Advice on Maintaining Suits

You should build a walk-in cedar closet with humidity control for your suits.

Play nice, Junkbond. Not everyone can afford to roll like you do. (By the way, you've got to let me know how that shoe humidor worked out for you.)

Cleaning your dress shirts depends on you. It's all a matter of how much you sweat, how you smell, how much you work, the fabric and starchiness of the shirts, and the extent to which you can avoid the usual pitfalls (spaghetti with tomato sauce, newsprint ink, whatever).

If you have a live-in girlfriend, let her tell you whether or not you pass the nose-and-eye check. Some guys can get away with re-wearings, but you do not want to be the guy who is always wrinkly or smelly. (Cap-sleeve or short-sleeve undershirts help. Sleeveless undershirts don't really help.) If you insist on trying to rewear, learn to iron. Three minutes of morning ironing can make the difference.

However, if you are particularly sweaty or smelly, if you work 16 hours a day, if your shirts look like you've slept in them at the end of the day: just play it safe and get them laundered every day. Even if you think you can't afford it. Even if it means you have to buy more shirts.

Suits are different. Dry-cleaning damages suits slightly each time. Trousers invariably end up wearing out before jackets. Try hard not to dry-clean suits until you need to -- and never send a suit for the full dry-clean when it only needs a press. Most places will do press-only for cheaper anyway. Again: learn to iron. Most suits need low heat and light pressure. Three minutes of morning ironing makes a huge difference in your look, particularly if the suit has seen a couple of hard days since its last cleaning.

The old bathroom-steam technique is good for traveling and for true emergencies. Don't let it take the place of learning to iron. (Steam also softens starch, so it can make your shirts actually look worse.)

Hope this helps.

P.S. I don't know where you work, and I haven't worked in New York in a couple of years, but last I checked, Brooks Brothers was passe south of Canal. Your mileage may vary, and I may be totally off-base by now.

Press or steam whenever it gets sufficiently wrinkled; dry-clean twice a year at most, provided you have a stable of suits that you can rotate. You should probably avoid dry cleaning any more often than that because it'll take its toll the fabric.

suit pants don't usually get dirty, just send to dry-cleaner for pressing to maintain its pleats.

also, try to brush your suit after wearing and hang/air it for a day or so before putting it back into your closet.