When you travel for business, your clothing needs to work as hard as you do. There’s nothing worse than opening your suitcase to find wrinkled suits, mismatched pieces, or realizing you’ve forgotten something essential right before an important meeting.
I learned this lesson the hard way during my first major business trip to Chicago. After carefully folding what I thought was a perfectly packed suitcase, I arrived to find my off-the-rack suit looking like it had been through a washing machine. I spent the evening before my presentation attempting to steam wrinkles out of my jacket in a hotel bathroom. Not ideal.
Custom clothing changed everything about how I travel for business. Today, I’ll show you how investing in custom pieces can transform your packing experience and help you arrive ready to make the right impression, no matter where business takes you.
Why Custom Clothing Makes Travel Easier
The difference between off-the-rack and custom clothing becomes most apparent when you’re living out of a suitcase. Custom clothing offers several distinct advantages:
First, custom clothing fits your body perfectly. When clothes are made specifically for your measurements, they hang better on your frame and are less likely to wrinkle badly when packed.
Second, when working with a clothier, you can select fabrics specifically for travel performance—something impossible with off-the-rack options.
Third, custom wardrobes are designed with versatility in mind. Each piece works with the others, meaning you can pack fewer items while creating more outfit combinations.
Let’s break down how to build the perfect travel-friendly custom wardrobe.
Choosing Travel-Friendly Fabrics: What Performs Best
What fabrics travel best for business attire?
This is one of the most common questions I hear from clients preparing for business travel. The fabric makes all the difference between arriving polished or rumpled.
For suits and jackets, high-twist wools (often labeled as “Super 120s” and above) perform exceptionally well. These fabrics have natural wrinkle resistance because the fibers are twisted tightly during production. This creates a fabric that springs back to shape even after being folded in luggage.
Other excellent travel-friendly fabric options include:
Wool-silk-linen blends: These provide the breathability of linen and silk with wool’s structure, creating a fabric that resists severe wrinkling while staying comfortable in various temperatures.
Performance wool: New technology has produced wool fabrics with natural stretch, moisture-wicking properties, and enhanced wrinkle resistance—perfect for long flights followed by immediate meetings.
Fresco wool: This open-weave wool allows air circulation while maintaining structure, making it ideal for summer business travel.
When ordering custom clothing for travel, specifically mention your travel needs to your clothier. At Edward Baumann Clothiers, we can recommend specific fabrics from our collection that perform best for frequent travelers.
Building a Versatile Custom Travel Wardrobe
How many suits should I pack for a week-long business trip?
For a week-long business trip, you can actually manage with just two suits if they’re properly designed for versatility. Here’s the strategy:
The Core Two-Suit Strategy:
- A navy or dark blue suit in a high-twist wool
- A medium-to-dark gray suit in a similar fabric
With these two suits, you can create multiple combinations by mixing jackets and trousers. The navy jacket works with gray trousers, and vice versa, instantly creating four distinct looks.
Custom Details That Enhance Versatility:
When designing custom suits for travel, consider these details:
- Dual-functioning jacket styles: Slightly less structured jackets can function as both suit jackets and blazers
- Button selection: Navy mother-of-pearl or horn buttons allow jackets to serve double-duty as blazers
- Trouser details: Side adjusters instead of belt loops create a cleaner look and eliminate the need to pack belts
- Interior pockets: Custom-designed for travel documents, cards, or small electronics
By incorporating these details into your custom pieces, you effectively double your wardrobe options while halving what you need to pack.
Shirts and Accessories: Extending Your Options
Three to four dress shirts are sufficient for a week-long trip if selected strategically. When ordering custom shirts for travel, consider:
Fabric selection: High-thread-count cotton with a touch of stretch moves with you and resists wrinkling. Two-ply cotton poplin is another excellent choice.
Collar styles: Button-down collars maintain their shape better during travel than spread collars.
Color strategy: One white shirt, one light blue, and one with a subtle pattern provides maximum versatility.
For accessories, pack items that create different looks without taking much space:
- Two to three ties in complementary patterns
- A pocket square that works with all your jacket/tie combinations
- One pair of versatile dress shoes (dark brown works with both navy and gray)
With custom clothing, you can even have personalized details like monogrammed cuffs that add sophistication without taking extra space.
The Art of Packing Custom Clothing
How to keep custom suits wrinkle-free while traveling?
Custom suits represent an investment, so packing them properly is essential. The method you use matters significantly more than any special equipment or tools.
The Ideal Packing Method for Custom Suits:
- Start with proper folding: Turn the jacket inside out, fold one shoulder inside the other (your tailor can demonstrate this), then fold in half lengthwise.
- Layer strategically: Place the folded jacket at the bottom of your suitcase, with folded trousers directly on top.
- Use the roll method for shirts: Rolling rather than folding shirts reduces creasing at fold points.
- Pack in layers: Heaviest items at the bottom, lightest at the top.
For those who travel frequently, consider investing in packing cubes or compression bags. Not only are these great for saving space and maximizing your luggage capacity, they’re game changers when it comes to organization. Designate a cube/bag to a specific group of items so you can quickly find things as and when you need them on the go.
Pro Tip: Place dry cleaner plastic between layers of clothing. The slippery surface reduces friction, which is what causes most wrinkles during transit.
Arriving Wrinkle-Free: The Final Steps
Even the best packing job can leave some wrinkles. Here’s how to solve this problem:
- Hang everything immediately upon arrival. Gravity is your friend. If you hang items promptly, many wrinkles will naturally fall out.
- Bathroom steam method: Hang your suit in the bathroom while taking a hot shower. The steam helps release wrinkles.
- Travel steamers: Compact travel steamers are worth their weight in gold for business travelers. Many hotels provide steamers upon request.
- The wool trick: Custom wool suits have “memory” and will return to their proper shape better than synthetic materials. Give them time to recover after unpacking.
Custom Clothing: The Business Traveler’s Secret Weapon
The real advantage of custom clothing for business travel goes beyond fitting better or looking nicer—it’s about simplifying your entire travel experience.
When your wardrobe is custom-designed with travel in mind, you:
- Pack less while having more options
- Spend less time worrying about your appearance
- Eliminate last-minute ironing sessions
- Arrive at meetings feeling confident and prepared
For the frequent business traveler, custom clothing isn’t a luxury—it’s a practical investment that pays dividends with every trip.
Making the Investment: Starting Your Travel Wardrobe
If you’re ready to upgrade your travel experience with custom clothing, we recommend essentials like a versatile navy wool suit, travel-friendly shirts, and complementary trousers. At Edward Baumann Clothiers, we specialize in creating custom wardrobes for business travelers, with recommendations based on years of helping clients navigate global business trips.
Visit our store at 4900 Arapaho Rd, Suite 400, easily accessible with plenty of parking. Call (972) 490-9797 to schedule an appointment or stop by during business hours. Our expert tailors will help create a custom travel wardrobe tailored to your specific needs, transforming your business travel experience.
