The Best Hangers

We also recommend seven other hangers, depending on your space, wardrobe, and budget.

After testing dozens of hangers over more than seven months with a range of clothing, we recommend Proman’s Kascade Hanger as the best and most durable general-purpose hanger for most wardrobes.

A good hanger will keep your closet tidy and your clothes neat and free of damage.

Lightweight and slim with uniform construction, the Proman Kascade Hanger is an affordable, classic, and versatile clothing hanger style. Its consistently smooth edge finishing, hooks for chain-linking hangers vertically, and sturdy construction set it apart from competing models we tested. Our top all-purpose wooden hanger pick has range: It’s strong enough to hold heavier winter coats and even suits while also accommodating pieces with delicate straps. If you buy a box, you’ll probably never have to worry about buying hangers again.

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If the Proman Kascade sells out, or if you want to buy a smaller quantity of hangers, we like The Container Store’s Basic Natural Wood Hangers. In contrast with the one-size-fits-all design of the Proman hangers, these general-purpose wooden hangers come in different shapes to accommodate various clothing types. However, we found these hangers to be less durable and their hooks have a sharp tip that might snag some fabrics.

If you need slim hangers for a small closet, or if you own silk or gauze garments prone to slipping, we recommend the Joy Mangano Huggable Hangers. We found them more customizable and less likely to stretch or crease clothing than other slim hangers. Although they lack shoulder notches for holding strappy tops, the velvet flocking should keep most blouses and button-downs in place. They come in both shirt (no bottom bar) and suit styles, and you can buy additional packages of mini-hooks to cascade them vertically like the Proman hangers.

Another good option if you have garments prone to slipping, Mawa’s Space-Saving Hangers are slim, compact hangers with an elegant, continuous steel-rod design that will last for years. Their anti-slip PVC coating (available in several colors) keeps even the slinkiest clothes from falling to the floor. We like the variety of hanger styles, too, including the Euro, whose downturned-arc shape prevents shoulder denting in knit fabrics, the Silhouette, which has the more well-known shoulder-shaped profile (for jackets and blazers), a pant hanger, and a hanger for draping scarves, belts, or ties. The steel material, space efficiency, and long-term durability of these hangers make them a worthwhile investment.

For pants and trousers, we like The Container Store Chrome Pant Hangers. The PVC nonslip coating holds pant fabric firmly, allowing for easy browsing through a closet, but it also permits pants to slide off without sticking, in contrast to rubber-coated models. The slim shape is space efficient but prone to causing slight creasing, unlike bigger and bulkier felt-bar designs.

If you can spend considerably more, get the Kirby Allison's Hanger Project Luxury Wooden Felted Trouser Bar Hanger. This hanger style is pricey, but it uses premium materials and has an excellent finish, with a pant bar that both grips and prevents creases better than the rest. Available in two sizes and three wood finishes, this hanger is a luxurious splurge worthy of your special-occasion slacks and trousers.

Among the three skirt hangers we tested, the clips on the Mawa 12″ Skirt Clip Hanger felt the most secure, and each hanger took up slightly less physical space than the competition. An industry-leading 10-year warranty makes this skirt hanger stand out.

Some suits and coats deserve extra care, and the Kirby Allison’s Hanger Project Luxury Wooden Jacket Hanger is designed for garment storage of expensive items whose shape you wouldn’t entrust to a noncontoured wooden hanger. Its very wide shoulder yoke supports the heaviest garments without causing dimpling or creasing.