not having seen his hangers yet, I wanted to feel free to say they were not up to par, if that were the case. So let me be clear here- I did not accept any free hangers, I paid for them, though he gave me free shipping. This is not a review in exchange for free stuff. This is me ranting about something I feel very strongly about.

Here is the same coat again, on the wishbone hanger, and then on one of Kirby's hangers. See the difference in the sleeves and collar? The hanger is the proper width, since he offers 4 widths, and it supports the shoulder and the collar. For me, it's a no-brainer.






I am fortunate to have access to good hangers at work, otherwise I would have to buy them somewhere. I guess Kirby was faced with the same dilemma when he started his hanger project- I'm not sure where else you can get good suit hangers. They're not cheap, but then, compared to the price of a good suit, it's a worthwhile investment. And compared to the price of a lasted shoe tree (I pay $160 for mine- ouch!) they're a bargain! So if you are currently hanging good quality suits on crappy little hangers, I strongly recommend thinking about investing in a few better ones.

Your clothes will thank you for it.