Let me start with the fact that I am NO seamstress. In Junior High, the Home Economics Class had us sew an apron, a decorative cushion and a sweater. My mother, still to this day has the apron, my grandmother STILL has that decorative cushion on her bed; but that sweater is long gone. But I guess you could say, when you get under a sewing machine you definitely appreciate the precision, patience and magic that happens when you connect two piece of material with a piece of thread.
So in my adult life I have come to appreciate the art of tailoring. (It’s not just for grad gowns and wedding dresses!) Back in the day, when I was a HUGE What Not To Wear Junkie (see what I’m talking about HERE) I saw so many examples of tailoring on that show and it was totally amazing.
While they had me laughing a lot, it also made me very aware that the basic Method to Style Rules I may have been following weren’t common knowledge to everyone. And sometimes people didn’t want to wear the size that fit them properly because it meant going UP in numbers. Here’s the great news…..tailoring clothes can make all of that ok!
Not all clothes are created equal. It seems like every brand sizes just a little bit differently than the next, so it’s hard to know what size you will be between OLD NAVY, FRENCH CONNECTION, MADEWELLÂ and beyond. Not only that, not every body is designed to shop off the rack for every article of clothing we purchase. We should always be fitting the largest part of our body, and then tailoring in where needed to give us the perfect fit. And this applies to everything from jeans (I think it’s a GREAT way to make your investment last a very long time), jackets, blouses, pants, skirts…you name it. And tailoring includes hemming too! You don’t HAVE to wear that skirt just below the knee if you prefer lengths just above….make it work for YOU!
I say jeans are important to tailor because you always want a pair that you look good in right?! So what if you have a season in your life where your goal is to get into Fitness, whether it be Cross Fit or Figure Competition or just at home workouts. You will undoubtedly shed some weight around the mid section, flatten that tummy and build up those glutes and legs. Well, you may find that even though you one size in the waist, your legs just don’t fit in those….so that is where you go UP to where the pant leg looks as though it fits without fabric pulling or fear of ripping the rear right out, and then you ask for some darts to be put in just under the belt loops in the back to cinch in at the waist. NOW, you have a custom fit pair of pants, and that is a tiny cost that will have you loving those jeans for a very long time. And I BET you get compliments on them too 😉 I found an article that helps explain it TAILORING YOUR JEANS
The same goes for blouses and shirts, especially button ups. Ladies, if you were blessed with a rocking rack, or treated yourself to one later in life, those glorious girls should not be popping out or pulling at your buttons. That is a clear sign that your shirt is just not the right size. SO…jump up a size so the fabric can lay properly and then have the sides tailored in. Again…a small cost to make sure a shirt will last you as long as you love it.
You may look at me and say, Taryn, seriously, what would you know about tailoring and big chests?! I get it! But, I have tailored my premium denim since I started buying it. Some are just a hem adjustment, and some are darts in the back, because WHO wants their jeans to gape open and show off a little too much skin as we bend down to tie our babies shoes? NOBODY. So that’s how you fix it! And while nursing, my chest got up to a D38….THAT….was huge for me. I remember feeling frustrated dressing myself. Why didn’t my shirts look right? Because I was trying to stuff something the size of a cantaloupe into a place designed for an orange…grapefruit at BEST. There was stretching and pulling and don’t get me STARTED on pattern distortion! haha!
When clothes fit, they flatter, and you don’t have to be constantly adjusting, pulling and fixing yourself. Clothes are meant to skim your beautiful figure, accentuate your rockin’ curves, and proclaim your original style to the world. Tailoring can help you create your authentic Method to Style by taking the ordinary off the rack, and making it extraordinary….exactly like you already are.
xoxo Taryn