To HOLD garb

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

I know this isn't "garb," but I would like to know where to get well-made skirt hangers to hold my skirts.

The hangers at Walmart are junk.  My heavier skirts always fall out, & I go in the garb closet and find them on the floor.

I did find some fabric-y covered hangers which are great for bodices and chemises at TJ Maxx when I visited northern Wisconsin (we don't have any by us).  The material holds to them and doesn't slide off.  Some of them had clips for skirts, but my skirts fell off of them, too, and not just the heavy ones.

Also, the hangers at Walmart, Target, etc. are expensive for the quality.  I know so many of you have tons of garb, and I am curious to know what you use.  I have resorted to multiple clothespins along the hangers to try to keep the skirts on, but I'd love to just have hangers in my closet - one hanger for one skirt.  What a novel idea!  Why can't I find any?     

[isabelladangelo]

I bought some thin velvet hangers at target that work well, but that's because they are one piece.  For many of my skirts, I don't hang them at all.  I just have a ton of those body containers (tubberware) and I fold them into those.   The containers are stackable and fit into my guest room closet.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Because my Black Veveteen M,QoS gown is heavy, I just carefully fold the gown, then in half and lay it lengthwise on its side.

For my skirts, I use a heavier Clippie Hanger and some large safety pins for extra support at the waistbands. Bodices seem to stay on well enough.

[Adriana Rose]

for my heavy skirts I fold them in half and loop them trough the bottom thingie on the hanger. I dont have the super expensive fabrics that some of you guys have so it doesnt bother me if there are creases normally they flatten out by cannon.

[Bonny Pearl]

My hubby has kilt hangers.  The kilts are heavy so I would think thew would hold heavy skirts.  You might have luck with those.

Here is a link so you can see how they hold the garment.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=kilt+hangers&view=detail&id=AE183BB9B7768707681502F4058DD9BEBCF81A0C&first=0

[gem]

Do you have a Bed/Bath/Beyond type place? They (used to) sell these great skirt hangers that had like four tiers with heavy-duty clips on them (also great for hanging tablecloths!).  But I've just discovered the flocked/velvety hangers that Isabella mentioned. They're called Huggable Hangers, and they seriously sell them everywhere now! I've gotten my last two packs at JoAnn. They're AWESOME. I'm slowly replacing a lot of my normal hangers with them. They're nice and narrow like the good-quality wire hangers (my favorites), but because of the flocked texture, things don't slide off. They're excellent for garb--they hold those wide-necked chemises that are too big for regular hangers, and they also work really well for skirts. I think they run about $1/apiece or a little less, and they come in packs of 6-10 or so, I think?  Anyway, after I splurged on my first pack at Bed/Bath/Beyond, I've gotten two more.

(I normally don't hang my skirts or chemises--they live in a trunk off season--but I *do* hang them after I iron them the night before fair! Or while I'm working on sewing hems or whatever.)

[LAVAGODDESSSS]

I use my husband's trouser hangers. It is not the one pair hanger, it looks like a ladder, so it holds like five to six pairs. I use it for my really heavy skirts and even my corsets. Right now, two of them hold 7 corsets and 4 skirts, a ruffle vest, and a small capelet vest.

So far, nothing has fallen off! I don't use anything between the clippies and the clothing, but at one time I used tissue paper.

[operafantomet]

A trick can be to sew two cotton straps (loops) inside each skirt, so you can use these straps on the hanger. It's basically always done for theatre costumes, but I've adapted it to all my skirts and dresses and it's made life a lot easier.


Theatre costumes backstage. Solid hangers with "nucks" + cotton straps will make everything hang!

ETA: I know IKEA sells wooden hangers. They are without the little "nuck", but it's easy enough to make with a sharp knife:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90160051
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40115122

[Butch]

I use the clippy hangers that are attached to items when you purchase them from stores.  They seem to hold better than the clippy hangers you purchase.  All you need to do is ask for them in the department or at the register.

Also please note that the ones they have for childrens clothes are more narrowly spaced.  Get some of those too.  They work well for holding trousers from the cuff, plus they can be used with another (wider) hanger to hang heavier garments; you know, you'd have two hangers on at the same time.  Four clips and two hooks, but the hooks would still be in the middle.

[Orphena]

I but the heaviest wooden hangers I can find, and for m'lord's kilt, we use the toolbox equivalent of a clothes pin - I cannot come up with the term - it could be a clamp, but it is still "aligator" style, with no teeth. Thet are used once you have glues something, and they keep the kilton there - it is probably 12 meters of fabric, and heavy.

Everything else gets clothes pins - some kinds work better than others!

[Butch]

A spring clamp?

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

I buy metal trouser hangers (good and sturdy) and then dip the metal clips into Plasti-Dip or some similar plastic coating (you can buy it in automotive stores, they sell it for dipping tool handles to make plastic grips). I dip it really thick, so the teeth on the clips are muted and don't damage the fabrics (and no chance of rust spots).

[Zardoz]

Ditto on the kilt hangers, I have some of these from Stillwater Kilts; http://stores.channeladvisor.com/Stillwater-Kilts/Items/swk-ukh-setc?&caSKU=swk-ukh-setc&caTitle=SWK%20Ultimate%20Kilt%20Hanger
They hold up 6 or 7 pounds of kilt with no problems.

[Lady Rebecca]

A few years ago, I wound up buying some of the kid-size hangers with the clips on them since they were cheaper, and then proceeded to bemoan the fact that the clips slid around on those little hangers. So I took the clips off of those hangers, and put them on the regular plastic hangers (the ones with the tiny hooks on the side, and the vertical plastic brace towards each end). For my heavier skirts (like the huge cotton velvet one), I put three of the clips on those hangers, and they seem to work.

But otherwise, I second sewing the loops into your waistbands to keep them on the hangers. Another thing a lot of theatres do is simply to safety pin the skirt waistband in 2-4 places to the hanger.

[McGuinness]

I keep my personal costumes in large Rubbermaid-type plastic containers when I'm not using them, but at PaRF, our costumers just use regular hangers for heavier skirts (especially wet heaby skirts after all the rain we've been having). We just close the waist clasps and hang them over regular hangers like a cape or skirt (the pleats would be around the "shoulders" of the hanger, for lack of a better description).

[DonaCatalina]

My personal favorite....a groove to hold straps and clips for skirts and pants.
I bought a 100 piece lot off ebay and haven't quite filled them all yet.

[Rowan MacD]

Ditto on the kilt hangers, I have some of these from Stillwater Kilts; http://stores.channeladvisor.com/Stillwater-Kilts/Items/swk-ukh-setc?&caSKU=swk-ukh-setc&caTitle=SWK%20Ultimate%20Kilt%20Hanger
They hold up 6 or 7 pounds of kilt with no problems.

Yep, the wooden toggle type hangers are the way to go. However, Like Lady Olmstead has mentioned, heavier dresses and skirts should be stored flat since the weight of the fabric could damage or stretch the shoulders or waist band of the garment if left for very long. 
   I take out the dress/skirt a week or two before use and hang it up to let the creases fall out.
For the heavy cotton skirts (like Sofi's Stitches) I use the wooden kilt hangers year round.  I found mine at Target.   Walmart rarely has anything like this, almost everything they carry is plastic.