Alterations VS. Tailoring – By Scott Mesorana
As a Cat’lic school boy I remember having a new uniform to look awkward in each and every September. This memory culminates in the yearly ritual of standing still for roughly sixteen and a half hours while my mother hemmed my pants. She’d always do a fine job and smile throughout…until I’d ask if she could do something about the yard of extra pants around my knees and calves. At that point my dear mother would explain that when I was old enough to pay for it my (G-d damned) self I could go and get my pants to look however I wanted them to look…like my dad does.
This never left my mind, and when I was old enough to pay for it myself I immediately went out and sought this magician who would abra-cadabra my trousers into Scott size. The sign reading “alterations” was my first beacon of hope. After spending way too much money and experiencing countless disappointments I came to suspect that the lady I was paying for my alterations was someone else’s mom. The only difference being that my mom did it for free.
What I found I needed was a tailor.
It took me quite some time to realize the difference between tailoring and alterations. And as embarassing as it is to say that now, it’s a lesson I never forgot.
You don’t call a house painter when you decide it’s time to build a house. Is the house painter’s job appreciated? Of course! But his job involves making enhancements or alterations to an already built structure. You call a builder. The builder then works with you and stays as close to your specifications and desires as possible.
Consider the phrase, “tailor made”. A tailor makes things. Those things can be altered…but only after they’re made.
The main difference with tailoring is the buyer’s total control over the fabric used, the features and fit, and the way the buyer wants the garment to be made. It speaks to a high degree of customization, and involvement of the user/wearer, in the production of the garment. From start to finish, it’s a project that you and your tailor are engaged in involving measurement and fitting.
Alterations can and at times need to be made…but only after the project, your garment, is complete. Again, you cannot alter something that doesn’t yet exist.
Gentlemen, don’t be that clueless Cat’lic school kid with the ankle-length, baggy pants. Be the man who knows what he WANTS to look like you’ll find that the tailor can and will dress you like that man.
