Keeping your accessories organized is just as important as acquiring the right pieces. There are a wide array of solutions to keep you sorted. One popular option is the valet tray. The term valet refers to a man's personal attendant responsible for his clothing and appearance. You may not be able to hire a personal butler but there are storage ideas that serve the same general purpose. A valet tray or valet stand is a storage item used to hold or store items that help to improve your appearance. Valets are greats option for storing your everyday carry items like your phone, wallet, loose change, and etc. You can also use a valet stand to hang your suit jacket and prep your outfit for wear.

There is no right or wrong way to stock or use a valet tray. You can use it to store all types of items, specific to your dressing routine or to place things you enjoy having around. It's primary purpose is storage and there are usually cutouts, compartments, hooks and shelving to house a variety of accessories ranging from watches, cufflinks, jewelry, sunglasses, collar stays, etc.--all the items that compliment your style and confidence. Depending on the amount of items you have in each category you may require one or more types of solution. For instance, I use a watch box for watches, belt rack, tie rack, a small woven basket to store my surplus of pocket squares and two valet trays to store cufflinks, collar stays, lapel pins and everyday carry items and other small accessories.

The key to organizing is identifying your essential items, assessing how many storage solutions you'll need and determining how much available shelf or closet space you have to work with. One way to edit your accessories is to donate items that no longer meet your needs.

If closet or shelf space is tight, try minimizing the footprint your accessories occupy by folding some items like:

Belts and ties - Roll them up like a cinnamon roll and place in a drawer.

Pocket squares - Fold in half and stack, or fold in half twice and then stack. One fold will allow more to be stacked before the tower begins to tip over. If you have some room in your sock drawer, I say go with the “fold in half and stack” option. Neatly fold and stack in a cedar box, cigar box, plastic storage box or small basket.

For metal jewelry like:

Cufflinks and mangles (bracelets) - Use the original box they came in for storage and to prevent scratches and scuffs. Avoid using a cloth pouch, a pouch will increase the likelihood of the metal getting dinged. Silk knots are fine to store in cloth pouches.

Watches - Store in original box or use a storage watch box.

Sunglasses - Use a hard-shell case or storage box.

In what creative ways do you organize and store you accessories? Let me know.

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