Pleats please! All your favorite street style stars have proven that pleats are the fashion girl's current go-to look du jour. And why not? Invest in a pleated midi skirt and you can wear it with everything—sneaks and a t-shirt, sexy stilettos and a polished lace top, slouchy sweater and jeweled mandals.
Hold up, because it's the care part that gets tricky. If incorrectly handled, the immaculately knife-sharp folds in your piece can fade (or worse, disappear completely). To straighten things out, we've put together a three-step guide to pampering your pleats. Read on!
IMAGE Getty Images
WASHING
Dry cleaning is the very best option for anything pleated, but you can home-wash your piece depending on the fabric and whether you feel like ironing! Synthetic pleats like polyester and rayon will fall back into place after a wash in the gentle cycle and hanging to dry. You can wash cotton pleats, but they’re difficult to iron correctly. Tip: it’s safest to bring silk and wool to the cleaner.
IMAGE Getty Images
IRONING
Pin your pleats before you iron them! Holding the waistband or top of the garment firmly, pull the bottom of the first pleat until it is straight. Smooth it down then hold it in place with paperclips or bobby pins. Metal versions are okay to use if the fabric isn’t too delicate, but avoid anything plastic coated as it could melt. Start ironing from the top towards the bottom (not side to side!), holding pleats down as you go.
IMAGE Getty Images
STORAGE
Keep your piece sharp by hanging it at the waist with clipped hangers. Sure, it'll take up extra closet space, but you wouldn't want all your hard work to go to waste. Packing a suitcase? Fold the item as few times as possible in the same direction the pleats are going, making sure not to disarrange the panels.
Hey, Preview readers! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, and Twitter to stay up to speed on all things trendy and creative. We’ll curate the most stylish feed for you!
