ASYMMETRIC HANGER FOR SHORT AND LONG TROUSERS

Abstract

A method and device for hanging long or short pants or any other similar articles of clothing that contains a waistband are disclosed. The device, an asymmetric hanger, hangs folded pants from the waist and is composed of a finger adapted to insert into the top of a pair of trousers engaging the inside of the waistband along with a clamp that clasps the waistband from the outside near the opposite end of the folded pants and that exerts a force away from the finger. The device can be adapted to hang pants from a simple clothes pole to a variety of novel designs that display pants and facilitate removal or hanging.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/215,382 filed May 6, 2009

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Ever since humans started clothing themselves, they have been confronted with the problem of storing such items when they were not in use. Undoubtedly, as clothing evolved and became more sophisticated, the need to store such items in a manner that preserved them so that they are suitable for reuse would have become apparent. Thus the improvisation of suitable clothing hangers, undoubtedly, involves a long and evolving history.

The problem of improvising suitable hangers for clothing that is worn on the upper torso is for the most part quite straight forward. Devices that mimic shoulders are easily constructed and have been used throughout history to hang shirts, jackets, smocks or any other items that primarily are worn by having them rest upon the shoulders of the wearer.

Hangers for trousers or pants, on the other hand, present some unique problems. This is so because pants by the nature of their function (individually covering legs as well as the lower portion of the trunk) require a complex structure. Essentially, the components of pants are two approximately cylindrical tubes that accommodate the covering of legs. These tubes are made to hang from the underside and on opposite sides of a larger open, approximately cylindrical tube that is worn around the lower part of the body from the waist down to the crotch. Accordingly, pants hangers have had to deal with considerations that result from these complex structural elements.

To date most pants hangers take advantage of what is referred to here as the well known pressed alignment of pants to store them in an essentially wrinkle-free state. As known to those skilled in the art and even those less skilled, this pressed alignment is achieved by arranging first one leg, and then the second, such that the seams (traditionally on the inside and outside of each leg) for each leg lie atop each other in preparation for ironing or hanging. Pressing pants so arranged results in the formation of a crease in the front and back of the leg, approximately midway between the inner and outer seams. To complete the pressing process the crease on the front of each pant leg is extended to just below the waistband, typically to a point where the belt loops closest to the fly are placed or to a pleat which often occurs there. When pressed properly, pants can be stored in a wrinkle free state by folding them such that the four seams of the pants legs are atop each other, and the front and rear creases are aligned. Pants so folded can be laid flat for wrinkle-free storage, hung from the bottom of the aligned legs or they can hang over a bar which might be coated with some material that keeps them from slipping off, or they can be placed over a bar such that the weight of the legs on one side of the bar is about equal to the weight of the upper part of pants—the body of the pants. Alternatively, they can be hung from the waist by using a simple hanger with two clasps, where one clasp grasps the pants at the waist near the fly side of the pants, the other grasping the rear section of the pants. It is common to see pants hung in this manner that are offered for sale.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,261 to Tsai et al discloses a pants hanger that uses spring loaded gripping arms that fit over the bottom ends of pants legs in the pressed alignment wherein the gripping arms not only grasp the pant legs, they can accommodate the extra thickness of material created by the overlaying of four seams. Accordingly, the pants are hung upside down and remain in a wrinkle-free state. Tsai et al describe several similar US patents that also hang pants in the upside down configuration. Those patents include U.S. Pat. No. 707,192 to Aiken, U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,325 to Schroeder, U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,407 to Bogaaczyk, U.S. Pat. No. 853,527 to Tye, U.S. Pat. No. 2,127,333 to Hall et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,066 to Hebberd.

There are also a number of patents that disclose pants hangers or racks that hang pants in their pressed alignment with the legs over some kind of bar arrangement. They include U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,385 to Lessard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,265 to Morgan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,096 to Kohlhepp, and US Pat. No. Des. 244,244 to Burke.

There are several issues the previous art has not addressed in the hanging of pants, particularly short pants, sometimes called walking shorts. One problem is that the user must first arrange the pants in the pressed alignment, so defined above. Next the aligned pants must be affixed to the hanger. Hangers that are hand held require some level of dexterity in order to affix them to aligned pants. Consequently, one spends considerable time in folding, affixing and finally adjusting so as to obtain wrinkle-free hanging. The hangers of the type disclosed and cited by Tsai et al which are mounted on a vertical surface have similar issues but are judged superior because of their mountings. However, they are arrayed in such a way that the hanging or removal of a single pair of pants presents some level of difficulty.

