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.

Did you know that Ralph Lauren boutiques world-wide have a small selection of vintage and antique garments in their collection? Jeeves is currently working on another cleaning project from Ralph Lauren to get these remarkable finds ready for sale.

The staff of Jeeves has cleaned thousands of vintage and antique garments for Ralph Lauren and we are seeing lots of crochet, lace, fringed shawls and beads and sequins from the late 1800‘s to early 1900‘s.

The last two cleaning projects that Jeeves received were items shopped from London and Paris. The buyers at Ralph Lauren have great eyes and bring back amazing one of a kind items for their boutiques.

Because vintage is so hot in the high-end market, Jeeves has assembled tips on “How to Buy Vintage Clothing”. Our next blog will be “How to Care for Vintage Clothing”.

How to Buy Vintage Clothing:

• Look for quality first, is the garment well made? Well made garments will have less issues with wear and tear. They may be more expensive to being with, but worth it in the long run.
• Check the fabric; is it separating? Vintage garments may have been exposed to excessive amounts of heat which will cause the fabric to “dry rot”. Fabric in this condition is fragile and may start to tear after the first wearing. Check the collar, cuffs, under the arms and across the seat for signs of fabric separation.
• Stains? Vintage garments may have oxidized stains which will be light to dark brown or yellow in color. Oxidized stains are very difficult to impossible to remove in some cases.
• Odor? Musty odors could indicate mold, look over the garment for small dark grey to black stains. Mold stains are difficult to remove unless the garment can be bleached. Strong body odors in vintage garments that can’t we washed may not be removable; let your nose be your guide.
• Loose beads and sequins can be repaired but this type of work in time consuming and expensive if you are not handy with a needle and thread.

Jeeves specializes in the care of vintage and antique garments, with a team of craftsmen who care for, clean and repair these types of garments on a daily basis. Jeeves is the source in New York City for expert vintage garment cleaning, repair and care.

As summer is full tilt here in New York City, with the temperature reaching over 90 today, we have been seeing a lot of bold colors at Jeeves.

Nothing is quite as bold as the Dolce & Gabbana jacket that we collected from a client last week for cleaning. BRIGHT and ORANGE do not do this garment justice. If this garment had a dial to regulate the brightness it would be on “11″.

It seems that the Italian designers have turned on bold since the New York and London based designers were showing sheer and nude for this Spring/Summer season. One must give the nod to Versace and Dolce & Gabbana, as their shops radiate color and pattern.

This jacket is not for the “faint of heart” and my hat is off to the gentleman who will be wearing it this week after we delivered it to him today.

Rent or own? If a gentleman has the need for formal wear on a somewhat regular basis, he should have a tuxedo in his wardrobe.

This glaring difference was obvious last weekend when I attended a “pre-prom” party for my son’s friends. Not that most people would notice, but the majority of the young men at the event were wearing ill fitting tuxedos.

As to be expected when renting, the majority of the jackets were too big with sleeves that were too long. You are never going to get a fitted look with a rental tuxedo

Purchase a classic style and invest in tailoring. You will end up with formal wear that fits you wonderfully and in the long run will save you money over the cost of a rental.

If you should get a stain, spill or have perspired heavily in your tuxedo, please do have it professionally cleaned. Never try to rub a stain off of the satin lapels, you will damage the satin. Since you will not be wearing it everyday you don’t want to have issues with your tuxedo the next time you need to wear it.

Thanks for listening, Jerry Pozniak, Managing Director, Jeeves New York.

It’s hard to believe that with this Seattle-esque weather that New York has been experiencing before Memorial day marks the beginning of the summer season. If you are like your man Jeeves you have been anticipating the sun not just for the summer Fridays coming your way, BUT more importantly because of the seersucker and linen waiting for you in your closet.

While Jeeves trusts that most of you were kind enough to visit him after the last summer season to drop off your summer garb to ensure for one final cleaning before storing away, it wouldn’t hurt to give them a quick once over before heading East this weekend.

Many stains linger on white fabrics such as champagne, perspiration, and perfume that are invisible to the naked eye but may have oxidized over the winter as a result of improper cleaning. What you may be seeing now are yellow stains.

