It’s spring and you have managed to stick with that New Year’s Resolution. You’ve joined a gym and lost a few pounds.
But now your clothes no longer feel neat. You are tucking in shirts, cinching belts and always wearing a sweater under that jacket.
Tailors will say you don’t have to be the World’s Biggest Loser and drop more than 50 pounds for clothes to start hanging poorly. A couple of inches off the waist or just 10 pounds from the scales and your wardrobe will likely need to be adjusted. And it’s all good.
“It’s a nice thing to do for a person who has done the work and lost the weight,” said Dana Small, designer and manager at Covet Fine Tailors, 1071 Fort St.
“They get to come in and put on their old clothing and it’s, ‘Wow, look how big that is on me now,’ ” Small said.
She said a big part of the store’s business is redesigning and reshaping people wardrobes after a weight loss.
“Why not? It makes sense to restyle and reuse,” said Small. “If it’s good quality fabric and a good quality piece you shouldn’t have to go and get something else.”
Alteration costs vary, depending on the amount of work required. So a pair of pants can be fixed up for about $10, or less, if it’s just the waist to be taken in.
Or pants can require $30 to $40. Waistbands can be taken in, side seams adjusted. Even the hems at the bottom might need to be altered because when the size of the waist shrinks the pants will sit at a new height at the hips.
Jackets also can be adjusted for anywhere up to about $90.
The refitting may be as simple as adjusting the length of the sleeve. As weight drops the bulk of the shoulders will diminish and the cuff will need to be moved up.
They may also require more work. But it’s all easy enough for the tailor who knows what needs to be done.
Darts may have to be stitched into the sides or the back of the jacket. Even shoulders can be moved inward sometimes and the length between the neckline and point of the shoulder shrinks.
Small said it can often mean a decision whether to discard a piece of clothing and buy new or renew the old.
“If it’s a piece you love and you know you will keep wearing it and it’s good quality, those are the ones I recommend investing in having altered,” said Small.
In the end, she said it’s the fit that really counts.
“I always say a bargain suit that fits properly looks better than an expensive suit that doesn’t,” said Small.
Navit Giauque, of the home-based Dream Threads, said good clothes are always worth considering for a refit.
A good silk blouse or fine shirt can get a new lease with some darts to take them in.
Dresses are also well worth the effort to cinch in their fit when a woman has lost inches off the bust, waist and hips.
Right now, Giauque said she finds herself busy as people get ready for spring and summer. Graduation dresses and wedding dresses are spring and summer staples. But she also said she is refitting suits for mothers to wear to their children’s graduation ceremonies.
For men, Giauque said she even has one client for whom she recently adjusted the waist bands on nine pairs of pants and shorts just before he left for holidays. He had lost about two inches around his middle.
“You can be saving yourself hundreds, thousands of dollars just by getting your wardrobe altered,” Giauque said.