I speak at conferences for a living, usually in a suit and tie.
There's no excuse for a crumpled suit or shirt. Whether I'm on a ten day, seven city jag — or driving across town — I need to look my best to impress.
Over the last few years, I've come up with three travel habits that deliver gig-ready clothes regardless of how much suitcase time they've gone through:
1. Carry a travel steamer. You can buy this Samsonite model for less than fifty bucks and it fits neatly in any roller bag. This is much better than leaving your suit in the shower (and uses much less water too). Be careful not to burn your finer suits or dresses by keeping your distance.
2. Buy Brooks Brothers non-iron dress shirts. I buy them online, then have them tailored in LA. No matter how long they are in your bag, you can make 'em look like new with a few squirts from your steamer.
3. Always put a dry cleaner plastic bag around each hanger (shirts, suits, etc.). This is the magic secret of minimizing wrinkles in a suiter (which folds up into a roller bag). The plastic bags dramatically reduce the wrinkles. A small tip is to have a very hard flat item placed between your folded suiter and the contents of your bag. This keeps your shoes, steamer, chargers from pressing up against your folded suits and shirts.
Coming later this week: My top three hotel stays of 2008 (out of over 100!).
