How to Look After Spare Trousers When You Buy Business Suits

While you only wear one pair of trousers at a time, you may be thinking about adding a spare pair to your basket when you buy your next business suit. This is a sensible move.

Trousers take a lot more wear than jackets. You wear them all the time during the day. You also put more strain on the materials of trousers when you walk, sit down and stand up, so they are more likely to wear out more quickly than the suit's jacket. If you have a spare pair, you have a replacement option if you need it. You won't have to shell out for a new suit just because the original trousers are unwearable.

While investing in spare trousers is a good idea, this strategy only works if you use them carefully. What do you need to know?

Rotate Which Trousers You Wear

Some people buy a business suit and a spare pair of trousers but then simply stick the extra trousers in their wardrobe until they need them. This isn't the best idea.

If you don't need to wear the spare pair for a few months or even longer, then they'll look like new when you put them on. However, your suit jacket probably won't look that good any longer.

You may find that the jacket and the unworn trousers don't match exactly anymore. The jacket looks old in comparison to the trousers, which look too new.

It's a better idea to rotate the two pairs of trousers from the start. You might wear one pair for a week and then switch to the other pair for the next week. This way, you'll wear out both pairs of trousers immediately so that the whole suit ensemble always matches.

Have Everything Dry-Cleaned at the Same Time

When you send your suit to the dry cleaners, you may simply send in the jacket and the trousers you've worn most recently. You won't necessarily think to have the other pair of trousers cleaned at the same time.

It's better to have all three pieces of the suit cleaned at the same time every time — even if one pair of trousers isn't that dirty. Fabrics will fade slightly as they go through the dry-cleaning process. If you get in the habit of cleaning all three pieces at once, their fabrics will stay the same.

To find out more about buying spare trousers and caring for them, talk to someone in the store where you normally buy your business suits.