Basted fitting for alterations

One of my customers recently brought in a suit to me that he purchased from the internet. Unfortunately when he received the suit it didn't fit as the jacket was slightly too large and the trousers were more than too tight.  He came to me in a last ditch effort to save the suit otherwise he would resell it on the internet.

I asked the customer to try the trousers on and it looked as though the trousers were painted on, they were skin tight with no excess fabric anywhere.

I decided that the cheaper of the alterations to carry out where the trousers. If these could not be fixed there would be no point in proceeding with any other alterations to the suit. The trousers were fixed by letting out every seam as much as possible. In total thats three seams. The end result being the customer can wear the trousers. They are still slim cut but not hair band metal tight.

Balance is such an important issue when it comes to clothing fit. All the details need to be in proportion and work together as a whole. The proportions of the suit also need to be in proportion with the wearer.

The trousers were slim, so naturally the jacket also needed to be slim to match the proportions of the trousers.

The problem with the top half of the suit was the excess width which was further emphasised by the slimness of the trousers. The sleeves were a good inch or so off his natural shoulders.  We agreed the best thing to do was narrow the shoulders.

Whilst I had this pinned I noticed that his left shoulder was slighty dropped.  I decided to pin the jacket more so that the material at the back of the shoulder blade worth become cleaner to match the look of the shoulder on the right. This alteration would involve moving all the excess fabric that wasn't needed and mocha it into the left shoulder seam.  As this is a more involved alteration and the change I decided the best thing to do was to baste the jacket for a fitting. That way that any further adjustments could be made before sewing the seams permanently.

The above photos are of the jacket at a "basted" stage.  The customer tried on the coat and we are both pleased with the results. The suit actually didn't need in any further adjusting except for the sleeve to be lengthened a little.

The most important thing when it comes to clothing is fit. This is where it doesn't matter if the suit costs $500 or $5000.00. If the fit isn't right the suit is worthless to the owner to wear.  Fabric and construction are definitely important factors to consider. But a $5000.00 ill-fitting suit is just that: An ill-fitting suit.

As I accumulate more and more clothes. I notice that there are clothes I definitely don't wear as much. The most common reason I don't wear them is that they don't fit well. Im often tempted to throw these clothes out or give them to charity. However I think before you consider these options its worthwhile seeking out your local tailor or alterations specialist to see if you can salvage them.

The problem that becomes apparent talking to many of my customers is that some of the tailors in the real world don't really care nor do the people that sell you the clothes. Most of these people want you to get you in and out of the store as short as possible to allow for another number, I mean customer to come into the store. Please avoid these people and patronise the establishments that care.