Picture this: it’s the day before your best friend’s wedding. You’ve just touched down, and you're mentally going over the jokes in your best man’s speech.

You rock up to your hotel, get to your room, pull your suit from your bag - and then your jaw hits the floor…

Your suit looks like it’s been driven over by a train. Something that went into your bag in pristine condition is now far too rumpled to wear at the wedding. This is an absolute disaster.

Immediately, your brain goes into panic as you fumble with your smartphone, frantically googling dry cleaners in the area. No luck - it’s 7 pm on Friday.

While the rest of the party is down by the pool, mingling and sipping on Aperol Spritz, you’re sweating like a racehorse, sparking up the iron and now googling "is it okay to not wear a suit to your friend's wedding?"

Ah, the joys of travelling with formal attire...

Whether you need to travel with a suit for a wedding, a business meeting or another formal event, nothing ruins your confidence like a wrinkly get-up.

In this short guide, you’ll learn the best way to pack a suit so you’ll always look sharp no matter where in the world you’re headed. Let’s dive in.

Credit: Cinematic Imagery

Choose your travel suit wisely

An often-overlooked part of looking fly after you fly comes down to choosing a suit that’s fit for travel.

A lot of suits aren’t cut out for extended voyages. So, consider both the material and the colour of your suit carefully.

Material

Certain suit fabrics are more prone to wrinkling than others. For example, wool relaxes naturally whereas linen creases at the mere sight of a carry-on bag.

When shopping for a travel suit, a good test is to scrunch up a sleeve with your hand. If the creases disappear quickly, then it’s a winner. If the creases linger or are especially obvious, then keep looking.

Colour

Dark, solid-coloured suits typically appear less wrinkled than lighter ones. Unless your next client meeting is on a boat in the Bahamas, save your white linen get-up for outings that are not so far away.

Pack like a pro

Once you’ve chosen a suit fit for travelling, the next step is learning how to pack it. Some people delay packing until 15 minutes before leaving the house. That strategy often results in a particularly frenzied shoving of clothes into bags, which is never fun.

Give yourself time

The key to effective packing is to give yourself enough time to do it properly. Start packing at least one day before you depart. It’s about 90% less stressful and about 95% more effective. We promise you’ll never pack any other way.

Maximum crease protection

The secret to a wrinkle-free travel suit is proper folding. When folding a suit, it’s best to keep it simple. The fewer the folds, the lower the chance of pesky creases. We’ve already written a step-by-step visual tutorial on the best way to fold your suit. Check it out here.

Resist the temptation to pack everything tightly. Instead of holding things in place, compressed packing will only etch deeper wrinkles into your garments. Having said that, make sure that your packing isn’t so loose that your clothes can ball-up during travel either. Balance is key.

Consider stashing your shirt, trousers and jacket inside a protective cover, like a shirt protector, to minimise the risk of them moving about and picking up creases.

Similarly, for your shoes, a bag can really come in handy to keep any dirt you’ve been treading on away from the rest of your clothes. Popping in a wooden insert is also a good idea; it stops your hand-made leather shoes from taking on the appearance of squashed potatoes.

Credit: Clark Street Mercantile

Hang-ups are a good thing

Most importantly; once you’ve reached your destination, hang up your suit right away to let it breathe and decompress. You’ll want to give your suit’s material as much time as possible to relax.

If you really want to go all out, consider investing in a handheld steamer for guaranteed smoothness. This will be able to fix some pretty severe wrinkles (some people swear it’s like a mini steam treatment for your face too!)

Alternatively, you can use the well-known budget trick instead: simply hang your suit in the bathroom while having a shower.

If all else fails, wear it

If the thought of packing down your suit into a travel bag fills you with dread, then don’t worry – wearing it while travelling is a great option too.

You’ll free up more space in your carry-on bag and dodge any serious forms of crinkling. Just remember to take off your jacket before sitting down to avoid undesirable back-crumples.

Stash it in the overhead baggage area (atop your carry-on bag) and order yourself a drink.

A little added benefit is that dressing up for the occasion has the potential for a seat upgrade. Airlines have been known to upgrade dapper-looking folk to business class if extra seats are available.

So, cross your fingers, pull your most charming smile at check-in, and let that fine suit work its magic.

Quick recap:

By now you should have all the knowledge you need to become a sharp-looking suit-wearing traveller, wowing clients and friends alike with your immaculate appearance.

To recap what we’ve learned so far about how to travel with a suit, you’ve got to remember to:

1. Choose a suit with a material and colour that minimises wrinkles.
   
   
2. Give yourself enough time to pack your suit carefully.
   
   
3. Use our visual guide to fold your suit the right way.
   
   
4. Don’t pack your bag too tight or too loose.
   
   
5. Use a protective cover for your suit, shirt, trousers and shoes.
   
   
6. If in doubt, wear your jacket while travelling.
   
   
7. Hang your suit up immediately upon arrival.

We hope that this guide has been helpful and ironed out any suit-travel issues you‘ve been having.

If you enjoyed this post, why not join our mailing list to get our best tips, tricks and advice directly to your inbox?

Upgrade your gear and get bundle pricing.