10 Reasons Why Every Man Needs a Tailor

Image via Complex Original

We all go through those “chubby” phases. Holidays. Winter. Weekends filled with beer. Then we do our best to lose the weight. As phases of fitness come and go, so too does the reliability of great-fitting gear. By getting your clothes tailored to your “new” desired fit, it’s a great way to keep the pounds off—you don’t really want to toss that perfectly tailored pair of denim to the dogs because you had one too many taquitos, do you?

Uh oh. It happened. Your favorite pair of chinos ripped—while at work, in the middle of a marathon team brainstorm. Your worst nightmare has become a reality. But you’ve taken a liking to your tailor and he/she to you, so when you pop in over your lunch break, you get a quickie (repair) from your new friend with benefits (in sewing). A good tailor that you’ve made friends with would help you out in a time of need.

Unless you are a sample size, most clothing off of the rack will need some sort of tweaking, whether you’re ready to admit it or not. Why do you think store mannequins have a bajillion pins going through their clothing on display? It’s perfectly fine to rock your freshly de-tagged stuff straight out of the store, but if you take it to a proper tailor to tweak the shoulders, hem, etc., you’ll have a better appreciation for what you’ve just bought.

Sometimes our judgment can get a little (read: a lot) clouded when we see dope garments on someone whose body shape is nowhere near ours. So we run to the store or dig through our closets to try and swagger-jack the look. If your tailor is good, he will be able to do you one better and refine that garment to what looks good on you, not on that lookbook model. Some tailors will let you make the mistake and taper your jeans until you lose circulation below your knee, but they will only let you make that mistake once, hoping that you’ve learned your lesson.

Tailors constantly need to be on their Dr. Seuss game. They need to work with big people, small people, short people, and tall people. How many different people will they meet? All types, duh. Perfecting their craft doesn’t mean working on perfect specimens such as myself. All sorts of people want to look presentable in well-fitting clothes and a good tailor should be able to make that happen.

Buying a brand new jacket is like winning the lottery, but by spending an inordinate amount of money. Believe it or not, you can spend exponentially less on something similar from the thrift shop or on eBay, take it to your favorite nip and tucker, and still spend less while looking just as dapper. Your mother would be so proud of your frugality that she’ll forget about all that money she spent on your college education to study Psychology only to become a barista.

You may think that you’ve outgrown that button-down shirt in your closet, but a few alterations that go beyond a snip here or cut there can change your perspective. Add some elbow patches for longevity and a stylish upgrade or throw on some fabric swatches in Junya Watanabe-style, and your Frankensteinian creation has now moved on up your rotation like George and Weezy.

In a panic, you run to the nearest denim stocker because you got a mean crotch blowout—we’re talking junk fully exposed. You can’t live like that unless it brings you some success with the ladies, but no, it won’t. Before you purchase a new pair of jawnz, stop and think about the time and effort that you put into these beloved jeans. Can it be saved? The answer is yes, and your tailor is your savior. Literally. The money you save by making a simple repair to clothing you already own can pay dividends. The little bits of saving will accumulate until you can purchase a serious garment that is currently at grail status.

Is the current tailor not cutting it or are you just in dire need of one that you can trust? How about going to your favorite menswear shop in town and picking their brain on where they send their clothes to get tailored. They constantly have customers coming in to get pieces that they’ve purchased from that store and fixed up to their specifications. Almost every shop has “that” guy that they send people to. Sometimes, they even have their own in-house tailor to perfect the garb for their customers.

Sure, your tailor can tweak up some of your favorite everyday pieces, but they can also perfect some of the garments that could literally change your life. That suit you want to wear on your wedding day? Let your tailor make it the thing that reassures your wife that she isn’t marrying a slob. That blazer you got from your dad to wear to your first job interview? Yeah, employers care more about the clothes you wear as a first impression more than they should. Oh, and best believe that Tommy Ton can spot when a tailor has gone in and done someone a good deed—your tailor could get you street-style blessed. Think about that for a second.