Alterations
Resizing a suit after your size has changed
Taking a suit in or letting it out after weight change. What the seam allowance permits, and what it costs to find out.
- 4.8 from 22 Google reviews
- Tailoring in Bangkok since 2011
01
Taking in
Taking a garment in is the easy direction, because you are removing cloth rather than finding it. A suit jacket comes in at the side seams and the centre back; trousers at the centre back seam and the sides; a shirt through the side seams. One to two sizes is ordinary. Beyond that the proportions start to fight you: pockets move towards each other, the armhole sits wrong, and the garment begins to look like a smaller size of a different suit.
For how long a resize takes once it is booked, how quickly alterations come back lists the times by job.
02
Letting out
Letting out is limited by what the original maker left inside the seams, and that is decided at the factory or the bench years before you ask. Some garments carry a generous inlay and will go out a full size or more; some carry almost nothing and will not move at all. Nobody can tell you which you have without turning the garment inside out, which takes about a minute in the shop. That check comes first in all suit alterations by the tailor: nothing is unpicked until it is made. Letting out also risks showing the old seam line in cloth that has faded.
03
How far it goes
A suit can usually be taken in further than it can be let out; the table shows how far each direction goes and what stops it.
| Direction | Usual range | Limited by |
|---|---|---|
| Taking in | One to two sizes | Proportion — pocket placement and armhole |
| Letting out | Nothing to one size, sometimes more | The seam allowance the maker left |
A suit cut here is a different case, because there is a pattern to work against — the pattern your numbers become.
The two directions are not symmetrical, and they are stopped by different things. Taking in is limited by proportion: move a side seam far enough and the pockets sit too close together, the armhole distorts, and the balance of the jacket goes with it. Past that point the garment is wrong in a way more work does not correct. Letting out is limited by something simpler — how much cloth the maker left inside the seams. That allowance is decided when the suit is made and cannot be added afterwards, which is why two jackets that look identical on the rail can behave completely differently on the table.
04
Will it show
Usually not, when taking in. Sometimes, when letting out, because the original seam line can have faded differently from the cloth beside it — and that is most visible in dark cloth that has spent time in the sun. A pressed seam hides a great deal. What will show, whatever is done, is a garment altered further than its proportions allow: that reads as wrong without anyone being able to say why. It is the limit, and it is the reason the answer is sometimes no.
Dresses answer this differently, because the cloth and the construction are not a suit’s. dress alterations covers linings, beading and delicate cloth.
05
Resize or replace
Resize when the cloth is still good and the shoulders still fit, because the shoulder is the one thing that cannot sensibly be altered — what can and cannot be altered says why. Replace when the shoulders are wrong, when the cloth is shiny at the seat or the elbows, or when the jacket is fused and separating at the chest. Bring it in and you will get a straight answer before any work starts, which is cheaper than finding out afterwards.
Our craftsmanship at the bench
Questions people ask
- Can a suit be resized after weight change?
- Usually by one to two sizes, decided by the seam allowance inside the garment. Taking in is the easy direction because you are removing cloth rather than finding it. Letting out depends entirely on what the original maker left, which is why nobody can answer it without turning the garment inside out. A suit cut here is a different case, because there is a pattern to work against rather than only a seam allowance, and the pattern itself is corrected rather than redrawn.
- Which is easier, taking in or letting out?
- Taking in, by a wide margin. Letting out is limited by the inlay and can also show the old seam line in cloth that has faded, which is most visible in dark cloth that has spent time in the sun. A pressed seam hides a great deal, but not everything. If you expect your size to keep changing, that asymmetry is worth knowing when you buy: a garment bought slightly loose has somewhere to go in both directions.
- Will the alteration show?
- Usually not when taking in. Sometimes when letting out, because the original seam line can have faded differently from the cloth beside it. What will always show is a garment altered further than its proportions allow: it reads as wrong without anyone being able to say why. A pressed seam hides a great deal, and on mid-tone cloth in a matt weave it is usually invisible. Very dark or very smooth cloth is the least forgiving.
- When should I replace rather than resize?
- When the shoulders no longer fit, because the shoulder is the one thing that cannot sensibly be altered. Also when the cloth is shiny at the seat or elbows, or when a fused jacket is separating at the chest. Bring it in and you will be told before any work starts, which costs you a visit and saves you the price of an alteration on a garment that was not worth it.
- Can trousers be let out at the waist?
- Usually, at the centre back seam, as far as the seam allowance the maker left inside allows. That varies from pair to pair and is checked by turning them inside out. Bring the shoes you wear with them, because if the length needs adjusting at the same time it is set against a heel height. Doing the waist and the length in one visit is also one job rather than two, which matters when the bench is busy.
- Does a suit made here resize better?
- Yes, because there is a pattern to work against rather than only a seam allowance. A garment cut to your own pattern can be altered back towards you with more confidence, and if your body has changed the pattern itself is corrected rather than redrawn. That is one of the quieter arguments for a drafted pattern: the suit is not only better fitted when new, it is more repairable five years later when your shape has moved.
- How long does resizing take?
- Two to three days for most of it. Several jobs on one garment take longer because they are done in order rather than at once, and anything structural, meaning shoulders, lapels or collars, is a different class of work again. Say at the counter if you have a date, because the order in which jobs reach the bench is the one part of the timing that can actually be arranged around you.
- Can you resize a dress?
- Yes. Waists, bodices, straps and hems are ordinary work here, with the same seam-allowance limits. Delicate cloth and beading slow it down, because beads come off by hand along a seam and go back afterwards, so say what the dress is made of when you ask about timing. A structured or boned bodice limits what can be moved without rebuilding it, which is why two dresses of the same size can get different answers.
4.8 from 22 reviews on Google
What a customer said
5 out of 5 stars
We stumbled upon The Loft Tailors getting off the sky train going to MBK. The price of the suit was very competitive and the craftsmanship was great. My son went to the fitting appointment and needed slight adjustment. When we came back to fit again it was perfect. They also are very fast.
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