The most common complaint I hear from people about their clothes is that they don’t ever fit them right. Pants are always too long, jackets too boxy, shirtsleeves way too voluminous, and dresses are forever just the tiniest bit too small. When I tell them to hush up and have their stuff tailored already, everyone acts like this is a shocking and foreign concept, available only to rich people or feudal lords—and pointless for the average human to even attempt. When clothes don’t fit right off the rack, they just give up. It’s a shame, because a nip here and a tuck there is sometimes all a garment needs to make the leap from an off-the-rack sad sack to an adorable, flattering work of art. A clever spot of tailoring can also reinvigorate clothes you already have but never wear due to simple, easily resolved fit issues.
What none of these people realize is that the idea of buying clothes in a store and expecting them to magically fit is actually quite new. A household’s clothing was historically made by either professional tailors or family members until the mid-1920s, when the Industrial Revolution finally allowed the ready-made garment industry to explode. However, most of these new fangled “off-the-rack” garments that were suddenly sold in stores fit quite poorly, resulting in a steady stream of returns from unsatisfied customers and overall poor sales. This was due to the fact that early clothing manufacturers didn’t have standardized sizes—in fact, they were almost arbitrary! Garments of wildly differing sizes were frequently labeled as being the same size by a multitude of manufacturers. (The more things change, the more they stay the same, right?)
It wasn’t until the mid-1940s (after the U.S. Department of Agriculture finally conducted a study of body measurements) that a standard sizing system was created. But just as soon as this supposedly “standardized” sizing was put into place, vanity sizing came along in the 1950s and confused matters once again. (Of course, we couldn’t even have five measly minutes until size became a hot-button, emotionally fraught issue.) Vanity sizing is why you always read that Marilyn Monroe would wear a size twelve or fourteen by today’s standards, when the clothes she wore in the 1950s were marked as size eight. The point of all this is that size tags in clothes have been more of a suggestion than an actual fact since day one—so it’s not surprising that nothing ever fits anyone properly when they first try it on.
My great-great grandmother was a seamstress for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the early 1920s. Not only were her sewing skills legendary, her daughter, my great grandmother, learned how to sew under the big top, too—and as a result, she made the bulk of my clothes as a child (in addition to entire wardrobes for every doll I ever owned!) On the rare occasions my great grandmother did buy off-the-rack clothes for me in department stores, she still made simple alterations to them to ensure a perfect fit. To women of her generation, it was just something you did. But even when I was a wee child in the late 1980s, my great grandmother was already an incredibly ancient throwback to a far different era—because the 1970s had come along almost twenty years earlier and ushered in everything we now call modern life, including a whole new style of lackadaisical, ultracasual dressing. The freewheeling, flowing fashions of the groovy 1970s are what finally (and sadly) swept the idea of always tailoring one’s clothes to fit properly right out the door—seemingly forever.
Take a minute to think about your favorite article of clothing. Why do you love it so much? Most likely, it’s because it fits you as if it were made for you. Having a tailor you know and trust is still quite common in Europe, but for some reason, it’s considered a luxury in the states. I believe you should actually plan to include tailoring in your wardrobe budget—if you want to look fantastic in your clothes, that is. Why do you think stars look like stars in their clothes? It’s because there’s a tailor and costume designer behind the scenes, altering absolutely every single garment they ever wear, right down to their T-shirts and camisoles. I’ve personally never, ever put an actor on camera in any piece of clothing that didn’t have at least one alteration done to it. I realize this sounds crazy and un-achievable by mere mortals—but it’s really not. Even though I alter every single thing my actors wear, it’s usually something quite small—an alteration that would cost you less than twenty bucks at your local dry cleaner or tailor shop. And here’s my real secret: I’m pretty much doing the same really easy alterations (or some variation thereof) over and over and over. Once you learn what they are and how to make them work for you, you’ll become a pro at seeing just how easily certain garments can be finessed to fit your body perfectly.