One objective of this invention is to create a system for hanging pants (short or long) that starts with folding them in a very simple manner suitable for hanging. Another, objective is to provide hanging devises that facilitate affixing pants to them. The hanging device accomplishes this by taking advantage of a fundamental aspect of pants construction. A third objective is to arrange a set of mounted hanging devises in an array such that pants are displayed in a manner that allows immediate visual inventory without touching or moving any part of the system. This arrangement is suitable where wall mounting of such an array is feasible, or where there is sufficient room for a floor stand. A fourth objective is to provide a telescoping hanger device that facilitates the hanging, viewing or removal of pants. This arrangement can be used in a typical closet/cabinet, or for that matter any open space, eliminating the need for the traditional transverse clothes holding rod, or pole. The telescoping concept is indeed applicable and adaptable to an entire spectrum of hanging devices that normally are hung from a closet pole or clothes rod.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is based on a novel asymmetric hanging device for long or short pants that takes advantage of fundamental elements of the construction of pants. The asymmetric device in one embodiment can simply be hung on a traditional transverse closet pole to hang an individual pair of pants. Alternatively several of these devices can be arrayed in some convenient manner and be mounted to a vertical surface such as inside a closet or on a dressing room wall, or for that matter in any appropriate vertical surface. In another embodiment a unit that can accommodate many such devices can be constructed on an appropriate stand so that viewing of all pants hung thereon is facilitated. Such a unit would be of significant benefit in a commercial setting where pants are being offered for sale or in a domestic setting where space is not limited.

Further, the simplicity in using asymmetric hanger devices affords easy removal of items as well as simple re-hanging. The use of this simple principle, disclosed herein, in such devices confers significant advantages to the user as well as to retail employees who spend considerable time re-hanging sale items.

In a third embodiment single pairs of pants can be hung on an asymmetric hanging device that telescopes horizontally towards the user and away from adjacent hanging objects. This concept like the array to be described below facilitates inspection, hanging and removal and affords economy of space. The telescoping concept is readily adapted to the entire spectrum of hanging devices that normally are hung on the traditional transverse closest pole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of an asymmetric pants hanger suitable for hanging on a standard closet clothes pole.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an asymmetric pants hanger incorporated into a telescopic device that can be wall mounted.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a wall mounted array of asymmetric pants hangers—six in number—arranged so that pants can be hung in steps, one above another, and staggered laterally in a stepwise manner.

FIG. 4 is a left side view of the array of asymmetric pants hangers—six in number—depicted in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

If a traditionally pressed pair of long or short pants is examined by holding the pants from the waist with the fly at the center and facing the observer, it will be noted that the front creases of the pants will extend up to the front belt loops that are on either side of the fly. This will generally be the case for pants with a flat front (no pleats) or with pants that have front pleats. To fold pants so pressed such that the leg creases align (front to front, back to back), it is typical to unzip the fly, grasp the front belt loops so mentioned and bring them together such that the fly section of the pants folds inwards. Depending on the pants and in order to maintain front crease alignment, the front belt loops either face each other in the folded position or they define the leading edge where the fly section of the pants folds inward. Hence, looking at pants so folded from the side, in the first case the belt loops are not visible, whereas in the second case the belt loops are just at the edge of the fold.

In those instances where the pleats associated with the leg creases do not align with the belt loops nearest the fly, for this invention pleat alignment generally dominates.

When so folded the front creases begin just below the waistband at the front of the body of the pants and continue down the front of the pant legs. Secondly, the waistband of the pants is folded on itself at its rear most point and, thirdly, the front of the pants body that encompasses the fly as already noted must fold inward. Anyone knowledgeable about clothing manufacture or sales will be familiar with this method of folding pants. This means of folding short or long pants is commonly used when pants that are offered for sale are laid in a pile, or in many cases for pants offered for sale that are hung waist side up.

Pants folded as described above can be hung upside down from a variety of hangers such as those described herein in the background section. Similarly, hanging pants so folded in an upright position, i.e. from the waist can be accomplished with a simple hanger having two spring loaded clasps, one to grasp the top of the pants near front belt loops of the pants and a second to grasp a region near the rear fold in the waistband. Hanging pants in this fashion requires some dexterity and it is not always easy to hang pants correctly without several clasping/unclasping adjustments.

