What Tailors Can And Cannot Do For Your Suit

By Author: thamestailoring
Total Articles: 52
Comment this article

Among most underutilized fashion tools at your disposal are men's suit alterations. Look no further for a sure-fire way to send your fashion game through the roof if you are struggling to go from average suit to WOW! That suit!

In this article, we will examine why more men should use tailors, what a tailor can do for your wardrobe, and how to make even a low-cost suit look stylish.

When it comes to suit alteration, a tailor can work miracles. They take something that is almost perfect and elevate it to extraordinary. However, there are some things that a tailor cannot do, so take careful note of your measurements.

Choose an off-the-rack suit that is as close to ideal as you can when shopping. There are restrictions on how much you can alter a piece of clothing. Let's examine what is and isn't practical.
Sizes
When you need something changed, sizing down is significantly more practical than sizing up. While you might be able to squeeze an inch or two out of a generous seam allowance if you size up, it is not ideal and would require new fabric from somewhere.

The general rule is two sizes ...
... down and possibly one size up, and if at all possible, you should always choose a suit that requires sizing down. However, keep in mind that this is only possible for specific aspects of the fit, and this cost may simply not be worth it.
Shoulders
On a suit jacket, the magic happens along the shoulder line. The fit of the shoulders are nearly impossible to modify once constructed. However, if your jacket shoulders are not quite right, is there anything that can be done? Let's take a closer look at some fit issues.
Width
A master tailor can narrow shoulders to some extent, but given difficulty of this task, it would probably be less expensive to simply purchase a new jacket. If you were willing to spend that much money on alterations, you would have chosen bespoke or made-to-measure clothing in the first place.
Padding
Depending on style, your jacket might or might not have shoulder pads. For instance, British-style jackets frequently have padding, whereas Neapolitan tailoring often uses an unpadded, deconstructed jacket. Therefore, answer to the question of whether your shoulders can be padded out is a definite maybe.

A skilled tailor for suit alteration London offers can add or remove a little padding, but that doesn't guarantee that appearance will be convincing. Suits are designed with a specific style in mind, so your attempts to drastically alter the shape of a jacket to fit a style might not be successful.
Conclusion
Your tailor will do everything in his power to make the suit look its best if you really like it. However, if your feelings toward the suit are already conflicted, you might want to spend money you were going to spend on a new suit on something else. Unless you have a financial stake in this suit, there is no reason to get an expensive repair.