Have you ever wondered how James Bond looks so clean? That guy jet-sets around the world chasing supervillains, getting in gunfights with scantily-clad ladies, and parachuting into flying planes, then he rolls into a black-tie event without a wrinkle in sight. 

But after a two-hour flight to Denver, your own dress shirts come out of the suitcase with more wrinkles than a page of crumpled-up homework. What gives? 

The most obvious answer, of course, is that Agent Q is a secret fan of SafeCotton (who isn’t?!). 

Wrinkle-resistant. Also, supervillain-resistant. Shop SafeCotton.

The second-most obvious answer? That Bond owes his eternally-crisp shirting to impeccable folding and packing practices. 

Now, are we saying that knowing how to fold and pack your dress shirts correctly will get you any closer to sharing a shower stall with Emma Stone? Not necessarily, but it'll definitely keep you looking crisp no matter where in the world you land. And that’s at least like, half as good, right?

Before we jump in, two caveats. 

One: Unfortunately, there’s no single way to fold and pack a dress shirt that can absolutely guarantee the shirt will arrive completely wrinkle-free. Shirts are made from fabric, and fabric wrinkles. Like taxes, traffic, and arguments about politics at Thanksgiving, it’s just a fact of life.

Two: Your best option against wrinkles is to pack Non Iron shirts when you’re on the road. While it doesn’t guarantee you won’t still see a wrinkle or two, you’ll definitely see a lot less!

Now, on to the folding! To get that Bond-worthy smoothness, here are two different ways to fold a dress shirt for travel. 

 

METHOD ONE: THE PACKAGED LOOK

This is a more classic, formal method, suitable for business trips where you need to pack 3-5 dress shirts in a way that keeps them all fresh. 

1) Start with the shirt buttoned, lying face down on a flat, hard surface with both arms extended to the sides. Make sure you’ve smoothed out all wrinkles before beginning.

2) Fold the right sleeve over the body of the shirt, aligning it behind the left sleeve and creating a straight line along the right side of the shirt where it is folded inward.

3) Fold the right sleeve down toward the bottom of the shirt, keeping the sleeve’s edge parallel to the folded right edge of the shirt.

4) Repeat this process with the left sleeve. When you’ve folded both sleeves down, the sides of the shirt will be even and straight, with the sleeves folded neatly inside. 

5) Fold the bottom of the shirt up to the top. Depending on space or preference, you may want to fold it three or four times, instead of two. 

6) Flip the shirt over and smooth to adjust. The shirt should look like it does when arriving newly packaged: in a clean rectangular shape, with the collar lying smooth and the buttons perfectly centered.

METHOD TWO: THE ROLL

This is a much more casual method, better suited to more forgiving fabrics and shirts with softer collars. That said, it can be especially useful for those trips where you’ll need to pack both dress and casual shirts. 

1) Start with the shirt buttoned, lying face down on a flat, hard surface with both arms extended to the sides. Make sure you’ve smoothed out all wrinkles before beginning.

2) Fold the right sleeve and body of the shirt over to align with the left, matching it in a perfect mirror image. The placket will form a straight line along one edge.

3) Fold both sleeves down toward the bottom of the shirt, aligning them with the placket. 

4) Starting from the bottom, roll the shirt up into itself, creating a tight cylinder. 

PACKING TO WIN: PROTIPS FROM THE ROAD

Whether you’re leaving for a week-long business trip or a weekend getaway, packing should be the least-stressful part of the process. Keep the packing easy and your looks clean with a few extra tips!

• Pack Loose. The pressure created by packing a lot of stuff into a small space is what turns creases into wrinkles. To diminish the chances of this happening, pack loose! And always pack your shirts on the top layer of your suitcase in order to avoid crushing them beneath your other clothing. 

• Use the T-shirt Trick. To diminish the severity of any creases forming along the major folds of your dress shirt, place a folded T-shirt inside it, at the point where you want to fold it up, and fold the dress shirt up over it. This additional layer of soft fabric will help prevent sharp creases from forming. 

• Garment Bags for Life! This is usually only an option if you’re bringing a suit, but having a garment bag will often help since it gives you a lot more space to use.