There is, however, a simpler solution to hanging pants in this right-side-up fashion that this invention discloses that affords a number of significant advantages to the user. Rather than having to deal with two spring loaded clasps which is one typical approach, it is noted that in the construction of pants, the waistband (typically 1.5 to 2.0″ thick) not only is of rather robust construction, it has a smaller diameter than the body of the pants immediately below it. This is a consequence of the need to accommodate the normal anatomy, i.e. the buttocks. For pants of extremely large waist, the diameter just below the waistband often approximates that of the waistband. None-the-less, because of the difference in construction of the waistband and the body of the pants, the region below the waistband can more readily be deformed by outward pressure than the waistband itself. Consequently, the invention disclosed below functions even in those cases.

Given the robust construction of waistbands, as well as the change in diameter (or in pants construction) immediately below the waistband, a novel means for hanging pants upright (waist at top) is to affix the rear section of pants, so folded as described above, onto a hanging device using an appropriately designed finger that inserts into the fold of the waistband at the rear of the pants. If the finger that retains the rear side of the folded pants is coupled with a clasp that grasps the folded pants at the waistband on the fly side of the folded pants, and if the clasp exerts some outward pressure away from the finger by being spring loaded, or by some other means of exerting force, pants can readily be held in place. A device that incorporates these principles for hanging pants is herein disclosed and hereafter referred to as an asymmetric hanger.

For clarity in describing how the asymmetric hanger is used and to better understand the drawings incorporated herein, the convention that is used is that pants are hung from these devices in their upright position, i.e. waist at top, with the fly side on the right and the rear of the pants on the left. Further, they are folded in the traditional fashion as described above.

FIG. 1 depicts the key elements of the asymmetric long or short pants hanging device disclosed herein. The Figure depicts a version that is intended for hanging on a traditional transverse closet pole. This device is quite simple being composed of a few basic elements: (1) a support post “a” that is attached to a hook shaped element “b”, the latter being appropriately sized to fit over a traditional transverse closet pole or any appropriate bar; (2) a clasp “c” that rides on the support post “a” and upon which a force to the right is exerted by a spring “e” with “d” being a stop against which the spring “e” rests, and (3) element “f”—one version of a grasping finger—which is the downward projection on the left side of the hanger that is attached to support post “a”. This element which is described in more detail below is designed to take advantage of the waistband/pants characteristics already mentioned, and is used to hold in place (hang) the rear section of pants folded in the traditional manner, as described above, when pants are hung upright, i.e. from the waistband.

Alternatively, rather than a spring loaded clasp that exerts force away from the finger, a clasp that rides on support post “a” that is kept in place when it is released can be employed. Such clasps are well known in the art. Thus, the user would insert the grasping finger into the folded waistband at the rear of pants, clasp the folded pants at the waistband, on the fly side or front side of the pants, and exert sufficient tension on the folded pants to keep them in place by moving the clasp away from the finger. The grasping character of the clasp keeps its position fixed and, hence, sufficient tension is maintained on the folded pants to keep them hung.

One alternative for grasping pants on the fly side would be to eliminate altogether the spring loaded clasp “c” depicted in FIG. 1, and replace it with a grasping device affixed to support rod “a” that the front side of a pair of pants can be drawn into. One very simple grasping device might resemble a clothes pin which is affixed below rod “a” and positioned horizontally with the opening end of the clothes pin facing the grasping finger, element “f” of FIG. 1. In that case, the rear of pants would be placed over the gripping finger and the front pulled into the clothes pin like grasping device in a manner to exert sufficient tension to keep the pants hung. A variety of clothes pin like devices for grasping the front of pants and incorporating a quick release could easily be designed.

As is evident the horizontal support post “a” needs to be long enough to accommodate the width of pants folded in the traditional manner that are to be hung top down employing the finger at the rear of the folded pants and the clasp near the front.

Referring now to the left side of the asymmetric hanger device of FIG. 1 and keeping in mind the convention that pants are hung from the waist with rear and fly sides to the left and right, respectively, the element “f” which in one embodiment can be fashioned of the same material as support post “a”, represents one version of a finger that is designed to hold the rear section of the pants waistband in place. From FIG. 1, it can be seen that “f” is composed of a straight section of the gasping finger, denoted as “g”, and a protrusion “h”. Ideally the straight section “g” needs to be 1.5 to 2.0 inches in length as this is the section of the grasping finger against which the waistband rests. Element “h” is a protrusion that exerts pressure away from the body of the pants just below the waistband, i.e. into the buttocks area of the pants. Thus “h” plays a role in keeping the pants from falling off the finger when the clamp is functioning to maintain the waistband under tension pressure to the right side is exerted.