Knowing how to spot an easy alteration is life changing. It opens up an entirely new world of clothes you previously thought you couldn’t wear. Plus, you can likely salvage many of the ill-fitting garments you already own just by having them altered slightly—because really, any old garment will look miles better when it actually fits properly! But alterations aren’t magic, nor will they transform every single poorly made, misshapen lump of a dress into a princess gown. And to justify the added cost of alterations, you’d better be in love with the garment in the first place. If you’re on the fence, you shouldn’t buy it—the cost of making alterations can easily exceed what you paid for it. Luckily, the alterations I’m about to share with you all happen to have a pretty low degree of difficulty—so you should be able to ask any tailor for them without fear—and for less than the cost of a nice dinner out.
If every shirt you try on is so long that it could double as a dress, this is the alteration for you. Having a shirt hem taken up even a half inch can make a big difference; a too-long top can overwhelm a petite frame and always tends to bunch up and look sloppy. On most simple tops (even those with buttons), you can also ask your tailor to add a curved, shirttail-style hem instead of a boring straight one to create a more interesting, flattering silhouette. This alteration also allows you to tuck tops into clingier skirts or pants with only minimal bunching since there’s less fabric to tuck in.
However, if there are pockets or zippers involved near the hem of the shirt, I’m sorry to say that attempting to shorten it probably isn’t worth the trouble. Leave those pieces on the rack and never look back, because replacing zippers and moving pockets can become costly alterations. However, if there is a small amount of simple trim (such as lace or fringe) near the hem and you truly love the shirt, it may actually be worth the extra money a tailor will charge you to remove and reattach it while performing the alteration.
The golden rule of alterations is that anywhere a straight seam exists on a garment is pretty much fair game for an alteration. So if you’re considering the purchase of a blouse you love with a fit that’s on the not-so-perfect boxy side, check to see if it has a straight seam on each side of the body. If it does, march right up to the register and pay for that bad boy, because taking a straight seam in at the sides is one of the easiest clothing fixes there is. If your boxy-cut shirt has sleeves, the alteration becomes slightly more complicated because the tailor will need to cut into the underarm area, too. But altering the sides through the underarm is still easily enough accomplished and totally worth doing. Just keep in mind that it means you’ll have to make sure the shirt in question has enough room in the underarm to allow for a small chunk of fabric to be removed. If it’s big on the sides but tight in the underarm, it’s a no-go.
This is the mother of all alterations for those of you with short torsos. If you find that many garments hang down a little too low in front and show the sides of your bra, it’s likely due to the shoulder seam being too long. (And a good shoulder fit is important; it can actually improve the look and feel of the entire garment.) This alteration works best with a sleeveless or tank top–style blouse, as removing the sleeves and reattaching them is tricky, and many times, they won’t hang right afterward.
Taking a sleeveless garment up at the shoulder seam is an easy, inexpensive fix—however, it does automatically raise the front and back necklines, too, making the neckline circumference smaller (and whatever amount you raise the shoulder seam will also take the armhole up by the same amount), so make sure you can afford the room before you take the plunge. And remember: This simple fix is not for shoulders that fit poorly overall—nor for shoulder seams that extend past where your natural shoulder ends. It’s strictly for garments that hang too low at the chest. An overall poorly fitted shoulder is a very bad thing, and it’s not likely to get better, no matter how much tailoring you employ.
I’ve been in countless department store dressing rooms and overheard shopper after shopper decide not to purchase a pair of pants simply because they were too long in the leg. I’m always stunned and am forever running onto the sales floor half dressed to preach the gospel of hemming. A simple hem on a pair of pants should run you about $12—but the difference it makes in your look is priceless. A dragging hem billowing around your ankle throws off the entire line of your pants, causing them to bunch and crumple unflatteringly all the way up to your pockets. Just a few inches off the bottom allows the pants to fall straight from your hips as the designer intended—resulting in a clean, sleek, line from waist to floor.
