Tailoring Nightmares

[kinojay33]

A couple weeks ago, I brought in two Banana Republic french cuff dress shirts and a couple blazers to a new tailor, who was recommended to me by a co-worker. I was getting the sleeves shortened on all of them, with a bit of additional work to the jackets.


The jackets came out fine. However, I finally tried on the shirts tonight & to my horror, it appears that the "seamstress" knows nothing about mens closthing, because she tailored the sleeves of the french cuff shirts to match my sleeve length with the french cuffs unfolded. So I now have two shirts that are about three inches shorter in the sleeves than they should be.


I'm guessing that there's pretty much nothing they can do to fix this. What should my course of action be?

[alan]

Take 'em back and tell 'em. Then see what happens from there. Surely they won't accuse you of destroying your own shirts to seek recourse. Now, whether they even care or not, I can't say. But you'll never know if you don't go find out.

[runner-guy]

As Alan mentioned, I would definitely take them back and point the problem. If they truly are a good business, they will do whatever they can to make sure their customers are satisfied.

[Thekillabeejc]

I think it would be their obligation to reimburse you for the shirts. If one of their employees doesn't understand how a french cuff shirt works, then there's not way they should be handling such an alteration.

[nicholascrawford]

What transpired when you brought in the shirts? Did they consult with you about the length you wanted?

[Big_Scooter]

I have several shirts which were altered too much to be comfortable. One, you can see stomach in between almost every button when I sit down. Casual shirt, luckily.


I also have one shirt that my alterations lady accidentally cut a slit in the armpit and stitched a chunk of a different colored cloth on the inside so I wouldn't notice. I saw it instantly, but it wouldn't have been a big deal if the slit hadn't opened the first time I washed it. I still wonder if she just forgot to mention it or if she was trying to get away with it. She usually gives me baked goods when I pick stuff up, now. Maybe that has something to do with it.

[kinojay33]

One closer inspection, it looks as if she only mangled one of the shirts and it's not quite as bad as I thought (still probably won't be wearing it though). I'm going to chat with her about it and see what they will/won't do. Regardless, think I'll be sticking with my tried & true men's only tailor from now on. It's worth the extra wait.

[jose_jackson]

I had a guy sew shut the cuffs of a jacket with functioning buttons. I wanted him to shorten the length of the sleeves. Tried to make sure he understood exactly what I wanted. He did not. The end result was atrocious. It looked horrible.


I should have asked for my money back, but I was honestly too disgusted to go back. I learned my lesson, I suppose.

[somaticmarker1]

I have had a few not so great experiences with seamstresses. When I first moved to the area I live now, there was not a readily available tailor. I would have to drive 2 hours to the nearest real city to get work done. I tried out a 2 seamstresses in the area, but they were expensive ($40 to get a blazer taken in at the waist, $20 to shorten the sleeves), also the work was subpar. I would attempt to tell them what I wanted, but they never came close to my specifications.


Luckily a older man who retired to area who used to be a tailor at a bespoke men's store in NYC and opened up a small shop. He's cheap, understands exactly what I want, does a great job, and is a cool guy to talk to.

[kinojay33]

"they were expensive ($40 to get a blazer taken in at the waist, $20 to shorten the sleeves)"


Whoa, I wish that was considered expensive where I live--shortening the sleeves on a blazer runs about $40-45 here in VT.

[LesserBlackDog]

$40 to get a blazer taken in doesn't strike me as especially expensive. I pay $35 to get sleeves shortened, which is usually all the work I need on a slim-fit OTR jacket.


But my tailor is a real pro with menswear - brought to the US from Turkey to do work at some big-name menswear stores, until he decided to quit and open his own shop. He does really good work but his prices reflect it.

[somaticmarker1]

@BenR. My tailor is also from Turkey. Maybe I'm just spoiled. He charges me $27 for the waist to be brought in, $10 for sleeves shortened, $12 to trim a dress shirt. He and I get along really well and will spend 15-20 minutes just talking. So maybe he gives me a discount.