Fit to a Me

I received a call the other day from Kirby Allison, founder of a relatively new company called the Hanger Project. Seeing a gap in the market and tired of putting his expensive suits on $2 hangers, Allison began making hangers out of maple wood. The hangers are beautiful, Allison told me, and the kind you want a nice Armani or Zegna suit hanging on when you reach into your closet in the morning. Intrigued, I asked him to send me some to test. That’s when he asked me something I did not expect: my suit size.

Being five foot, six (and a half on a good day) inches tall, I have always had trouble buying nice clothes. As a salesman once told me (with far too much subdued glee), my arms are abnormally short, my torso isn’t as long as it should be, and my neck far too thick. I have had to alter every suit I’ve ever bought, and as the previous exchange might evince, have never found a perfect-fitting shirt. So when I told Kirby that I am a 37 “odd,” and he said he had the perfect hanger for me, I was obviously skeptical.

However, when they arrived, I immediately noticed that these were different from other hangers. I knew just which suit I would try one with: the suit I purchased three years ago at Barney’s, which I wore when I interviewed for my current job as well as to this year’s Directors Guild Awards. It’s the only one I have ever felt suited me well. I have newer ones, but this is my go-to suit, and like every other one in my closet, it bears the telltale signs of residing on a thin plastic hanger: creases on the collar, an uneven hang of the lapels, and marks on the shoulders where the hanger stretches it. The suit that had served me so well for so long deserved better. So when I put it on one of Allison’s hangers, I was more than pleased. The suit fit on the hanger perfectly. It glided onto the polished maple arms with ease and I slid my pants over the felt bar. This is a great hanging option for anyone who isn’t a 42 regular—and for everyone who is. At prices ranging from $5 for a clipping trouser hanger to $27 for a large-size suit hanger with trouser bar, one of Allison’s hangers is a fittingly high-end accessory for a well-made suit. And since these are available in three sizes for men’s suits and two sizes for women’s suits, they’re certain to fit any shape, no matter how regular or odd that shape may be. (800.495.3201, www.hangerproject.com)