The length you choose to hem your pants is a totally personal choice, and changes as styles come in and out of fashion. But for a pair of women’s pants meant to be worn in a professional setting, you can’t go wrong with having your hem fall between your heel and midshoe, breaking at about the mid-arch of your instep. You want the pant leg to hang straight—not bunch up at the top of your foot. By contrast, the proper break (meaning where your pants fall on your shoes) on a pair of men’s pants is a little longer. I prefer a full-break pant length for men, which means you’ll need to ask the tailor to adjust the length to hit right at the top of the shoe sole in back.
But what about jeans? Everyone thinks shortening the hem is totally out of the question because it’s so hard to replicate the original one due to stitching details. But it’s really not—you just need to turn your tailor on to the “Hollywood Hem.” To achieve it, put on your jeans and figure out where you want the new length to be. Use a pin to mark the spot. Then, cuff the legs up (so they are inside out) until the original hem is right above your existing pin. Use another pin to secure the cuff into place. Take your jeans to the tailor and have them sew right below the original hem, taking care not to sew through any part of the original hem itself. Once it’s stitched down, your tailor will cut off the bottom fold of excess fabric, flip the original hem down and press it into place. Your jeans will now fit properly and look as if they came from the store that way!
A word of warning: Always make sure to wash and dry your jeans at least once or twice before hemming so they can get all the shrinkage out of their system. Then, and only then, will you know how much you can safely chop off. If you’re pressed for time, you can always fake a temporary hem using a bit of Topstick toupee tape and a prayer—just follow the instructions outlined on this page!
Do you have a skirt or pair of pants that’s just a little bit too big in the waist but fits nicely through the hips and thighs? This commonly occurs because a woman’s body is generally wider at the hips than at the waist. It can be remedied by simply slapping two darts (small folds sewn into fabric that help provide shape to a garment) in at the back waistband, nipping the gap in the bud—and shaping the garment to fit you like a glove. Darts are most commonly used in blouses to improve fit at the bustline, but I find them to be just as useful to shape a pair of pants or a skirt. The tailor will space the two darts evenly apart, most likely placing them over the fullest part of each bum cheek. The darts will take in the most fabric at the waistband and go down to zero fabric at the point where your hips begin to widen. Darts aren’t all that tricky, but they do take a bit of skill—so this alteration will likely run you about $20 to $25.
You can also use darts to slim down a boxy jacket. If you have broad shoulders, you may find that you need to buy your jackets a size or two up to have them fit well through the shoulders—but this almost always causes it to be too boxy through the waist. Ask your tailor to open up the jacket’s lining and add two darts at the jacket’s back, starting right behind the sleeves and ending just before the hem for about $40.
Some tailors will refuse to do this alteration on a highly structured jacket, as the “proper” way to slim a complicated jacket is from the side seams, which usually necessitates moving pockets—a far more costly alteration. But adding darts at the back of a simply constructed jacket is a quick fix that is well worth the money—because even though it’s a relatively easy alteration, it tends to make it look like it was precision tailored to your body.
Cutting down a voluminous sleeve is another alteration that doesn’t cost a ton but makes a huge difference in how a garment looks. When a sleeve is too loose, it usually means that the armpit is too big as well. Your tailor can take in anywhere from a half inch to a full two inches from the underside sleeve seam, going from the wrist all the way to the underarm and down into the side-boob seam to create a slimmed down, prettier shape.
Your tailor may try to tell you that he or she needs to actually remove the sleeves from the garment to “properly” take in the sleeve and underarm area, but the shortcut method outlined above is one I’ve used for years with great success—and sometimes all you really need is the fastest, least expensive way to get from point A to point B. Just make sure you can actually bend your arm at the elbow with the proposed sleeve alteration before the tailor stitches it up for good. I learned this lesson the hard way when I accidentally altered an actor’s sleeves way too tight and only found out about it minutes before she was meant to be in a scene that called for her to wave her arms above her head in a dramatic fashion. Actors are troopers though—when the director called “Action!” she hunched her shoulders up and waved her arms around like a champ—without anybody ever noticing that she wasn’t actually able to bend them at all.
