Review: Butler Luxury Suit Hangers
This review has been some time coming so my thanks to Mike Cregan, the kind gentleman behind Butler Luxury, for his patience.
Butler Luxury, subtitled "Exceptional Elegance", was founded several years ago and has provided luxury hangers to other companies for some time. Only recently did they open their doors to sell directly to the public. Since then, they've been another force to be reckoned with in the luxury hanger business.
Many in the online menswear community will know about Kirby Allison's Hanger Project. They were the first to innovate properly sized hangers according to your jacket (and later shirt) size. Continuing in this vain, Butler Luxury also offers sized hangers. The reason being that your jacket shoulders will not always match the width of standard jacket and suit hangers.
I was sent an 18" Deep Butterscotch finish suit hanger to review. I could have perhaps gone down a size, since the front tips of the hangers protrude slightly from under the jacket shoulders. It is probably best to go according to their size guide, which is slightly different from Hanger Project.
The biggest difference from them and HP is in the proportions. Much has been made of this online and in the end it is up to you to decide what is best. On paper, HP sounds like the better option. The bigger curve in back and wider, rounder shoulders better mimic the human frame. Yet Butler Luxury has the clear advantage in balancing space saving and proper shoulder support. I haven't done any scientific studies of course, yet I find it hard to believe that 2.5" wide versus BL's 2.25" will make that significant a difference. Actually I found it saved more space than even my old standbys, Bed Bath & Beyond's EZ DO Real Hangers, which also come in at 2.5" like HP's but are half the price. (There has certainly been a market for inexpensive alternatives to Hanger Project since their arrival.)
It's a matter of opinion which finish is superior. Hanger Project has a machine painted, high-gloss varnish while Butler Luxury offers a dull, hand painted varnish which allows you see more of the wood's quality and thus adds to the charm. Some believe the Hanger Project finish looks "cheap" with how glossy it is. But there is a clear difference between it and EZ DO seen below as well.
Besides the varnishing, the hangers themselves are also made by hand which is another advantage over Hanger Project and my own EZ DO hangers. The brass hook also has a ball end, something that improves upon previous versions of Butler Luxury's hangers and HP's looped end hook. It is also wider and thus appears sturdier, less prone to bending.
Both have wide, felted trouser bars to hold them securely in place and without any of the creases that can develop from other methods of hanging folded in half. I was one of those people who was "so over" round trouser bars. It seems I was simply not using the right kind. In over a week of having my suit hung up, they never once fell off while browsing through my tailored clothing; a problem I have had with both conventional wire wrapped wood bars (which I really dislike) and EZ DO's strange plastic teeth that don't really work well at all (seen above).
Butler Luxury does not offer trouser hangers with clamps or men's suit hangers with clips. They do offer women's suit and skirt hangers which have clips. I'm pretty sure your masculinity won't be in question buying the latter, as it looks just like a men's trouser hanger. Hanging trousers folded in half has advantages if your vertical closet space is limited though.
Looking at their other offerings, unfortunately their men's shirt and women's suit hangers only come in one size. I'd like to see them offer the same advantages as their suit and coat hangers at some point.
Overall, I'd give the advantage to Butler Luxury's suit and coat hangers based on all these facts. While a few dollars more than Hanger Project, they save space better while basically doing the same thing and are technically superior in every other way. They also offer bulk pricing, bringing them down in price closer to HP. If there is one thing I'd change it would be to make the shoulder ends rounder. I would also add more information on the website as to how they work better than ordinary suit and coat hangers for the average consumer. For the sake of fairness though, I will probably purchase and review a Hanger Project suit hanger at some point and review it.
A big thanks to Mike Cregan of Butler Luxury for sending this suit hanger to review.
DISCLAIMER: Nouveau Vintage received material compensation for this review. However, every effort has been made to remain objective.
EDIT: Mike Cregan plans to offer another size of men's shirt hanger in the coming months as well as deluxe garment bags and an even more luxurious line of hangers. Stay tuned, I'll try to cover those when they come out.
Butler Luxury, subtitled "Exceptional Elegance", was founded several years ago and has provided luxury hangers to other companies for some time. Only recently did they open their doors to sell directly to the public. Since then, they've been another force to be reckoned with in the luxury hanger business.
Many in the online menswear community will know about Kirby Allison's Hanger Project. They were the first to innovate properly sized hangers according to your jacket (and later shirt) size. Continuing in this vain, Butler Luxury also offers sized hangers. The reason being that your jacket shoulders will not always match the width of standard jacket and suit hangers.