An alternative to the finger structure described here is a finger that uses just friction with no protruding element, such as element “h” of FIG. 1, to keep the waistband in place when appropriate tension is exerted on the folded pants. Still another alternative for finger design is to place a deformable sheath, such as foam rubber tubing, over the finger shown in FIG. 1. By incorporating a deformable material around the finger, it has been observed that less pressure needs to be exerted on the waistband in order to keep pants in place.

Hanging pants using the asymmetric hanger is a simple matter. Pants are folded in the traditional manner as described above. The pants are next grasped by clasp “c” at the waistband near the front of the pants and the clasp moved to the left by compressing the spring sufficiently to allow the rearmost section of the folded waistband to be fitted over the finger. An alternative procedure that requires less dexterity is to hold a pair of appropriately folded pants by the waistband near the fly side of the pants in one hand, grasp the asymmetric hanger by the clasp with the other hand, insert the finger of the asymmetric hanger into the rear fold of the pants with enough pressure to compress the spring and finally clasp the fly side of the waistband.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Although the asymmetric hanging device depicted in FIG. 1 affords advantages of easy hanging and removal to the user in situations where a transverse clothes pole is the only alternative, there are advantages to incorporating such devices on stands of various types that hold the hanger fixed in space or fixed but movable in a given manner that facilitates use thereof. By doing that less dexterity is required by the user as there is no need to hold the hanger while hanging or removing pants so hung as the hanging device is affixed.

FIG. 2 depicts one such embodiment of an asymmetric hanger, viz. a telescopic arrangement for an individual hanger that can be affixed in some convenient space. As is evident by comparison with FIG. 1, the hook structure “b” of FIG. 1 is replaced by an extended support post “a” that bends back on itself and is received by a tube “i” of appropriate dimensions to create what is typically referred as a telescope section. Tube “i” can be rigidly affixed to some support structure in a variety of ways such as mounting bracket “m” to a wall “w” of FIG. 2. Thus the asymmetric hanger can be moved into the support tube or telescoped outwards towards the user. The telescoping arrangement can be keyed such that the inserted asymmetric hanger does not swing with respect to the fixed tubular support “i”. As will be evident to all skilled in the art, the number of telescoping sections can be varied depending on the compactness and length of extension that is desired for any particular arrangement. It would be evident that individual telescoping hangers could be arranged in an array such that each can telescope away from near neighbors.

There are significant benefits of an array of individual telescoping asymmetric hangers. First, because one hanger can be extended away from its near neighbors, the user has ready access to a hanger that is held in a position that facilitates hanging. Further, the individual telescoping nature of the hangers so described also facilitates inspection of any hanging article. Additional inspection can be obtained by mounting the telescoping hangers in a stair step fashion, rather than in a horizontal plane. Both disclosures are in contrast to wardrobes mounted on telescoping rods where the entire wardrobe telescopes. (Emanual, U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,124) or where an entire array telescopes.

There are many other ways of creating a telescoping asymmetric hanger that will be obvious to those skilled in the art. One such arrangement can be achieved merely by drilling horizontal holes of the diameter of rod “a” into some fixed member such as a transverse bar. By inserting the sliding portion of the asymmetric hanger device depicted in FIG. 2 into these holes, the hanger can slide inwards or outwards to the user. Clearly the transverse structure must be of sufficient depth such that the length of drilled holes is adequate to make the hanger telescope in the plane of the drilled holes. If greater telescope extension is desired, it would be a simple matter to make the drill holes just described sufficient to accommodate the diameter of tube “i” in FIG. 2. Thus tube “i” depicted in FIG. 2 along with appropriate stops would itself telescope into the drilled holes.