You obviously can’t make a pair of wide-leg pants into a legging with this alteration, but you can have your tailor easily trim a bit of excess volume along the garment’s inner and outer seams, resulting in a more streamlined silhouette. However, fair warning: Bringing a pair of pants in by more than about two inches often necessitates moving the pockets to a point where the whole thing just looks wrong. While it is technically possible to take in a pair of pants that are many sizes too big, it’s far beyond the realm of what I’d call a “simple” alteration—and a tailor will charge you accordingly. You may be better off just springing for a new pair that fits you better.
The zipper is an amazing mechanical invention that makes fastening one’s clothes easier than our nineteenth-century counterparts could ever have imagined. Before the modern zipper burst onto the scene around 1920, clothes-wearers the world over were stuck fumbling with buttons and tediously fastening hook and eye closures. But as with all mechanical inventions, zippers sometimes break or don’t always work exactly as they should. The zipper that will give you the most trouble in life is an invisible zipper, which is practically embedded into the garment, rendering the zipper—wait for it—invisible once zipped up! They are commonly found on better cocktail and party dresses, and practically every garment I’ve ever bought that has one tends to get stuck right over the rib cage or manage to munch all the fabric in its path, rendering the item completely unusable.
Actors always have a moment of panic when a garment with an invisible zipper won’t close, thinking it means the dress is too small—but what it really means is that the zipper is either of poor quality or has been installed improperly. The dollar amount you pay for a garment doesn’t spare you from a crummy zipper, either. I’ve seen it happen with garments that cost less than twenty bucks all the way up to a $4,000 wedding gown. Most of the time, this problem occurs because the zipper has been sewn too close to the fabric edge. This problem is especially deadly when it occurs at a pressure point, like over the boobs or at the ribcage. The end result is always the same—pinched skin and a broken zipper.
I spend the twenty to thirty bucks it costs and take every single inexpensive invisible-zippered garment I buy to the tailor and ask that it be replaced with a zipper of better quality (as the zipper on a $20.00 dress likely cost $0.50—and is therefore incredibly prone to breaking), paying close attention to the spots where zippers are known to get stuck. But sometimes, the existing zipper can actually just be eased out a bit along the points where it is sticking by having your tailor scoot the tape (the fabric on either side of the teeth) over just a few centimeters, thereby getting the teeth out of the way of the fabric and ensuring a smooth zip. A zipper alteration is totally worth the money—every single time.
If you are asking your tailor to replace the zipper completely, you may need to provide them with the new zipper to ensure a perfect color and style match. This means a trip to the fabric store is in your future—and once you are there, spring for the very best zipper money can buy. I like to replace all plastic zippers with metal ones; they are stronger and can take more of a beating. Oh—and be sure to bring the garment to the store with you so you aren’t left scratching your head, wondering which zipper is a better match. The rule of color matching a zipper to a dress is this: Close is always good enough. Once you’re zipped up, the zipper becomes practically invisible. So nobody’s going to know if your dress is dusty orange—but your zipper happens to be a little closer to pale peach. A replacement zipper is in the neighborhood of $8 to purchase, and a tailor will charge you about $12 to install it.
If you have a dress that’s just a few centimeters too tight (or every zipper you ever use breaks and gets stuck), you could also consider replacing your invisible zippers with a sturdier exposed zipper and treating it like a style detail. An easy-to-use exposed zipper means you’ll never find yourself rushing into a party with your dress unzipped, looking for two people to help you—one to zip and one to hold the sides together. (For more tips on zipper maintenance, plus what to do when one eventually breaks on you, turn to this page.)
Now the bad news: There are certain alterations that I don’t believe are ever worth pursuing, due to a poor return on your time and money investment. The truth is that some garments are just badly designed—and no amount of tailoring, no matter how skilled, can make up for that.
The point where the sleeve meets the armhole is called the “armscye” and is the most important part of any garment. A poorly set armhole can ruin an entire frock in an instant—and is almost impossible to fix. Have a good, long, hard look at how a garment fits at the armhole while in the store before you drop your hard-earned money on it, because that will be the thing that stops you from wearing it every time you reach for it in your closet. Paying a tailor to attempt a fix on a badly set armhole is the very definition of throwing good money after bad.
