How to fold a dress shirt without creases

Start with a clean, cool, buttoned shirt

Fold a shirt only once it is completely cool and dry. Warmth and moisture are exactly what an iron uses to set a crease, so a shirt folded straight off the ironing board or warm from the dryer keeps every fold line you give it. If you have just pressed it, following our guide to ironing a shirt, hang it for twenty minutes first. The same order answers how to pack ironed clothes in a suitcase: iron, cool on a hanger, then fold.

Do up the top button and a few more down the front. Savile Row Company suggests the top and third buttons; other makers button every one. More buttons keep the placket straight and stop the front panels sliding apart as you fold, so button fully for travel. Set the collar up or down as it is worn, and if the shirt has removable collar stays, you can leave them in to keep the points flat or take them out if they tend to press marks through the fabric. Work on a large, flat, clean surface such as a bed or table.

How to fold a dress shirt, step by step

This is the fold shirts arrive in from a good shop. It suits shelves, drawers and suitcases, and it keeps the collar and front panel, the parts people see, completely free of creases.

1. 01

   Lay the shirt face down and smooth it

   Place it buttons down with the collar at the top and the back facing you. Smooth the back and sleeves outward with flat hands. The yoke seam across the shoulders should run straight, with no fabric bunched at the sides.

2. 02

   Fold one side in by a third

   Starting from the middle of one shoulder, fold that side of the body toward the center so the fold runs straight down to the tail. The folded edge should be parallel to the center of the back. A magazine or a piece of card laid on the back as a guide makes the width identical on both sides; slide it out at the end.

3. 03

   Lay the sleeve down along the fold

   Fold the sleeve back across at the shoulder at a slight angle, then turn it straight down so it runs along the folded edge. On a long sleeve shirt, if the cuff hangs past the tail, fold the end of the sleeve back up. The sleeve should lie flat inside the width of the folded body.

4. 04

   Repeat on the other side

   Fold the second side in to match and lay its sleeve on top. You now have a long, narrow rectangle with both sleeves hidden on the back.

5. 05

   Fold the tail up

   Fold the bottom up once so the tail sits just below the collar, or in thirds if the shirt is long or the space is small. Keep the fold lines low and in the lower body, which is where trousers and a belt will cover them.

6. 06

   Turn it over

   Flip the shirt so the collar and buttons face up. You should see a smooth front panel and a collar standing in its natural shape, with no fold lines across the chest.

How to fold a shirt for travel, wrinkle free

Wrinkles in a suitcase come from two things: sharp folds and movement. The classic fold takes care of the first; the rest is packing. Button up shirts for travel go near the top of the case, flat, after heavy things like shoes and toiletries are at the bottom. If you pack several, stack them with collars alternating top and bottom so the stack stays level, and lay a sheet of tissue paper between them so the fabric slides instead of gripping. Nimble Made suggests a variation where one shirt is wrapped around the next like a book cover, which softens the folds of both.

A shirt folded around something soft creases less than one folded against itself. A few rolled pairs of socks inside the collar hold it round, and a folded sweater in the middle of the stack gives each shirt a gentler bend. For a suit trip, pack shirts in the space above the jacket as described in folding a suit for travel; the whole approach to layers is in our guide on packing a suitcase.

When you arrive, unpack shirts first and hang them. Most light folds fall out within a few hours. The Art of Manliness suggests hanging a creased shirt in the bathroom while you shower, since steam relaxes the fibers; our guide to getting wrinkles out without an iron covers that and other hotel room fixes.

When to roll a dress shirt instead

Rolling clothes for packing saves space and suits soft fabrics, which is why so many packing lists recommend it. For a dress shirt, it is a trade off. A roll leaves no sharp fold lines, only a soft wave that hangs out quickly, but it can squash the collar and it will not look as crisp as a folded shirt when you unpack. It works well for oxford cloth, knit shirts, linen you expect to wear rumpled and non iron shirts, and for a spare shirt in a carry on.

To roll a long sleeve shirt for packing, button it, lay it face down, fold each side and sleeve in as for the classic fold, then roll firmly from the tail up to the collar, keeping the collar on the outside of the roll so it is not crushed. Nimble Made recommends this ranger style roll for travel; our guide to folding T shirts shows the same roll on a simpler garment. If crisp poplin or a shirt for a formal event must arrive perfect, fold it instead.

Folding dress shirts at home to save space

Dress shirts are woven and hold their shape on a hanger, so hanging is usually the first choice at home, as our guide to hanging clothes explains. Folding makes sense when the rail is full, for shirts you wear occasionally, or for the neat shelf look of a shop. Use the classic fold in thirds for drawers, and stack no more than four or five shirts so the ones at the bottom are not pressed into hard creases.

For a drawer, store shirts upright on the folded edge, collars all facing the same way, so you can see and lift one out without disturbing the rest. A shirt that has been folded for weeks will have soft lines across the lower body; a minute with a steamer or iron at the tail fixes them before you wear it, or simply tuck it in, since the fold lines sit below the waistband.

How to fold long sleeve shirt sleeves to wear

Sometimes the folding question is about the sleeves on your arms, not the shirt in a drawer. A neat roll looks intentional; a bunched sleeve shoved up the forearm looks rushed and creases the whole sleeve. Unbutton the cuff and the small gauntlet button above it first, whichever roll you choose. These styles work the same for everyone, and on narrower arms, women's shirts in particular, a slightly narrower fold keeps the roll from looking bulky.

7. 07

   The simple roll

   Fold the cuff back on itself, then fold again by the same width, two or three times, stopping below the elbow. The inside of the sleeve shows only as a clean band. This is the quickest roll and the one that stays put best under a sweater.

8. 08

   The roll that shows the inside cuff

   Pull the sleeve inside out up to just below the elbow, so the cuff sits there. Then fold the bottom of that inside out section up once, stopping just short of the top of the cuff so its edge peeks out. The result is a neat band with the cuff visible, which looks deliberate with a contrast lining.

9. 09

   The above the elbow roll

   Fold the sleeve back in wide folds, each about the width of the cuff, until it sits just above the elbow. It stays up in heat and when you work with your hands, and it suits casual oxford and linen shirts better than fine dress poplin.