If you’re on a mission to find a tailor, you might be feeling completely overwhelmed.
After all, your wardrobe is very personal, and you don’t want just anybody repairing or altering your clothing. This is especially true if you typically wear high end garments, or if you wear clothing in a special size. A tailor can be expensive, especially if you have to hire a second tailor to correct the mistakes made by the first one.
Save yourself some time by reviewing this guide. Here’s how to find a tailor you will love!
1. Make It Your Purpose to Find a Tailor You Love
This might sound like an unusual point, but it’s important to set the stage for the objective of this post.
Too many people fall into the unfortunate thinking that all tailors – pardon the pun – are cut from the same cloth. This simply is not true.
In other situations, we have seen people delude themselves into thinking that their off-the-rack retail store purchases are good enough. Mass produced clothing is not likely to ever fit you correctly. Manufacturers don’t know your exact measurements, even if they manage to produce a size that is pretty close.
What you need to understand is that you deserve a tailor that will make sure everything you wear fits perfectly. More importantly, you must acknowledge that such a tailor exists, and make a point to seek him or her out.
2. Begin with an Online Search
There are any number of directories and resources at your disposal to simply find a tailor. But if your objective is to find a tailor to fall in love with, you’ll want to pay attention to reviews and testimonials from current and past customers.
Try using a service like Yelp, and see what other users have to say about their tailor.
Make use of your browser’s search function to locate keywords that may be of interest to you, such as petite, denim, leather, or inseam.
3. Ask the Best Dressed People You Know
You know that man or woman that is always dressed to kill?
That didn’t happen by accident. Most likely, she or she has enlisted the help of a professional and reputable tailor. Ask him or her for a referral.
4. Pay Attention to Alterations Needed Forum
Alterations Needed Forum is a tool used by many who want to find a tailor. There is an entire thread dedicated to recommending and reviewing awesome tailors in virtually every major metropolitan area.
Plus, if you’re into fashion and dressing smart, you can connect with like-minded individuals and share tips and advice.
5. Watch for Specialty Advertising
We live in a day and age when most of us voluntarily tune out advertising. If you want to find a tailor that will impress you, start paying attention to advertising!
For starters, tailors struggling to keep their shop lights turned on generally don’t spend a whole lot of advertising dollars.
What you’re really looking for is a tailor that advertises custom and specialty work. If the ad states that the tailor hems jeans and replaces zippers, it may be a shop that focuses on volume instead of high quality work.
If, however, you discover a tailor advertising complicated alterations and repairs, that is a good sign. It means the tailor has confidence in his or her work.
A great example would be Love Your Tailor. If you want to find a tailor in Toronto, our shop boasts a 10,000 square foot facility. We readily publish galleries of our best work, we back all we do with a satisfaction guarantee, and readily offer more complicated tailoring services.
6. Ask the Pros Where to Go
Do you have a favorite high end clothing store or trendy boutique? If so, consider asking where they send their clients for tailoring. The store has a reputation to uphold, so they are likely to only refer clients to an outstanding tailor.
7. Avoid Department Store Tailors
While this point isn’t to say that all department store tailors are unskilled, results can vary greatly between the individual tailor and the department store itself.
As with any large retail establishment, there is a lot going on. The personal attention you and your garments deserve are not likely to be found in a department store.
Further, the tailor that will be doing your repairs or alterations does not have his or her own business to think of. If he or she is an hourly or salaried employee, there is less to lose by doing a mediocre job…
Remember, you want to find a tailor that will consistently do an outstanding job!
8. Request to See Completed Work Samples
A talented tailor should be thrilled at the prospect of showing off some of his or her best work.
If you detect any hesitation from a tailor when you ask, forget about him or her. Whether that hesitation is the result of disinterest or insult, either way, it is not a good sign.
For best results, request to see something complicated or expensive. Carefully inspect the stitches and symmetry when making your assessment.
9. Start out with a Small Test
Once you find a tailor you think you can work with, begin by bringing him or her a garment to alter that doesn’t require anything complicated. It is best the garment you choose for this test is inexpensive, as well.
It could be something as simple as a pair of jeans that need to be hemmed.
If the tailor does not do this small job to perfection, you would be better not to trust him or her with your more valuable wardrobe pieces.
10. Ask the Tailor an Assortment of Questions
Talk to the tailor you are considering trusting with your garments. Take time to ask him or her for an opinion. Share what you dislike about your clothing, and ask for recommendations.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced tailor to demonstrate his or her knowledge. More importantly, consider the recommendations made – how do you feel about them? Do you get the sense that this tailor really understands your personal sense of style?
A tailor can do just about anything you ask, but sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. He or she is likely to have useful advice, and you will never know for sure until you ask.
11. Have Realistic Expectations
This final point is especially important when you set out to find a tailor. Are your expectations realistic?
For instance, you may own an old shirt. It’s cheaply manufactured, and it’s showing signs of wear. You love the shirt, however, and you aren’t quite ready to part with it. So you bring it in to the new tailor you found and ask what can be done to rejuvenate it.
When it comes time to pick it up, you realize that it is a slightly modified version of the same old and worn out shirt.
…what did you expect?
That is not necessarily a reflection on the tailor; rather, it may be a reflection of your unrealistic expectations.
A talented tailor can do many things, but he or she cannot bring dead garments back to life.
Remember, if you want a quote on any sort of alteration, Love Your Tailor is just a click away.
