Your man Jeeves knows his clients are no strangers to shearling garments. Let’s face it, shearling is a fashionable way to keep super warm now that the temperatures have dipped in the single digits in New York.

However, because shearling is an investment and the winter weather can wreak havoc on your winter wardrobe, most shearling owners find themselves hesitant to pull them from out of the closet on the nasty days.

Jeeves wants you to be happy, fashionable and warm, so he put together a little list of tips that will bring you comfort while you wear that shearling garment in any weather. Here is his advice:

#1 – Keep your shearling away from salt.
The salt can burn the skin, making it as hard as cardboard. If splashed with salt and/or snow, have your shearling garment cleaned ASAP.

#2 – If your shearling gets wet, air dry it.
Never put it into a clothes dryer.

#3 – When your shearling shows signs of soil, have it cleaned.
If you wait until it is extremely dirty, it may never look new again.

#4 – Hang up your shearling on a proper hanger.
Don’t use a skimpy wire hanger or a door knob. You will distort the skins.

#5 – Never store shearling in plastic.
Use a breathable, cloth garment bag.

#6 – Don’t store shearling in a place that gets direct sunlight.
This may cause damage to the dye of the shearling.

#7 – When your shearling needs to be cleaned, consult an expert.
Your neighborhood dry cleaner may not have the expertise to take care of your investment properly. Cleaning shearling is not like cleaning fabric.

#8 – Never put tape or stickers on your shearling to indicate stained areas.
The stickers will leave marks, that may not come out after cleaning.

Jeeves has the expertise you and your shearling need, as well as, over 30 years of luxury cleaning experience.

As the leaves change from their monotonous tones of green to vibrant red, yellow, and orange, our wardrobes follow suit and assimilate to the changing of the seasons.  Fall embodies transition allowing us to experiment with layers, form, color, and texture.  It permits an understanding of playfulness and experimentation when creating a look which, in turn, provides us with the most intriguing lines and runways of the year.  This fall, keep your eyes peeled for fur and leather accent pieces to grace the runways and streets alike.
All along the runway, furs were a prominent part of many shows at fashion week.  Despite the economic downturn, designers kept the glamour alive by using fur accents to create a luxurious palette.  By utilizing these accents, designers can give a look texture and a sense of opulence to an otherwise structured line.  Unlike past seasons, we are seeing fur done in more bold colors- Gucci paired brilliantly bright fur with vintage inspired structural suits to create an era driven storyline.  Fur is even showing up in the accessory closet with hats, purses, and even shoes embodying the ultimate cozy chic ensemble.  In order to preserve these pieces in all their glory, make sure to properly clean and store each garment.  Jeeves will properly remove stains or oils before storage in order to ensure your fur will endure many more seasons.
Along with fur, leather seems to be making a full force comeback.  We’ve seen many leather accented pieces this fall that give an outfit the right amount of edge.  Look for knitwear and jackets with leather sleeves or dresses adorned with leather inserts.  It is important to be aware that leather is best treated by blotting the material and taking it to the proper place to get cleaned.  During cleaning, leather has the ability to bleed so make sure to consult the care tag before any cleaning process.
So, enjoy the evolution of life from light to dark and embrace the endless possibilities fall brings- just remember, with endless opportunity brings garment responsibility.

With another storm predicted for tomorrow the weather is taking a toll on every-one’s wardrobe. It’s not so much the snow, which is just water, but what the snow turns into when it becomes a gray and slushy.

When snow melts in New York CIty it becomes a nasty brew of water, rock salt, calcium chloride and dissolved oil and grease. The water and oils are too much of a problem but if left for extended periods of time, the rock salt and calcium chloride will damage your wardrobe.

The type of fabrics most effected by salt and calcium chloride are wool and silk. Not too many of us are wearing silk this time of the wear, but wool is common. Salt stains will occur at the bottoms of pants and on coats when you get splashed by those drivers who relish in driving fast through puddles to cause maximum collateral damage to helpless pedestrians.

