Melrose W. Fisher
March 3, 2017
As personal stylists, it’s our job here at Lots of Luxe to help you find clothes that work for your lifestyle, body type, and wallet and that you love wearing and make you look fabulous. How do we do that? First, by providing you with two luxury lines of women’s apparel – Carlisle | Per Se and ETCETERA. Secondly, with our training and our excellent professional tailor. Most of us need some bit of tailoring. No one is a perfect size 6.
Working with our tailor, we can provide you with a custom fit that will allow everything you purchase to fit like a glove; thereby, giving you the enjoyment of wearing what you buy and the opportunity to receive numerous comments on how fabulous you look.
Here are some garment issues a professional tailor can help with:
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You can’t zip up the back, or you’re tired of pulling a top or dress over your head?
A tailor can add a zipper. If you struggle to get in a dress or top that has a zipper already but it’s in the back, a tailor can move the zipper to the side. If you have a “zipper vent” in the back of a skirt/dress and you want to hem it, a tailor can remove the zipper, hem, and then replace the zipper.
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Are the armholes too big?
They can take the shoulder seams up (shorten the straps) and make the armholes smaller and the darts to “hit right.”
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Are you short-waisted and your tops or bodice of dresses hit your hips and “bunch up?”
A tailor can take the top up at the shoulder seams again to shorten the distance between your waist and top of your shoulders, thus eliminating the “bunching.”
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Is a top too boxy?
Your tailor can take it in on the sides or take in the center back seam to improve the fit & give you a slimmer look. Sometimes they add a center seam in a jacket or skirt to take it in on the sides.
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Are the sleeves or hem too long?
A tailor can shorten 90% of the hems of pants, skirts, and jackets. If the garment is a knit, the tailor will need to have access to a Serge machine. If the hem has a decorative edge you don’t want to be removed, most of the time a tailor can hem by taking sleeves up at the shoulder, taking a skirt up at the waistband, or adding a waist seam for a dress. A good tailor can remove lace and some embellishments and reattach depending on their placement. Asymmetrical hems may be challenging.
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Do the pockets pull or do not look good?
They can be stitched down or even taken out.
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Pants too tight in the stride?
The stride can be let out to give you more room.
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Pants too baggy in the crotch and/or hips?
A section of the crotch can be taken out to take the bulk out.
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Legs too big and blousy?
A tailor can take them in to take the fullness out. Women with apple-shaped bodies need this alteration practically every time for their pants and/or skirts. This makes a huge difference in appearance.
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Needing a nip in the waist because it’s too big but you need the larger size to fit your hips?
A good tailor can insert a couple of darts at the back of the waistband so there’s no gapping. A tailor can also add darts at the bust line to create a more fitted top. This is what pear-shapes need most of the time.
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Don’t like that bootcut leg anymore?
The tailor can take the “bootcut” out & give you a tapered leg or straight leg. How do you determine how wide a pant leg is? You take the bottom of the pant leg & fold it up to the knee. If the bottom of the pant leg is wider than the knee, then the pant is bootcut. If the pant leg is more narrow than the knee, then the leg is a tapered leg. If the pant leg equals the width of the knee, the leg is straight.
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Have you lost weight and need some things taken in?
Rule of thumb is most things can be taken in up to around 2 inches which would equal approximately 2 sizes. Anything over that may alter the print pattern and/or the pockets if there are any.
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Are the sleeves are too big?
These can be taken in or “pegged” to give the overall jacket a much-improved fit. Or as in the example below, the sleeves can be taken off, and the collar remade.
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Straight skirt doesn’t look good on you?
A tailor can “pegged” the skirt, just like sleeves. This is one of the easiest alterations to do that will give you a 100% better look if you’re apple shape.
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Top or dress is too sheer?
A lining can be sewn inside.
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The neckline plunges too low?
Sometimes, more fabric can be added to the neckline to reduce the amount of plunge.
Some issues a tailor may say they can’t do or do not recommend tackling:
- They don’t take something up more than 2 inches which equals approximately 2 sizes, especially for sizes 0-10. Depending on the pattern and whether it has back pockets, a tailor may take as much as 4 inches up but no more. More likely for sizes 12-18.
- Do not remove shoulder pads because the shoulders will not lay smooth.
Having a quality tailor is worth its weight in gold. You will be surprised how much better your clothes will look and feel if you utilize a professional tailor. By just nipping and tucking your garments, they will be able to accentuate your attributes and play down your “tiny imperfections.” Remember…“quality doesn’t cost, it pays.”
Remember, every Tuesday Lots of Luxe is Tailor Tuesday. We have a highly skilled tailored on site every Tuesday from 4 pm to 5:30 pm. We cater to both men and women and will alter any and all brands.