skirtcafe.org

I bought a nice denim mini with box pleats and washed it, as you do. When it came out of the washing machine the pleats looked like they had a bad hair day and stuck out everywhere, with the whole skirt trying to emulate a tutu.
It was no use hanging it on the line like that, so I set about trying to reform the pleats, initially with 28 clothes pegs! Luckily the outer folds were sewn. What is the trick with pleats?
I do like the style and comfort of pleats.

I iron the pleats in my cotton and denim kilts. I hate doing it, it's such a palaver. The clothes pegs look like a good idea to me, they might do half the job.

When I wash my kilts I hang them on the wash line with pegs holding the pleats in place, much easier to iron when dry.

Steam iron the pleats when the skirt is still damp - more pressure than heat - don't hold on one pleat too long.
It helps if the pleats are sewn along the edge just like this skirt.

Good looking skirt - wish I could find one like that - and ahem in my size !

I make a point of hanging up my kilts (Utilikilts, 5.11, and similar) as soon as the dryer is done, or even better, pulling them out while they are still warm and damp and hanging them up. I straighten up the pleats right then while they are still warm, and keep them hanging whenever possible.

They all have the sewn in pleats (I'm sure this makes a huge difference), so I've never had to iron them. Then again, I'm not too particular and don't iron any of my clothes, unless something got crumpled and I need it in a hurry, looking perfect for a wedding or something.

If they get forgotten in the dryer, I re-run them with a wet towel or another load of laundry to get them back to that fresh from the dryer and wrinkle free state. This also works great for removing wrinkles from any clothing.
It is much more effective than the take-a-hot-shower-with-them-hanging-in-the-bathroom trick, but you need access to a dryer.