Not to worry your man Jeeves and the lads at his cleaning workshop can reverse the effects of neglected clothing—turning your whites brighter than ever! Jeeves’ craftsmen employ a liquid CO2 dry cleaning system that is heat free, gentle on your clothes and removes more stains than any other type of dry cleaning.

Give your man Jeeves a call today to give your wardrobe a quick clean before heading out of town for the weekend!

For the best dry cleaner in New York City to care for your summer wardrobe; the only choice is Jeeves New York.

Some times Jeeves is speechless. Today the Robb Report honored Jeeves and profiled our Perfect Suit Cleaning as the best way to take care of bespoke garment.

Developed for hand made garments from makers such as; Cesare Attolini, Kiton and Brioni the service is unique to Jeeves New York.

Why rehash what the Robb Report wrote? The entire article including images is here.

It is another cold, damp, dreary day here in New York City. With a mix of freezing rain and snow on the horizon. I need spring and I need it now.

To get my spring fix I walked over just a few blocks from Jeeves’ Madison Avenue location to 62nd street to visit Hermes. This location of Hermes focuses on menswear only, and when you walk into the first floor you are treated to a riot of color.

Hermes ties everywhere! Color everywhere!

You are not “somewhere over the rainbow” you are in the rainbow and it is made of silk. The jolt of color from Hermes brighten my day, if only for an hour.

I walked back to the Jeeves shop with “spring” in my step. Yes it is cold, rainy and icy, but if I look really, really hard at the horizon, I can imagine spring.

Oh and if you get a spot on your Hermes tie, Jeeves will be on the spot straight away. Hermes makes ties by hand and Jeeves only cleans them by hand. Jeeves would not do it any other way!

Hermes Men, 690 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10065  (212) 308-3585

Jeeves New York, 39 East 65th Street, New York, NY  10065 (212) 570-9130

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,

Photo from the New York Daily News

New York City was horrid yesterday. It snowed early and then started raining; a lot. At every corner the snow made a dam that created a pond of slushy, icy water  that made long jumping a skill worth having. I was prepared for today as I donned my snow boots before leaving the house. At least I could slog through the ice ponds and not risk breaking my leg by jumping and landing on ice.

I did spy other men at each corner doing the “heel dance” or “long jump” to avoid soaking their feet in ice water. The leaps were impressive and some of the landings were worthy of a posted score by passerby’s. Other landings were not pretty, not pretty at all and wet, cold feet were the order of the day.

Snow boots are sensible but not fashionable for men. At least women can wear cute rain boots in the snow and still maintain some fashion dignity. My North Face books though keep my feet warm and dry don’t work at all with my gray flannel suits.

Do you wear boots during snowy weather and how do you make it work with your outfit?

Your comments are encouraged.

Thanks for listening, Jerry Pozniak. Jeeves New York.

People say it takes a real man to wear pink, and Jeeves couldn’t agree more. October is nationally recognized as breast cancer awareness month, and with many fashion designers supporting the cause one label in particular really stood out to your man Jeeves.

Ralph Lauren, a gentleman’s brand to the core is supporting this cause through two philanthropic initiatives.

Ralph Lauren’s Pink Pony collection allows you to ” wear your support in style”  as 10% of all Pink Pony proceeds supports the Pink Pony Fund for Cancer Care and Prevention.

In celebration of their 10th anniversary the Polo Ralph Lauren Foundation is hosting a charity auction now through October 21 hosting a variety of luxurious experiences ranging from trips, products, or even a little insight into the lifestyle of Mr. Ralph Lauren himself. To bid now visit charitybuzz.com

“Breast cancer is not just  a woman’s issue – it affects all of us: the brothers, husbands, fathers, children, friends. Pink Pony is our effort in the fight against cancer.” – Ralph Lauren

Locally all proceeds are directed towards a unique partnership between Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, North General Hospital and Polo Ralph Lauren—the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention was established in Harlem, New York City (2003). The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention’s mission is to provide comprehensive cancer screening, treatment and education outreach to the Harlem community.

To care for your Ralph Lauren wardrobe Jeeves is right down Madison Avenue and we will be more than delighted to care for your philanthropic purchases, all you have to do is call!