Greatest Hits Week - #3

The Setwell Hanger


In the history of mankind clothing was, from its earliest eras, a distinguishing hallmark that separated man from the lesser beasts. Traditionally, pants were the one iconic piece of clothing that signified masculinity. This state of affairs has changed somewhat in recent years, but one need look no further than the universal sign for ”The Men's Room” to see how that imagery still persists.
One problem remained, however. In order to maintain a man’s trousers in a state of tidy readiness various remedies were tried. All were found wanting.

Enter the Setwell pants hanger: Patented on April 24th, 1934 by F.K. Deknatel. The Setwell is a must-have for men of style and fashion. True, there have been numerous knock-offs of this classic, but one only has to compare them to the original to see how superior it still remains.


The keen-eyed observer will no doubt notice the suit-grade flannel (#11) or the precision roller bearing (#20), or the piece de resistance: the tempered spring (#22) which opens the hanger automatically, with minimal effort, yet holds the jaws tight when closed.

Fashions may come and go, empires may rise and then fall, even the mightiest of mountains will someday return to the sea, but a well-hung pair of trousers will remain the standard by which mankind is judged.


This is a re-run of a FITK post of July 29th, 2008. This post has the most comments and has been the most-searched for post, consistently receiving dozens of hits per year.