Miscellaneous Definitions — accessories, trims, tools and general fashion terms from Apparel Search
A clothes hanger, or coat hanger, is a device shaped like human shoulders, designed so a coat, jacket, sweater, shirt, blouse or dress can hang in a manner that prevents wrinkles, with a lower bar for trousers or skirts and clamp forms for garments held by the waistband. The shape is the function: a hanger succeeds when the garment rests on it the way it rests on the body, with weight spread across the shoulder line instead of folded over a hook or draped across a chair.
A clothes hanger, or coat hanger, is a device in the shape of:
Human shoulders designed to facilitate the hanging of a coat, jacket, sweater, shirt, blouse or dress in a manner that prevents wrinkles, with a lower bar for the hanging of trousers or skirts.
Clamp for the hanging of trousers or skirts.
Both types can be combined in a single hanger.
There are two basic types of clothes hangers, the wire hanger, a simple loop of wire in a flattened triangle shape, with the wire continuing into a hook at the top, and the wooden hanger, a flat piece of wood cut into a boomerang-like shape, and with the edges sanded down to prevent damage to the clothing, with a hook, usually of metal, protruding from the point. Some wooden hangers have a rounded bar from tip to tip, forming a flattened triangle, this bar is designed to hang the trousers belonging to the jacket. There are also plastic coat hangers, which mostly mimic the shape of either a wire or wooden hanger. Plastic coat hangers are also produced in smaller sizes to accommodate the shapes of children's clothes.
There are also clothes hangers that have been padded with fine materials, such as satin, for expensive clothes, lingerie and fancy dresses. The soft, plush padding is intended to protect garments and keep them from getting shoulder dents from wire hangers.
Some hangers have clips along the bottom for suspending skirts. Dedicated skirt and trousers hangers may dispense with the triangular shape and just be a rod with clips. Specialized pant hanger racks may accommodate many pairs of trousers.
A garment bag is designed to accommodate a clothes hanger with clothes such that the hanging hook protrudes from the top of the garment bag.
Some historians believe President Thomas Jefferson invented the wooden clothes hanger.[citation needed] However, today's most used hanger, the wire hanger, was inspired by a coat hook that was invented in 1869 by O. A. North of New Britain, Connecticut.[citation needed] An employee of the Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company, Albert J. Parkhouse has also been credited with the invention.
In 1932, Schuyler C. Hulett patented an improved design, which used cardboard tubes mounted on the upper and lower parts of the wire to prevent wrinkles, and in 1935, Elmer D. Rogers added a tube on the lower bar, which is still used.
A wire clothes hanger was also a featured prop in a central scene in the 1981 movie Mommie Dearest, in which Joan Crawford, played by Faye Dunaway, went into the room of her daughter, Christina, at night while the girl was sleeping to admire the clothes hanging nicely in her closet. She then became enraged upon discovery that Christina had once again used a cheap wire hanger, instead of a nice one as she had instructed her to use, woke her up and gave her a thrashing. Joan's constant cry of "No wire hangers, ever!" quickly worked its way into pop culture and the phrase is now synonymous with those who tend to always want to be in control.
Clothes hangers are also now made of, though rarely, a rubber substance.
Foldable clothes hangers that are designed to be inserted through the collar area to make it easier to use, and reduce stretching are a new, yet useful variation on traditional clothes hangers.
A garment that is folded stores its shape in creases; a garment that is hung stores its shape in its shoulders. That is the quiet engineering behind the hanger. Jackets and coats are cut with structured shoulder lines, shirts and blouses drape from the shoulder points, and dresses hang from straps or shoulders that must not be stretched or dented. A hanger whose ends slope at roughly the angle of a human shoulder supports all of that construction at the points the tailor intended. A hanger that is too narrow lets the shoulder of the garment droop past its ends and form points; a hanger that is too wide pushes into the sleeve and distorts the armhole. Matching hanger width to garment size is therefore a genuine part of clothing care, not a nicety, which is why hangers are also produced in smaller sizes to accommodate the shapes of children's clothes.
The lower half of the hanger does different work. A bar from tip to tip gives trousers a fold point that is broad and smooth, so the crease that forms is the intended front crease rather than a random wrinkle, and on wooden suit hangers the rounded bar is designed to hang the trousers belonging to the jacket so a suit is stored as one unit. Clips change the method entirely: skirts and trousers held by the waistband hang straight under their own weight, which pulls minor wrinkles out overnight. Dedicated skirt and trouser hangers may dispense with the triangular shape altogether and be simply a rod with clips, and specialized pant racks can accommodate many pairs in the depth of a single garment.
Each hanger material answers a different storage problem. The wire hanger is the cheapest and thinnest, so it saves closet space and arrives free with dry cleaning, but its narrow wire concentrates weight on a line and can leave shoulder dents in knitwear and soft fabrics. The wooden hanger is the heavyweight: broad, sanded edges spread the load, and its stiffness suits coats, suits and tailored jackets that would bend a wire frame out of shape. Plastic hangers mostly mimic the shape of either the wire or the wooden form at low cost, and work well for everyday shirts and blouses. Padded hangers, covered in materials such as satin, exist for the garments the other three would mark: lingerie, evening dresses and fine blouses, where the padding grips gently and leaves no imprint.
Storage accessories extend the same idea. A garment bag is designed to accommodate a clothes hanger with clothes so that the hanging hook protrudes from the top, protecting the garment from dust and friction while it travels or waits out a season. The hanger's history is appropriately practical for so plain an object: the wire form was inspired by a coat hook invented in 1869 by O. A. North of New Britain, Connecticut, Albert J. Parkhouse of the Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company has also been credited with the invention, and later patents added cardboard tubes on the upper and lower parts of the wire to prevent wrinkles — the tube on the lower bar, added by Elmer D. Rogers in 1935, is still in use on dry cleaners' hangers today.
A clothes hanger is a device in the shape of human shoulders designed to facilitate the hanging of a coat, jacket, sweater, shirt, blouse or dress in a manner that prevents wrinkles, with a lower bar for the hanging of trousers or skirts.
The two basic types are the wire hanger, a simple loop of wire in a flattened triangle shape continuing into a hook at the top, and the wooden hanger, a flat piece of wood cut into a boomerang-like shape with the edges sanded down to prevent damage to clothing.
Padded hangers are made for expensive clothes, lingerie and fancy dresses. The soft, plush padding protects garments and keeps them from getting the shoulder dents that wire hangers can leave in delicate fabrics.