Can a tailor alter armholes on a dress shirt?

[Joe G.]

Hello, I love getting my clothes tailored but know little about the technical aspects of it.


Question for those who are knowledgeable: can a tailor alter the armholes on a dress shirt. I know they can adjust shirt length, sleeves, taper the sides, etc. How about adjusting the armholes so they appear higher and there is less of a flying squirrel affect under the arm pits?


Thanks guys.

[videorecipes]

i am pretty certain that tailors cannot significantly alter the armholes of a shirt. the armpit is the intersection of around four pieces of fabric, and adjustment to any of those at a single point necessitates adjustments to the rest, and even the fabric beyond that point. additionally, shirts are rarely built with the excess fabric at the seams that would be necessary to make significant alterations. finally, tailors who do not have a double-stitch sewing machine will be unable to create seams similar to those of the original shirt (most shirts use double stitching to fuse their panels.

[kin670]

You definitely can alter an armhole on a shirt. I do it all the time to my own shirts. It is not even that hard. I use a lock-stitch like most prestigious shirt makers.