When is a tee not a plain ole tee? When we choose a quality tee shirt and then take care of it. When it's a nice, cotton knit top — not faded or out of shape. When it's a quality tank, a shell, a polo, or Henley , a cardigan, a boat-neck, scoop-neck, or V-neck tee and nicely coordinated with other pieces is an outfit. Take care of that tee and it will take care of you.

I have a huge demonstration collection of clothes that I use for just that, demonstration purposes and to document a design style. Many classic pieces are years and years old, still with wear-life left in them. People continually ask me, “How do you keep them looking so nice so long? Don't you ever wash them? Dry-clean them?”

Well, “No” is almost the answer, but not quite. I do wash or dry-clean pieces as needed, but definitely less often. We teach men to get two wearings out of their dress shirts by wearing them over a white tee-shirt and hanging them outside to “air” between washings.

If this strategy works with a dress shirt, why not try it with your best tee-shirts or knit tops. Simply wear the tee over a lighter-weight undergarment and you don't generally need to wash the tee after every wearing. Hang the tee on a shaped hanger outside to “air” between washings. It works.

Safeguard great color, texture, and shape by washing or cleaning less often. Wash the tees and knit tops you want to continue looking nice in warm water, with mild soaps or solutions, on a gentle cycle or quickly by hand. Tumble partially dry on delicate cycle. Then give them a good hard shake or two, snapping the shirt into shape. Finish by laying the tee out to complete drying on a clean towel, smoothing the shape in place. It takes precious little time to leave the tee looking like new and increase your investment.

Many people refuse to consider fine cotton tees, silk tees, or delicate wool knit tops on the grounds that they require expensive dry-cleaning. So, how often should you dry-clean a garment? The answer, of course, depends on how many pieces you own and how often you wear them.

At the same time, however, if the garment is not noticeably soiled, the correct answer is, “Once a season.” That's all, and that is not too expensive for a nice piece of clothing — even for a silk tee or wool top.

Better quality clothes that require dry-cleaning aren't generally the clothes you wear to cook or clean, to mow the lawn, or repair the car. Even tending to the kids, you don't generally choose to wear a silk or wool knit top. A silk shirt, white wool sweater, or light-colored slacks are intended to take you to a child-free office or out on a special occasion.

Get out there, looking and feeling terrific, then change into durable at-home clothes before you play with kids, cook or clean. Dry-cleaning once a season will then generally meet your needs nicely. In the “olden days,” people put on an apron to protect nice clothes including knits. That works too, if you can find an apron anymore.

Don't roll, fold, or stuff the tees you want to continue looking nice into a drawer. Hang them on a shaped plastic hanger — no poked out shoulders from a damaged hanger are allowed.

On your closet rod, hang tank shirts to the left, then collarless short-sleeve tees, three-quarter length sleeve tees, next to long sleeve tees. Tees with collars come next — sleeveless, short-sleeves, three-quarter sleeve tees and finally long sleeve tees in that same order. When you want to look and feel comfortably cool or casual, reach left. When you want to look and feel warmer or more tailored and serious, reach right. It works!

Judith Rasband is Director of the Conselle Institute of Image Management and author of numerous publications on dress and image. Contact her at 801/224-1207 or judith@conselle.com. For related image information, visit www.conselle.com.