The valet tray takes its organisational traits from the clothes valet. Reaching back some 200 years, men with money and fine clothes had a clothes valet (a manservant of sorts) to organise their wardrobes and care for it when not being worn.
Valets also helped the aristocracy change throughout the day; moving from morning suits to cocktail attire to evening dinner party tails without a hitch (for a pop-culture reference think Lord Grantham and valet Bates from Downton Abby).
Nowadays, the valet’s been reduced to a neat place to store and organise your personal things. Designed more succinctly and smart, it’s followed menswear’s evolution into more pared back, quality wardrobe.
‘Where are my keys?’: a frustratingly familiar phrase, made all the more sickening when running late for work or a first date. Instead, maybe it’s your wallet that’s amiss? And, sure enough, you’re doing a mental-backtrack to where you used it last while padding down your trouser pockets.
So it’s time you bought a valet tray. A safe place for putting your Everyday Carry (EDC) – wallet, keys et al. – the valet tray will put an end to unnecessary leaving-the-house frenzy. Plus, the best valet trays are designed so luxuriously, they double as interior art, adding some depth and texture to a boring bench top or bedside table.
So, stop scattering your pocket change and keys all over the house.
