Petite Hangers For Narrow Shouldered Wardrobes

UPDATE:  petite slimline velvet hangers are now available in beige and black!

Hangers and closets go together like peanut butter and jelly, so since the topic of my blog revolves around my petite wardrobe, you can bet I’ve given some thought to petite hangers over the years.

Hangers fulfill many functions…they keep your clothes off the floor, organized and neat, and if you’re like me, can turn your closet into your “happy place” by making everything look like your own personal boutique. Hangers can help preserve the shape and fit of your garments…or…as I’ve been finding with my current hanger situation…can stretch or put lumps and bumps in your clothes if they aren’t the right size.

A few years ago, I wanted a nice looking closet where all the hangers matched, so I did what most people do…I marched into Bed Bath & Beyond with a fist full of those coupon thingys and bought a big box of velvet flocked hangers. My closet looked amazingly better after that, but a few years later, I found myself struggling with them.

A chunk of my closet outfitted with mostly velvet flocked hangers

I’ve noticed, especially with my blazers and silk blouses, these annoying bumps at the upper arm where the hanger is poking into the fabric. These bumps remain visible while wearing, and make me nervous about more delicate fabrics such as silk blouses which are prone to stretching. I’ve tried several different types of hangers to try and alleviate the problem, but the only solution appeared to be narrower hangers.

Blazers with some of the different hangers I’ve tried

The anxiety of stretched out upper arms on my silks and blazers finally moved me to do a search for narrow hangers. Mass market stores don’t sell anything beyond average and children’s sizes, so I looked to specialty retailers online. After a few days of searching, the company that intrigued me the most was Only Hangers (this exact same company is also called ClosetHangerFactory on Amazon).

I first came upon the Petite Wooden Dress Hangers (each hanger type is also sold in sets of 50 & 100, FYI) and Petite Wooden Suit Hangers, both of which measure in at a much narrower 15.5″. I really liked how these petite hangers came in two colors, natural (suit hanger version) and walnut, which I didn’t see very many other retailers offer.

Then, after clicking around a little more and exploring the “children’s” options, I found the Junior Hangers (suit hanger version) which measure in at an even narrower 14″…once again offered in two colors, natural and walnut.

I really love that Only Hangers offers two narrow hanger sizes, in two colors and two styles each…and at a better price than the other competitors I looked at. I’ll also mention here that Only Hangers is a reliable brand, sold at mass market chains such as Linens and Things, which helped ease any hesitations.

Hangers from top left:

Junior Top Hanger in Natural :: Junior Top Hanger with Clips in Natural :: Junior Top Hanger in Walnut :: Junior Top Hanger with Clips in Walnut :: Petite Top Hanger in Natural :: Petite Suit Hanger in Natural :: Petite Top Hanger in Walnut :: Petite Suit Hanger in Walnut

I contacted Only Hangers and they were very generous to send me some hangers to play with. My shirts and blazers measure between 13″ and 14″ in the shoulder, so the junior 14″ hanger was a better fit for my wardrobe. Here’s a comparison of the much better fitting 14″ hanger (I chose the walnut color) to the velvet flocked hangers I had been using for several years. There is almost a 2″ difference at the ends of the two hanger types.

When I hung up a few blazers on the narrower 14″ hangers, here’s what I saw…

No more poking and stretching in the upper arm! My blazers and shirts also rest smoother and with less bulk on these narrower hangers. I now notice that on the wider velvet flocked hangers, blazers and shirts looked like they were “busting off” the hanger.

The next issue to tackle is the little problem of silky blouses and tanks falling off the smooth surface of wooden hangers. For this, Only Hangers were kind enough to send me some velvet flocked hanger Garment Grips (super similar in foam). These are little stickers that provide friction to keep garments from slipping off wooden hangers. These worked perfectly at keeping my silks, tanks and dresses securely on the hanger. Blazers and most tops did not need any Garment Grips, so I only put these on the hangers I thought needed them.

I happily spent the better part of an afternoon tossing all my velvet flocked hangers across the room, and gently placing my favorite garments on their new wooden homes. The result is very clean and nice looking, as well as I’m now worry-free about the state of my silks and blazers.

Same rack of clothes on their properly sized, wooden hanger homes

I’m really happy with the way my clothes fit and look on these properly sized hangers, and can’t imagine going back to any other size. My next step will be to match these beautiful top hangers with some skirt and pant hangers in the same style and walnut color to complete the look of the closet.

I know some closets are tight on space, which makes wooden hangers a less viable option than space-saving slimline hangers. Well, good news because 14.5″ width petite size slimline velvet hangers are now available in beige and black.

PS…Only Hangers also has wide width wood hangers for those who find average size hangers too small (instead of stretching at the upper arm, you’ll see stretching above the shoulder).