You can try endlessly to organize your closet in a neat and organized fashion, some clothes are just difficult to hang. Longer clothes are an absolute pain for this, and if you have a really nice, posh dress that you want to avoid creasing, it’s even harder to cope with. 

Things get even more difficult if you’re dealing with a long dress in a small closet. Not all wardrobes are made to accommodate long garments, and so, we have to get a bit more creative with these. 

So, how do we do this? Is it a case of finding different uses of a garment bag, can you get crafty with hangers? What do we do?

It’s time to find out!

How Should You Hang Very Long Dresses?

So, let’s start with how you can hang up a very long dress. 

How you divide your wardrobe according to the garment is important for keeping things in order. However, not every wardrobe will offer you the option to store clothes as you want to. There are some models which are mostly shelves, with fewer horizontal bars which let you hang up a full length dress. 

So, what to do if your wardrobe is mostly shelves? Well, you should pick out all the things that do need hanging, and separate them from the foldable clothes. 

For example, you should hang suit pants on triangular hangers on the bar, folding them down the leg lines. On the shoulder straps put the matching jacket. 

But what about dresses?

For an evening dress, you should use two triangular hangers. On the first clothes hanger you should hang the dress as you would any, then on the second place to bottom the dress and slide it on the horizontal bar. Hang up the second hanger before you hang the first. 

Full length dresses can often be taller than the height the bar offers, so doing this allows you more space for the dress, keeping it off the base of the wardrobe, and prevents creasing in the material.

You should also choose a thicker triangular hanger if possible, as it makes creases even less likely.

How Can You Take Up Less Space In A Closet

Hanging a dress up in your wardrobe is one thing, but if you have more than one and many other clothes, things can easily end up chaotic. We aren’t saying there is anything wrong with a chaotic wardrobe, as long as it is neat, organized chaos. But things can so easily get out of hand. 

You can manage and maintain your small wardrobe even if it is tiny. There are plenty of space saving solutions, such as vacuum pack bags that will keep your clothes neat and tidy, but organized and minimized. 

You should also follow the rule of thumb that everything should have a home. You can use boxes, dividers, and organizers for clothes that can be folded and stored. 

Also, for clothes that require hanging such as long dresses, you can use two specific tricks, many hangers or space saving hangers.

Try Space Saving Hangers

If your clothing rail is jam packed with hangers that you are at a point where you no longer have enough space for your new clothes, you can try out space saving hangers. These will allow you to hang different clothes with a single hook. 

These hangers can be hung horizontally or vertically. They are not necessarily ideal for dresses, but it can free up space you have taken up by other clothes to give your dresses more space. 

If you hang your clothes with a space saving hanger hung vertically, you could save as much as 50% of space. 

Try Multiple Hangers

You can also use multiple hangers. Yes, you are thinking “I already do!” We don’t mean just using many hangers, instead you use the crutch system. Get a can tab and thread them on your hangers, you can use the second hole to combine one garment with another. 

This can save a lot of space, not as much as space saving hangers, but it is still useful to free up space, so you can hang your long dresses properly.

Dress Hanging Tips

  • For strapless dresses, turn them inside out and fold the bodice onto the waistline and hang it with a hang that has pliers. 
  • If a dress has a worked bodice, and you do not want to ruin it, reverse it, slide the bodice into the skirt, sew loop tapes on the sides and use the loops to hang it on a triangular hanger.