The concept of individual telescoping supports for any kind of hanger has general utility. It can be adapted to the entire spectrum of hangers that are normally used with a transverse clothes rod. The obvious advantages of this kind of arrangement in addition to the facilitation that occurs by fixing the hanger in its telescoped position is that clothing can be hung, inspected or removed without having to reach in and remove the hanger from a rod, and without the item of interest being encumbered by near neighbor hanging items. Arrangements that telescope arrays of hanging devices do not have this advantage.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a novel pants hanger array that employs the essentials (spring loaded clasp, support post and grasping finger) of the asymmetric pants hanging device so described. This array consists of horizontally spaced vertical posts, “j”, (shown here as six in number) that incrementally increase in height and that are mounted on a base member, “k”, such that they can swing towards the viewer. The key elements of the asymmetric hanger (finger, clasp and spring) are affixed to elongated supports “a” that are attached to the corresponding vertical support rods. If so desired, the base member “k”, can be mounted horizontally on a supporting wall with appropriate hardware or affixed to an appropriate pedestal or conventional clothes tree.

FIG. 4 is a left side view of the novel hanger array of the invention. As in FIG. 3, “j” and “k” represent the vertical posts and the base member, respectively. The item labeled “w” represents a wall on which “k” can be mounted. For clarity the finger projections which would be nearest the viewer are omitted from each elongated support “a”. From FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that the uppermost hanger is closest to the wall, and that individual hangers step away from the wall in increasing increments moving from top to bottom. In this way individual pairs of pants that are hung on such an array, when in the closed position of the array, lie in parallel planes. The spacing between parallel planes should be adequate to allow ventilation between adjacent pairs of hanging pants. This can be accomplished by making the increment near neighbor hangers move away from the wall about 0.5 inches. Thus a staggered array that accommodates six pairs of hanging pants can be constructed such that, including the space required for the base member, it protrudes no more than 3.5 to 4.0 inches from the support wall.

The base member can be constructed out of a variety of materials—metals, woods, composite materials, etc. Besides supporting the hanger array, the base member in this embodiment serves as a mount for the individual vertical posts whereby the latter can be pivotally inserted into the base member and swivel away from the wall or back towards the wall. If, for example the vertical posts are constructed by appropriately bending 3/16 or ¼ inch steel, the array can be constructed such that the vertical posts can be made to swivel on the base member simply by inserting them into 3/16 or ¼ inch holes, respectively, drilled into the base member.

In addition to the systematic decrease in the height of the vertical posts depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the concurrent systematic projection away from the wall of each hanger, it is noted that the support posts are inserted into the base member at evenly spaced apart intervals. By disposing vertical posts on the base member at intervals of 0.5-6 inches, with 2.5 being preferred, and if the heights of the vertical posts are selected such that asymmetric hanger devices are spaced 0.5-6.0 inches above each other, with 2.5 inch spacing being preferred, it will be evident that a 3 dimensional array is created wherefrom each pair of trousers can immediately be distinguished. This obtains because this type of spacing creates an array where the front section (a 2.5 inch portion of the fly side of the right side of each pair of pants for 2.5 inch horizontally spaced support posts) and the entire waistband (for 2.5 inch vertical steps) of each pair of pants is readily viewed. This facilitates selection as well as removal and rehanging. Additionally, by spring loading the support posts to their most retracted position, i.e. into the wall, it will be evident that a tidy arrangement is maintained.

A simple alternative to spring loading the support posts to their most retracted position is to note that their design has a built-in natural moment. Thus if any of the vertical posts is inserted into a drilled hole that is not precisely vertical, the post will by simple physics swing towards the position which places the tip of the arm closest to the ground. Thus by drilling aperture in the base member (item b of FIGS. 3 and 4) with an appropriate slight cant, the vertical posts can naturally be made to lean back to the wall in their retracted position, and lean oppositely) (180°) in their extended position.

Clearly an array that uses the principles of FIGS. 3 and 4 can be constructed whereby a larger portion of the visible part of each short or long pant is visible, or a larger portion of each waistband is viewable. That can readily be accomplished by increasing the horizontal spacing between vertical posts as well as the differences in their height. As would be evident to those skilled in the art from the hanger arrangement shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the preferred embodiments are those that minimize wall space utilized for the array as well as projection off of the wall.

In addition to incorporating the asymmetric hanger device into traditional closet pole hangers, telescoping or wall mounted pants hanging arrays; there are a variety of other arrangements that can be made using the disclosure of the asymmetric hanger provided herein. Such arrangements would be very suitable in settings where pants are offered for sale or where sufficient room is available in a domestic setting. Pedestals that display pants like spokes on a wheel can readily be envisioned. Additionally, tiered pedestals can be constructed for this purpose.

