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Stubborn Tailors

unclesam099

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I'm curious to know if you all have experienced a tailor that didn't want to do what you wanted them to. I'm 6'3" 210lb, ~43" chest and ~36" waist so I prefer my clothing to be slim fitting. I've had two different tailors and a small local menswear shopkeeper tell me that they didn't want to modify something because the jacket was already tight enough. They all want to put a full break on my pants, even when I tell them that I want nearly no break.

I need to take a suit back to the tailor after putting it on at home and finding out that the pants have a full break, after specifying none. While I'm up there, I'm taking the jacket and telling them to do as I say (in a kind way).

Is this common among older (age) tailors? I guess the lesson is to be firm about what I want so there isn't rework.
 

Master-Classter

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explanation is they probably don't want to overdo it and have a mad customer since baggy looks fine cause it's so common but too tight makes them look incompetent.

they probably have a fixed idea of what they think you should have and are out of touch with what's happening in the world since the 70's, ie find a new tailor.

always fit stuff on right then and there when you get it back so they can see if it's off.
 

Nicola

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He thinks you're wrong. The question is he making a style judgment or is he thinking it won't work.

The idea to find somebody else is the best but make sure the other guy isn't just doing what you want and not caring how it ends up.
 

TonyThe Tailor

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As a stubborn tailor, I will usually caution the client about alterations or designs that will, in my professional opinion, not look correct or not in their best interest, but if they insist on going forward with it, I will do it, because I also feel they are paying me good money top get what they desire.
 

unclesam099

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Originally Posted by Master-Classter
they probably have a fixed idea of what they think you should have and are out of touch with what's happening in the world since the 70's, ie find a new tailor.

always fit stuff on right then and there when you get it back so they can see if it's off.


Yea, I will be trying it on before leaving next time.

Originally Posted by Nicola
He thinks you're wrong. The question is he making a style judgment or is he thinking it won't work.

The idea to find somebody else is the best but make sure the other guy isn't just doing what you want and not caring how it ends up.


Both tailors and the shopkeeper were older gentlemen.


Originally Posted by TonyThe Tailor
As a stubborn tailor, I will usually caution the client about alterations or designs that will, in my professional opinion, not look correct or not in their best interest, but if they insist on going forward with it, I will do it, because I also feel they are paying me good money top get what they desire.

Tony I certainly didn't mean any offense towards tailors at all. I do value the opinion of a professional, but when there is excess material around the jacket (2+" when I pull it away from my body at the button when buttoned), it seems to me that I could wear it a little bit tighter.
 

mktitsworth

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All three of the tailors at the B&M I frequent are old, crotchety, and stubborn. That is not to say though that they don't do what I want. I've not had to argue with them on much of anything, mostly because in general, they know what they're talking about and can usually find a way to show me what I'm thinking, which seems to look how I think it'll look, then what they're saying, which usually looks alot better.

As an example, I took a jacket in to them for alteration today that felt loose and billowy up top. I thought it was the arm holes, and Kamal did what I was thinking. Then he showed me what he was thinking by pinching in the back on the collar and pinning the sleeves differently, and it looked much better than what I was thinking. I was thoroughly impressed.
 

Doc4

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In part, there will be caution because not taking off enough cloth is a much more 'fixable' mistake than taking off too much. All those Thom Browne suits out there will never be anything but, unless they are donated to much shorter men.

In part, there is also the tailor's own opinion of what is right. Remember, lots of customers come to him with no idea and look to him for advice. No-break pants and cuff-showing sleeves to us may seem great, but to most people they seem like a mistake.

I find that if I establish a relationship with a tailor, he'll trust me a lot more the second and third time around. If nothing else, wear a properly fitted suit to the tailor, so you can say "this is how I want that suit to fit me."
 

giraffe lookout

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I had a similar experience recently with a local tailor. The woman was so nervous she was taking measurements. She kept saying that a baggy fit looked better on young men.
tounge.gif


I told her I'm not that young and if they were that valuable of pants, I wouldn't be trusting her anyways.
 

CYstyle

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Originally Posted by TonyThe Tailor
As a stubborn tailor, I will usually caution the client about alterations or designs that will, in my professional opinion, not look correct or not in their best interest, but if they insist on going forward with it, I will do it, because I also feel they are paying me good money top get what they desire.

+1

From my experience not as a tailor but working in a men's store, Customers are usually not right, and I would go with the decades of experience a good tailor has. Every jacket is supposed to have some fabric when you pull it away from your body, it's not designed to be a wet suit. taking in too much in the waist makes it look strange, and it'll cause pulling and puckering elsewhere.
 

Agatha Crusty

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Originally Posted by Doc4
In part, there will be caution because not taking off enough cloth is a much more 'fixable' mistake than taking off too much.

It doesn't have to be cut away. The seam allowances can kept quite ample should any future lengething and alterations be necessary. That's definitely the case for sleeves and trouser hems.
 

mktitsworth

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Originally Posted by giraffe lookout
I told her I'm not that young and if they were that valuable of pants, I wouldn't be trusting her anyways.

That's just rude and totally unprofessional. -1.
 

tooley

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The older lady drycleaners/alteration place I get my pants hemmed at definitely seems less than happy about the no break pants length I request, but will do it with a little pushing. She always wants to give them full break, which I just can't stand.
 

TonyThe Tailor

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Originally Posted by unclesam099
Tony I certainly didn't mean any offense towards tailors at all. I do value the opinion of a professional, but when there is excess material around the jacket (2+" when I pull it away from my body at the button when buttoned), it seems to me that I could wear it a little bit tighter.

It wasn't taken that way, I was just trying to give a tailor's point of view, but I agree with you.

I used to have a seamstress that worked for us (30 years until she passed at 98!) and she HATED to work on shirts. She would tell me in broken English "tell them that is the way they are supposed to wear it!, the will listen to you!".... now to this day when someone brings in shirts to be altered, an iron or scissors will fall on the floor in an empty room!
 

unclesam099

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Originally Posted by TonyThe Tailor
It wasn't taken that way, I was just trying to give a tailor's point of view, but I agree with you.

I used to have a seamstress that worked for us (30 years until she passed at 98!) and she HATED to work on shirts. She would tell me in broken English "tell them that is the way they are supposed to wear it!, the will listen to you!".... now to this day when someone brings in shirts to be altered, an iron or scissors will fall on the floor in an empty room!


I just learned to alter trousers and I've recently purchased an older silver label Brooks Brothers jacket from ebay to learn how to do it myself - you guys are all very skilled at your trade! It's not easy! I can't imagine doing a bespoke suit.

Shirts are next up, hopefully they aren't as bad as your seamstress thought of it!
 

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