Finding a genuinely good tailor
Simple question: Any suggestions on how to approach this beyond the usual yelp/Google reviews, ask people, etc.?
Likely a function of living in US flyover country, but I am finding it remarkably hard to find tailors who genuinely know their trade. Maybe I'm asking too much but I was hoping to find a tailor with some vague idea of how clothes "should" fit that can help me figure out the best approach.
Any secrets to finding good ones beyond trial and error? I keep hoping I'll stumble across the mystical "100 year old Italian man who hand stitched troop uniforms in WW2" that I can go to and just say "make this fit" and have him work his magic. Instead, I'm finding even simple pants hems get messed up because I didnt think to specify "Please trim the fabric or at least match the thread to the pant color so I don't look like I have cuffs halfway up my calf." Is this where I am or is this just reality now and tailoring is a mostly dead trade unless you are in NYC/London/etc.?
5 Replies
All i have to say is that there really isnt any 1 way clothes "should" fit, its gonna be personal. I think its more about finding how you want clothes to fit then telling a tailor what to do in specifics. Other than that trial and error may be the only way. sometimes there are "good tailor in X city" threads here or on reddit but it may just take finding one that works for you.
Well, fair enough re fit. I guess I was just hoping there were some out there capable of having a conversation about things like "should we move the pockets up if we shorten the jacket" "can we find a way to keep the shape the same" etc. So sounds like it is not really a "trade" anymore and just semi-skilled labor. Okay, unfortunate but I guess not terribly surprising. Will keep looking.
some tailors are capable of that; that aspect is a matter of trial and error
and even if they're willing to have that conversation whether or not they'll do it is a separate matter (e.g. mine will recognize if the shoulder is too wide but won't narrow it lol)
it might be worth a little more work on the front end in building that relationship (if you plan to utilize their services for a while) and in buying things that fit closer to your target
Yeah, I imagine shoulders are a very difficult alteration to do well so that makes sense. I'd actually appreciate someone who will draw boundaries like that. My problem right now is that I don't know exactly how much something can be tailored before it will look like shit or ALL the details I necessarily need to provide (e.g., telling them to make sure the hem doesn't show a very obvious line halfway up the leg). No one seems willing to engage in conversation.
Anyways,.clearly no secrets. Sounds like I just need to keep shopping around and trialing different ones until I find someone good.
a general guide is tailoring is ideal for adjusting up to 1-2 sizes' worth, beyond that it starts to affect how the jacket looks or other components
sites like nextdoor or yelp can help in aggregating reviews and searching some of the threads but at some point, regardless of locale, there's an element of trial and error (unless you learn to do it yourself)