A suit jacket or blazer that is too long in the body or arms can be a money pit to have altered. Shortening a sleeve entails removing the buttons at the wrist in addition to the lining inside the jacket. Also, most suit jackets have a small vent at each cuff, further complicating a sleeve alteration. While it’s not terribly difficult, it is time consuming, which equals a higher cost—so I don’t recommend doing it unless the jacket is something that you really, really love. A jacket that is too long in the body is an equally deadly alteration because the distance from the top of the pockets to the bottom of the jacket is a rather exact science. Shortening a jacket’s hem more than about an inch throws the entire look of the garment off. Remember back when I said that a straight seam is fair game for an easy alteration? Well, a curved jacket hem is the exact opposite of a straight seam, and you can be sure that any tailor will charge you accordingly.
If you are even considering whether or not a tailor can let out a garment that is just a hair too small, you need to answer one question before anything else: Does the item in question have enough fabric to do so? You can determine this by having a peek at the inside seams in the area where the garment is too snug. If there is at least one-half to one inch of extra fabric lurking on either side of the seams, you can sometimes have the garment let out by just about that amount. But even the best tailor in the world can’t help you if the fabric isn’t there. Larger seam allowances are standard on newer clothing, but vintage items can sometimes have far less. I am of the opinion that if it’s more than just a smidge too tight, forget it—because it is highly unlikely that it can be easily and cheaply expanded.
Very intricate pieces with heavy beading or sequins will cost more to alter, as the fabric requires more care and time to sew. A tailor almost always has to do these alterations by hand, because beads and sequins get stuck in a sewing machine quite easily—and the minute you cut into anything with embellishments, you are likely to see those beads and sequins start unraveling themselves and rolling onto the floor.
Chiffon pieces also require a higher degree of concentration and skill to alter properly—the delicate nature of the fabric makes errant needle holes very obvious, so it has to be done perfectly the first time. Lace is in the same difficulty category as chiffon; the open weave can get sucked into a sewing machine quite easily. For this reason, most tailors sew lace and chiffon by hand—and you guessed it, that’s going to cost you more money. Garments that are pleated or have a scalloped edge also require more skill to tailor—and will be priced accordingly.
A garment with lining means your tailor is doing double the work, because the lining is really like a second garment! Lining can also sometimes misbehave and become twisted once altered, so consider how much you really love something before buying it if it’s constructed with lining and needs an alteration. The exception to this rule is getting rips in lining replaced—which is an easy fix and well worth the time and effort.
Tailors have to use special needles (and sometimes special machines as well) to alter leather and suede pieces. Also, leather isn’t the same as fabric—it’s a hide, so it has weak points here and there that sometimes don’t become obvious until you cut into them. You can’t make a mistake when sewing a hide—as the needle holes can’t be hidden. I don’t attempt to alter leather pieces much further than a simple hem here and there, as it ends up being rather costly. Altering a leather piece you already own is another story and can sometimes create a beautiful garment from one that was just gathering dust—but buying an expensive leather item brand new and then spending even more money to have it tailored is a rich person’s game. Play it at your own peril.
There’s one giant catch to all of this: Not one word of what I just told you matters if you don’t have a good tailor on speed dial. Lots of folks call themselves tailors, but that doesn’t mean they are skilled. Finding a tailor you trust is just like any other relationship—sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs until you find “the one.” But finding the one isn’t all that hard once you know how to go about it:
+ Pick someone who is nice. Some tailors can be cantankerous and downright mean—but the fact that you are asking them to perform a service you kind of know nothing about doesn’t give them an excuse to be snappy. Skip any tailor who gives you attitude in your initial meeting—because you are looking to form a relationship with someone who has your wardrobe’s best interests at heart. No amount of magical sewing can make up for mean, bad service.
