Island Style
Closet sense

By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer

Jeans and cotton T-shirts can be folded and stored away in your closet while still keeping their shape. Deborah Booker The Honolulu Advertiser

We cull and clean but our storage spaces are still stuffed. And a stuffed closet can mean sloppy-looking clothes or having to iron when we shouldn't have to.

It can be pretty demoralizing to go to all the effort of laundering and ironing a shirt, dress or mu'umu'u, only to find it scrunched up in the closet, requiring another swipe with the iron before it's wearable.

Are there any solutions, aside from building bigger closets? It's often easier, and less expensive, to add shelves than to remodel closets. So one consideration is to carefully choose what to hang and what to fold.

But whether to hang or fold ultimately depends on several factors relating to the clothes: fabric, structure and use.

Here are some general guidelines regarding hanging versus folding, for men and women.

What to hang

• Pressed shirts like aloha shirts and dress shirts, to keep them free of creases.
• Anything with pleats, such as men's dress pants, a skirt, or tutu mu'umu'u.
• Ties should be hung on a special rack; however, knit ties are better rolled up.
• Pants with creases.
• Most dresses, especially if they are tailored.
• Linen, rayon or pure cotton shirts and blouses, as they are prone to wrinkles.
• Fabrics that might crush if folded: velvet, chiffon,organdy and taffeta.
• Tailored jackets and blazers that need to retain their shape.
• Structured long evening gowns and mu'umu'u, making sure they don't touch the floor where they can gather dust or pet fur.
• Silk and satin garments that might slip around in a drawer, causing messiness and abrasions to the fabric.

What to fold

• Bias-cut skirts and dresses. Hanging may distort their shape.
• Cotton T-shirts. If you fold them neatly right after they've dried they'll look pressed when you're ready to wear them.
• Casual pants or shorts like jeans, board shorts and khakis.
• Lingerie and socks.
• Sweaters of all types and fibers.
• Knitted garments, as knits can get stretched out with hanging.
• Synthetics that will spring back into shape when worn.
• Sweats, leggings or bike shorts made of cotton blends, spandex or fleece.
• Embellished evening gowns — the weight of the beads or trims can stretch the gown out of shape

Hanger savvy

Selecting a hanger is a function of space available and clothing protection. Many garments are better off on a padded hanger. The padding helps them maintain their shape and keeps the shoulder area from sagging or getting indentations. However, padded hangers take at least twice the space.

Although wire hangers are the skinniest style, they don't belong in anyone's closet in the Islands. Our humidity causes them to rust quickly, causing stains. Closet dampness also increases the wire hanger's ability to misshape garments, creating puckers, dents and wrinkles.

Instead, select plastic or wooden hangers. Or ask Tutu to cover your wire hangers with crochet; this adds a bit of padding and keeps the metal away from the fabric. (Or learn to crochet yourself; it's a very easy stitch.)

When bringing garments home from the dry cleaners, take them out of the plastic (it holds moisture in) and off the wire hanger. If you have a garment such as an off-the-shoulder mu'umu'u or evening gown that tends to slip off the hanger, sew a ring of twill tape on the inside of the garment near the shoulders (7-8 inches long). When the twill tape is wrapped around the top of the hanger, it will hold the shoulders in place.

For a slippery silk camisole or spaghetti-strap dress, try sewing a button on each side of a padded hanger, then position the straps inside the buttons to keep the straps from sliding off.

A note of caution: As the popularity of rayon aloha attire and leisure wear increases in Hawai'i, it's important to know that rayon will get an indentation surprisingly quickly if the garment is hung on a hook or sharp-edged hanger. These marks often become permanent. (And, yes, guys, they are noticeable, especially when they're on the back yoke.)

Plastic or wooden hanger with rod: Works well for two-piece outfits such as a skirt and blouse or pants and shirt. If you're short on drawer space and want to use this type of hanger for a knit sweater or skirt, fold the garment in half lengthwise and place a piece of tissue paper between the garment and the bar. This will help prevent creases.

Pants hanger: This style clamps together over the cuff of the pants. It's especially good for dress pants with creases.

Skirt hanger: The movable clips can accommodate waistbands of many sizes. However the clips can leave marks on some fabrics. To avoid this, fold two pieces of felt between the clip and the garment, or use a piece of doubled-over tissue paper.

Shirt hanger: While these take up more room than a plastic hanger, the slight curve follows the shirt's shoulder slope better.

Padded hanger: Protects delicate clothing and helps prevents slouching shoulders or indentations in the garments. However, its girth takes up a lot of space.

Suit hanger: The pants go over the bar, but a sheet of tissue paper (as described above) will help avert creases. The curved top of the hanger mimics the shape of the jacket's shoulders and helps it keep its shape.