Question about suit tailoring

[Tigris]

Howdy,

I'm a college student and I just got offered an internship at a Law firm. I went to Target intending to buy one of their premium-wool Merona suits but even their smallest size did not fit right. Just as a reference point, I am 5'8 tall and I weight 140lb. Because the 38 seemed a big big, I'm assuming that I'm a 36 s or 36 r. My question is, if I bought the 38 s, would I be able to tailor it to a 36 s? How much would that roughly cost?

Thank you

 

[Saltricks]

The shoulders should fit, the rest can be tailored down to your size.

 

[Mata_Leao]

Originally Posted by Saltricks

The shoulders should fit, the rest can be tailored down to your size.

For your purposes, this is more or less true - though you should be realistic with your expectations. Alteration costs will vary substantially based on both how many aspects of the suit need to be tweaked and the quality of tailoring you need. I have spent $200+ to have substantial alterations made to some of the nicer RTW jackets I own. But it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend any more than you have to on altering a suit from Target.

You should be fine if you go to a local alterations shop and have the pants and sleeves hemmed, as well as the coat taken in (especially considering how poorly dressed most lawyers are). There are cheaper places that will do all of that for under $50, but that also isn't consistent from area to area.

Good luck.

 

[Tigris]

Thank you.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

If you're a size 36 then buy a size 36; you can have a 38 tailored to an extent but it will never look the same as a suit which was size 36 to start with. If you were a 34 then you'd probably have to get a larger suit tailored (or get MTM), but there are plenty of places which sell size 36 so there should be no need for you to do that.