Salt and calcium chloride will cause damage and color loss to fabric if left untreated. Exposure to salt will cause leather, suede and shearling to “burn”, which causes the skin to shrink and become hard to the touch.

Clean any items that have salt rings or splash marks as soon as possible. Laundry will remove salt, but generally wool is not a washable fabric. Wool should be dry cleaned which will remove the damaging salt. Jeeves’ CO2 dry cleaning process does a remarkable job of removing salt with out putting undo stress on the garment being cleaned.

With the winter of 2011 becoming one the the snowiest on record it would be a good idea to clean your most used winter winter coat now to insure that salt stains do not cause permanent and costly damage.

Thanks for listening, Jerry Pozniak,

I promised myself that I wasn’t going to talk about the weather, I’m tired of hearing about this topic quite frankly.

On Monday my email box had an item from the Borowitz Report that was titled, “Winter Weather Expected to Dominate the Conversations of Boring People”, I digress.

This morning I watched a woman in beautiful black leather boots (Gucci?), wade through water that was at least three inches deep at the corner of 68th and Park Avenue. As the water seeped into her boot (she grimaced), the tires of a taxi stuck in the snow started spinning and covered her off-white wool coat (Burberry?) with a slushy, gray mixture of snow and street detritus.

I offered her my handkerchief to wipe off the slush, she refused, she was too aggravated. I thought of telling her about Jeeves and asking her if she wanted me to have my driver pick-up her coat for cleaning, but she was getting more furious by the second. It wasn’t the right time. I walked away.

While the weather may dominate some conversations this week, the snow will take a toll on your wardrobe. That gray, slushy mixture is snow, salt, grease and dirt. Not really what you want on your clothes.

I’ve seen shearling coats ruined in a heartbeat after being splashed with “salty” slush. The salt literally burns the shearling and the soft leather takes on the characteristics of starched cardboard.

Do clean anything that gets splashed with slush and keep away from the tires of stuck taxi cabs.

Oh, and the leather boots? Jeeves can fix the water rings that will appear after they dry out.

Thanks for listening. Jerry Pozniak, Jeeves New York

Your man Jeeves thought leather jackets were a thing of the past. Not since the music styling’s of The Ramones and Billy Idol had leather infiltrated the fashion scene.

On his nightly stroll down Madison Avenue Jeeves could not help but to take note of the fact that the models in all his favorite store windows were sporting leather in every hue, texture, and style.

As he continued on his way home your man Jeeves became very aware that this “style” had leapt of the mannequins and onto every gentleman and young lady on the Upper East Side.

Jeeves’ leather & suede department can:

• Clean any leather or suede garment
• Finish restoration
• Color restoration
• Repair tears or damaged skins
• Replace damaged or worn linings

Jeeves may not appreciate the look of leather and this trend, but rest assured whether your jacket is old or new his staff will treat it with the utmost care and special attention to return your jacket to its original condition.

Runway model wearing leather

Fall has arrived in NYC with Mother Nature giving us 30 degree temperatures one day and 70 degrees the next. Your man Jeeves has some tips to look great and stay warm on those chilly days when you reach for your leather jacket.

• Inspect your leather and suede garments before the first wear of the season. Look for stains, heavy soiling and repairs that may be needed.
• Repair open seams, torn linings and loose buttons now. These are all small problems that can be fixed inexpensively but can become expensive repairs if ignored
• If your leather or suede garment is stained or has heavy soiling, have it cleaned otherwise stains will become permanent! Cleaning adds conditions which keep leather soft and supple.
• Have leather items conditioned annually if cleaning is unnecessary.
• Consider having a “Shower & Stain” protection applied to suede items. This will potentially prevent spotting from rain showers and repel some stains.
• As leather ages it gathers a patina that adds to the character of the garment. Have fun wearing your leather!

If you do need any of the above services, our in-house leather and suede cleaning team can help.

Did you know that most other garment care firms do not clean leather and suede in house? So you never know where your garments are going.

If our leather and suede cleaning team cannot clean your garment, nobody can. Your man, Jeeves.