I was sent an 18" Deep Butterscotch finish suit hanger to review. I could have perhaps gone down a size, since the front tips of the hangers protrude slightly from under the jacket shoulders. It is probably best to go according to their size guide, which is slightly different from Hanger Project.
 |
| On an old Brooks Brothers suit with 18.5" shoulders. |
The biggest difference from them and HP is in the proportions. Much has been made of this online and in the end it is up to you to decide what is best. On paper, HP sounds like the better option. The bigger curve in back and wider, rounder shoulders better mimic the human frame. Yet Butler Luxury has the clear advantage in balancing space saving and proper shoulder support. I haven't done any scientific studies of course, yet I find it hard to believe that 2.5" wide versus BL's 2.25" will make that significant a difference. Actually I found it saved more space than even my old standbys, Bed Bath & Beyond's EZ DO Real Hangers, which also come in at 2.5" like HP's but are half the price. (There has certainly been a market for inexpensive alternatives to Hanger Project since their arrival.)
 |
| Different profiles of different hangers. The rest on are EZ DO Real Hangers. |
It's a matter of opinion which finish is superior. Hanger Project has a machine painted, high-gloss varnish while Butler Luxury offers a dull, hand painted varnish which allows you see more of the wood's quality and thus adds to the charm. Some believe the Hanger Project finish looks "cheap" with how glossy it is. But there is a clear difference between it and EZ DO seen below as well.
 |
| Butler Luxury on left, EZ DO Real Hanger on right. The size difference is more apparent here than the previous picture. |
Besides the varnishing, the hangers themselves are also made by hand which is another advantage over Hanger Project and my own EZ DO hangers. The brass hook also has a ball end, something that improves upon previous versions of Butler Luxury's hangers and HP's looped end hook. It is also wider and thus appears sturdier, less prone to bending.
 |
| Butler Luxury in front, EZ DO Real Hanger in back. They are both 18" wide, do not let the perspective fool you. |
Both have wide, felted trouser bars to hold them securely in place and without any of the creases that can develop from other methods of hanging folded in half. I was one of those people who was "so over" round trouser bars. It seems I was simply not using the right kind. In over a week of having my suit hung up, they never once fell off while browsing through my tailored clothing; a problem I have had with both conventional wire wrapped wood bars (which I really dislike) and EZ DO's strange plastic teeth that don't really work well at all (seen above).
Butler Luxury does not offer trouser hangers with clamps or men's suit hangers with clips. They do offer women's suit and skirt hangers which have clips. I'm pretty sure your masculinity won't be in question buying the latter, as it looks just like a men's trouser hanger. Hanging trousers folded in half has advantages if your vertical closet space is limited though.
 |
| Felted trouser bar |
Looking at their other offerings, unfortunately their men's shirt and women's suit hangers only come in one size. I'd like to see them offer the same advantages as their suit and coat hangers at some point.
Overall, I'd give the advantage to Butler Luxury's suit and coat hangers based on all these facts. While a few dollars more than Hanger Project, they save space better while basically doing the same thing and are technically superior in every other way. They also offer bulk pricing, bringing them down in price closer to HP. If there is one thing I'd change it would be to make the shoulder ends rounder. I would also add more information on the website as to how they work better than ordinary suit and coat hangers for the average consumer. For the sake of fairness though, I will probably purchase and review a Hanger Project suit hanger at some point and review it.
A big thanks to Mike Cregan of Butler Luxury for sending this suit hanger to review.
DISCLAIMER: Nouveau Vintage received material compensation for this review. However, every effort has been made to remain objective.
EDIT: Mike Cregan plans to offer another size of men's shirt hanger in the coming months as well as deluxe garment bags and an even more luxurious line of hangers. Stay tuned, I'll try to cover those when they come out.
Just found your review and glad I did. 8 years (+ a pandemic) must of affected prices because Butler Luxury is now a better price than Hanger Project. A very belated thanks to your review for pointing me in the right direction as I start wearing suits again and the world sorta returns to normal.
ReplyDeleteGlad I could be of help! I was later sent a couple of their "Tailor Made" line of hangers and love them too, though they don't save as much space as their basic ones. I still want to purchase one of Hanger Project's to review them. Contacted Kirby Allen a while back about doing a review and he never responded.
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