Wardrobe Fitness: A Good Tailor Can Work Miracles

Finding “your” tailor is much harder than finding “a” tailor. You’re looking for a person to help your create your look.

The label doesn’t matter. A good tailor can make a so-so suit look good and a good suit look smashing. No matter how expensive the garment, if it doesn’t fit right, it’s a wasted opportunity to look great.

Don’t let an inexperienced tailor near your clothes. You wouldn’t let an inexperienced surgeon remove your appendix, would you? Good tailors have a long history with cloth. Most apprenticed for years to learn the trade. A surprising number come from a family lineage of tailors.  You can ask them how long they’ve been doing it, they’ll probably be glad to tell you.

A tailor’s work should be practically undetectable. I found one common alteration that can separate the good from the mediocre. No matter what size you are, often there is a gap at the center back waist of pants. Having this taken in will make the pants fit perceptibly better.A good tailor will remove the waistband, take in the pants and the waistband separately, then re-attach the two pieces. A mediocre one will just take darts in the back without removing the waistband, creating bulky lumps that never lay flat and can feel like your have rocks against your skin.

The new “Design Your Own” websites allow users to design jeans, bras, and shoes. The BIG Caveat? It’s tricky to get it right and there are NO RETURNS. Hmm, sounds like a good case for a great tailor!