Another possible arrangement is an array that is not staggered laterally such as the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4. Instead asymmetric hangers can be arranged one directly above the other but stepping out from the wall (if wall mounted), similar to the hangers in FIG. 4, with the lowest asymmetric hanger having the most outward projection. This kind of vertical array could easily be mounted from a single vertical support such as a pole on which the ascending asymmetric hangers swivel. Such an arrangement would be quite suitable for displaying pants that are manufactured in specific waist and inseam sizes. For such pants a vertical array could easily be constructed which could accommodate every inseam length for some particular waist size. By spacing the asymmetric hangers in vertical planes spaced 0.5 inch from each other (as also described above), to accommodate only 10 inseam lengths, a vertical array that projects less than 6 inches from a wall could be constructed. By appropriate design, an economy of space that does not exist for most pants displays can be accomplished with the added benefit that the customer does not have to deal with sifting through piles of pants. In addition to the already mentioned display advantages of such sale items, the simplicity of use of asymmetric hanging devices affords considerable time savings to the customer and for the sales workers who needs to repeatedly hang and re-hang sales items.

In all of the embodiments disclosed herein, the asymmetric hanger concept provides significant advantage to the user over conventional clasping hangers. Essentially half of the manipulations required to hang a garment are eliminated. With the exception of the disclosure of the asymmetric hanger fashioned for use with a closet pole, these disclosures also provide a significant advantage by having hanger elements fixed to some holder. This affords the user the advantage of not having to deal with holding the hanger device while also hanging clothes. This simple concept in concert with advantages the asymmetric hanger assembly provides make inspection, removal and hanging of pants considerably easier. It should also be noted that this invention has application to a variety of garments used by women such as skirts which also have common construction elements.

While there have been shown and described, and pointed out, fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments herein, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the disclosed invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto. It is to be understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, but that they are merely conceptual in nature.

Claims

1. A hanger for trousers having a waistband extending along the top edge of the trousers, said hanger comprising:

a. a rigid elongated, generally horizontal support, adapted to hang from a clothes rod, a door, a wall, a pedestal, or a piece of furniture, said support having a first end and a second end;

b. a finger depending generally vertically from said support adjacent one end thereof, said finger adapted to be inserted into the top of a trouser and to engage the inside of said waistband; and

c. a clamp having a pair of jaws biased toward one another and adapted to clamp the outside of said waistband, said jaws depending vertically from said support remotely from said finger.

2. A hanger according to claim 1, wherein said clamp is adjustable on said elongated support to apply tension to the waistband.

3. A hanger according to claim 1, wherein the distal part of said finger has a crook, said crook protruding away from said clamp and adapted to engage the trouser below the waistband.

4. A hanger according to claim 1, further comprising a hanging element, wherein said hanging element is attached to said elongated support.

5. A hanger according to claim 4, wherein said hanging element is affixed to said elongated support intermediate said first and second ends and configured for hanging on a horizontal clothes rod.

6. A hanger according to claim 4, wherein said hanging element is door- or wall-mounted.

7. A hanger according to claim 6, wherein said door- or wall-mounted hanging element is a tubular member that receives said elongated support, said elongated support being adjustable between a retracted and extended position within said tubular member.

8. A device for hanging a pair of pants comprising:

(a) a means for clasping the front of said pants, and

(b) a means for exerting pressure to the rear of said pants at the waistband;

wherein said pants are held in tension while maintained in a folded arrangement.

9. A hanger assembly comprising a multiplicity of hangers according to claim 1, said hangers being mounted on a series of vertical post disposed in a base member in spaced apart relationship to each other, thereby forming an array of said hangers.

10. The hanger assembly of claim 9, wherein said vertical posts are of varying height.

11. The hanger assembly of claim 9, wherein said vertical posts are rotatable in said base member.

12. A method of hanging a folded article of clothing comprising a waistband using a hanger:

engaging said waistband with a first portion of said hanger on the interior thereof at a first folded location of said article;

placing said waistband under at least minimal tension by exerting a force away from said first folded location and said first portion of the hanger;

clasping said article with a second portion of the hanger at a second folded location opposite said first folded location while said waistband is under the at least minimal tension; and suspending said hanger and said article of clothing from a support surface by a third portion of said hanger.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said waistband is maintained under at least minimal tension while suspending said hanger and said article of clothing.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said waistband is maintained substantially horizontally while suspending said hanger and said article of clothing.