Most people think tailors are for rich gentlemen who frequent Saville Row, but tailoring is not as expensive as you might think, and it will save you money in the long run because if you love an item of clothing you’re far less likely to replace it. At the low-price end are simple fixes such as hemming a dress or trousers; at the more expensive end will be adjusting the shoulders of a jacket. Tailoring opens up possibilities because it allows you to buy high-quality second-hand items, or designer items on the sale rack, knowing you can get the fit altered. Most importantly it helps your clothes look better than they did when you bought them. A slight change in fit can make a huge difference. Unless you habitually buy ‘bespoke’, clothing is sized in a ‘good enough’ way to fit most people well enough. Tailoring is the difference between an item that fits ‘well enough’ and one that fits perfectly.
Simple Hemming – You can get skirts, trousers, jeans, dresses, and too-long shirts hemmed. When you get rid of the excess fabric at the base, you get clean lines for a sleek look. Wash new jeans before you take them in though as they nearly always shrink a little in the wash.
Shortening Shoulder Straps – The way the shoulders fit is crucial to making an item look nice overall. If the shoulder straps on a shirt or dress won’t stay up, get them shortened. Anything sleeveless, or with straps is typically easy to alter.
Zip Replacement – Buy exactly what you want from the haberdashery section of a fabric store and ask the tailor to replace it.
Taking in – The straight seams that run down the sides of shirts and dresses are easy to take in. A common alteration to blouses and dress shirts is darting, a process where extra seams are placed in the back or sides of a shirt to remove baggy fabric. If you find that you frequently have to size up a blouse to fit your chest properly – leaving extra fabric around your waist – darting is an inexpensive way to reshape the garment. Sleeves also tend to have straight seams running down their lengths, which a tailor can easily take in. The same works for trousers that are too loose in the leg. There is a limit though: if something is several sizes too big the alterations will throw the proportions out of balance, but a size or two is doable.
When shopping: Clothing sizing for women is so variable as to be useless. Try things on, find the best fit, then have them tailored. Buy clothes that fit the biggest or widest part of your body, and then have them tailored down. If you are between sizes, size up and tailor down. Ask for a recommendation. Social media is a great tool. If you admire the way a friend dresses, they may well have a tailor and will be flattered that you asked. High-end and designer shops may be able to recommend tailors too. In Shepperton we are lucky to have a wonderfully creative independent. Laura Harrison from Shepperton Tailoring has altered wedding dresses purchased second hand from the Princess Alice shop, created bespoke clothing from a cherished piece of fabric, repaired garments galore and given those old favourites a new lease of life. Tel 07979 821586. See ad opposite.