+ Seek recommendations. I had to ask at least twenty people for recommendations before I found my current alterations wizard. (And I’m a professional clothes-handler!) Friends and family are a good place to start, but don’t hesitate to ask salesclerks, dry cleaners, and boutique employees who they like and recommend.
+ Look for a tailor who takes appointments. This means they take their job seriously and will take the time to answer your questions. Walk-in spots can be good in a pinch, but you’re really looking to build a working relationship.
+ Search out a tailor who understands style. Your tailor needn’t be a runway model in Paris, but a working knowledge of current trends and style cues is invaluable in bridging the gap between what you want and what is physically possible. A good tailor should point out when what you are asking for defies the laws of physics or classic style. Whether or not you decide to press on with an alteration after a tailor suggests you don’t is entirely up to you. I’ve had a few happy accidents this way, but more often than not, my tailor was right when he or she told me that what I wanted was just plain crazy.
+ Make sure the tailor is available. You want a tailor who is accessible when you find out the day before a wedding that your once well-fitting dress or suit needs a bit of emergency help. While good tailors are often booked far in advance, you want someone who can make time to help you out of a jam.
+ Examine their handiwork. Once you get your first piece back from a tailor, look not only at the outside of the garment, but also at the inside stitching and overall work. Make sure everything lines up, that seams are even, and that thread ends are knotted securely so as to prevent premature unraveling. Having an inexpensive simple hem done is a good test before you send something more complicated to a new tailor.
+ Educate yourself. Know what you want, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Learn the terms for basic alterations (listed below) so you can better communicate with your tailor.
So, what about those people who say they can buy clothes right off the rack and have them fit perfectly, as if they were made just for them? They are as rare as magical unicorns—which means they don’t actually exist.
TAKE IN: If a dress, skirt, or pair of pants is too wide in the waistline, you can ask a tailor to take it in. A loose-fitting blouse bodice or sleeve can also be taken in at the side seams. But if a garment is taken in more than about three or four inches, you may be left with unbalanced results.
LET OUT: Sometimes all you need is an extra half inch or so in the waistline or at the hem of a pair of pants or dress to render the garment perfect. However, there needs to be enough fabric in the garment to be let out in the first place—so when considering having an item let out, have a close look at the seams, keeping in mind that you’ll need to leave at least a half inch on either side of each seam for stability’s sake. You can’t sew a fabric edge right up to the seam if you have any plans to walk, dance, move, or breathe in the garment! Letting out is a bit trickier than taking in.
BRING UP: The too-long sleeves of a blouse can easily be brought up by about three inches—as long as any buttons at the wrist will not interfere. Pant hems can also be brought up about three inches—just be sure it does not then cause the pants to lose their shape. Sleeves and pant hems can almost never be “brought-down,” so stay far away from items that are too short.
REPAIR: This is a blanket term you can use with a tailor anytime you want a particular mechanical piece of a garment restored to its former glory: “zipper repair,” “button repair,” “belt loop repair,” and so on.
MEND A SEAM: When seams start to tear apart on a dress, pair of pants, or lining of a jacket, you can ask your tailor to mend the seam for you. Mending will close the gap and incorporate the repair into the original seam stitching.
ADD DARTS: Darts are folds sewn into fabric with the intent to enhance the wearer’s shape. Darts are most commonly found in women’s blouses and dresses at the bust line to help give shape to the figure.
DARN: Holes in knit sweaters, shirts, or scarves can be repaired by a tailor who specializes in darning, which is the art of re-weaving small, matching bits of yarn into the hole. Darning is quickly becoming a lost art, so you may have to search far and wide for a tailor who specializes in mending knitted items.
TAPER: The term “tapering” is usually used to describe the narrowing of a pant leg. To successfully taper a pair of pants, the alteration must run from hip to hem—not just from below the knee down. Otherwise, you’ll wind up with slacks that look like genie trousers.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that having something altered is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, meant only for wedding gowns and other fancy occasion wear. A nip here and a tuck there (also known as a facelift for your wardrobe!) could be all that’s standing between a good outfit and a great one—so what are you waiting for?