Any daily suit wearers? How often clean?

LegacyUser

Hi there, looks like I am going to be acting up when my boss is on maternity leave,
most people at that level seem to wear suits (with or without ties)
at the moment wouldn't wear the same pants to work for more than two days (max)

If I go down the suit route - how many days a week would people wear the same suit? And does it go straight to the dry cleaners then? To be realistic would I need maybe four or five suits?
(I am ok to spend money on a few suits as my boss has intimated that she hopes to come back in a different role so there is a chance I could be staying on in the job)

awec

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Pawwed Rig

If he is gonna be wearing the suit everyday I don't think 2 is going to cut it.

I have 6 suits and for each suit I get 2 pairs of trousers.
TBH even though they are expensive suits I rarely get them dry cleaned. As Awec said if there is a stain on it I would but the expense of dry cleaning a suit after a couple of wears would cost me in the region of €30 per week (FT).
I rarely wash the jackets as honestly they do not get dirty (I just wear shirt and trousers in office). the trousers, I put through the laundry on the gentlest wash. It is not good for them but the cost of replacing the trousers periodically is much cheaper than the alternative of dry cleaning regularly.
Having said that they definitely look sharper after a dry clean.

I would wear a different suit each day of the week but would not wash them before wearing them again the following week. After that it is up to you how often you wash tem. Office work is very soft on clothes so it's not as if you would be sweating alot

eoferrall

I have 5 suits and wear 4 in any given week (fridays is business casual). with regards to dry cleaning, as stated unless a stain on them (drink spilt if in bar etc) , you don't need to do that often, I would tend to do them once a year.

Benefits to not wearing same suit each day is that you can hang them and let them air out after a wear to extend their life, and keeps their shape and looking sharp.

Always hang them straight up after getting home from work, instead of tossing over chair etc. Will look better for longer.

later12

I am more likely to wear jeans & tee shirts these days, but here is my experience of it.

Go at least a few months between dry cleaning. I would dry clean my suits no more often than every 6-12 months.

Occasionally hang them in the steam of the shower & close the door. This will just help keep them fresh and remove any light smells or food stains. Brushing can help keep them fresh as well, especially if you are also a smoker.

As others have said, invest in a few more suits, that way you won't have to worry about dry cleaning. Anyway if you're going to wear it every day, the wear will damage it before the dry cleaning does.

cson

Following on from the suit pointers... collars gentlemen; how on earth do you keep the inside of them clean? I can't for the life of me understand how the inside collars of white shirts can get so dirty looking. I'm assuming this problem isn't unique to me...

awec

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cson

awec wrote: »

Shouldn't see the inside of your collar if the collar fits you correctly, but yes they get dirty and theres no real way to prevent it.

That's why it isn't that big a deal, as no one will see it but at the same time it does bug me.

Piliger

A short three month maternity leave ????

Two suits. A new shirt every day (!) Wear the same suit for a week, airing the other one. Dry clean every three to five months.

Pawwed Rig

Regardless of whether it is only 3 months or the longer term the OP is going to be working in the office long term. Wearing the same clothes everyday IS something people notice (whether we like it or not) and IS something that would be commented on (probably not to his face).

Not trying to be bitchy here but other people can be

liamhana

5 shirts of varying quality, i tend to just wear M&S shirts on stuck in the office days, but better shirts on days with meetings etc, 2suits - one slightly better than the other & 2 very good trousers, for days that I can get away without a suit.

Piliger

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Regardless of whether it is only 3 months or the longer term the OP is going to be working in the office long term.

But not wearing a suit - which is quite evident from his opening post.

Wearing the same clothes everyday IS something people notice (whether we like it or not) and IS something that would be commented on (probably not to his face).

Yet he never suggested he wear the same clothes every day nor did any commenter.

Not trying to be bitchy here but other people can be

Not bitchy. Just inaccurate.

Pawwed Rig

Piliger wrote: »

Wear the same suit for a week, airing the other one.

Eh you did.

He also said there is a chance of keeping the job afterwards.
And presumably he will be working in the same office as all the people who noticed him wearing the same clothes 5 days a week.

Piliger wrote: »

Not bitchy. Just inaccurate.

No idea what this means

mickfla

Hi guys, I posted the original question, thought I was signing up then, was a member of boards years ago but lost old account as couldn't remember what email address had used.

Anyways, dont know if I explaned it badly in the first post and am not sure why people are talking about three months.

Thanks very much to the people had offered advice on the suits.

As I say I wouldn't wear the same pants now for more than two days and then it goes in the wash - the idea of wearing a suit every second week for a few months before cleaning seems .......... I dont know, that I would never be in clean clothes.

How much of an airing do people mean, you put it on the hanger and head to off work and ...........

fair enough its office work not heavy lifting but still sweat abit (even getting there and home), lunches, sometimes with clients/colleagues who smoke
Maybe I am over washing clothes at the mo.

I think I like the idea of maybe four different suits in week so each suit would get about 4 or 5 wears a month (given the odd no suit day)

ardmacha

Also you may be able to wear a suit some days and a dark blazer some days, so you can have not quite matching trousers and vary things a bit, while still being respectable.The two trousers with the suit seems a good plan too.
Also leave a new shirt & tie in your office, in case of spillage etc.

Carstuck

Dry cleaning should not damage a suit if done correctly and depending on the quality of the suit itself. The more wool the better it keeps. However you should get a goods few weeks/months out of them if your not wearing the same one everyday.

_Kaiser_

I go with the "business casual" look in my current role which means 3 pairs of trousers and a different shirt every day. I also could end up lifting dusty PCs at any given time so I don't see the point in spending a fortune on work clothes either.

Maybe when I get to upper management level I'll start buying expensive suits for every day in the office

Doop

3-6 months without getting a suit cleaned :eek: even if you are only wearing it one day each week..i think thats a bit on the low side!
whatever about jackets...but trousers?!
Personally wear each suit maub 1/twice a week, dry clean every 2/3 weeks

Buy an average pricied suit when it starts to look old/worn...replace it...

awec

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ihsb

awec wrote: »

Shouldn't see the inside of your collar if the collar fits you correctly, but yes they get dirty and theres no real way to prevent it.

Dry clean suit rarely but clean the shirt on a hot wash after EVERY wear. If you sweat then the smell won't make its way onto the suit jacket. And +1 on having 2 pairs of trousers to one jacket. Oh and wash the trousers too. Maybe buy a suit that the trousers are washable in? Then just pay to get them pressed properly if you cannot yourself.