What can be altered, and what cannot

Questions people ask

What can be altered on a suit?

Routinely: trouser length and waist, jacket sleeves within the cuff allowance, jacket waist at the side seams and centre back, shirt body through the sides, and tapering a trouser leg. Most of it takes two to three days; ask whether a simple job can be done sooner. Bring the garment and wear it, because work pinned on your body is work that fits. What decides the limit in every case is the seam allowance the original maker left inside the garment, which varies enormously and can be checked in about a minute by turning it inside out.

Can shoulders be altered?

Technically yes, and it is the one to avoid. The shoulder is where the sleeve, the canvas, the collar and the body all meet, so moving it means taking the jacket apart and rebuilding the thing that holds its shape. It costs more than most jackets are worth and never comes out quite as clean as a shoulder cut right. If a jacket is wrong in the shoulders when you are buying off the rack, walk away. The same logic is why a jacket that fits in the shoulders and nowhere else is usually worth altering, and one that fits everywhere except the shoulders usually is not.

How much can a garment be taken in?

One to two sizes is ordinary, at the side seams and centre back for a jacket, the back seam and sides for trousers. Beyond that it is proportion rather than cloth that stops the work: the pockets end up too close together and the armhole sits wrong, and the garment reads as a smaller size of a different suit. If you are close to that limit, bring the garment in and wear it rather than asking from a description: how far it can go is judged on your body, not from a size label.

How much can a garment be let out?

Only as far as the seam allowance the original maker left, which was decided long before you asked. Inlay varies by garment: one lets out a full size, the next barely moves. Turning the garment inside out answers it in about a minute, which is worth doing before you plan around it. Cloth that has faded can also show the old seam line once it is let out, which is most visible in dark cloth that has spent time in the sun.

When is an alteration not worth doing?

When the work costs more than the garment, when the cloth is worn or shiny at the seat and elbows, when a fused jacket is already bubbling at the chest, or when what you actually dislike is the cut rather than the fit. You will be told before any work starts. A shop that takes every job is not doing you a favour.

Can you alter a suit bought somewhere else?

Yes, and most of what comes in for alteration was bought elsewhere. It makes no difference to the work. Bring it in and wear it, or send a photograph on WhatsApp first if you want an answer before crossing Bangkok. Whether the jacket is canvassed or fused makes a difference to how well it takes the change, and that can be checked by pinching the front below the buttonhole and feeling for three layers.

How long do alterations take?

Two to three days for most work. Whether a simple job such as a trouser hem can be done sooner depends on what is already on the bench that morning, so ask. If you are flying out, say so when you hand the garment over rather than when you come to collect it. Ask what date you are being given rather than assuming the usual one.

What does an alteration cost?

It depends on the job. Bring the garment in, or send a photograph, and you get a number before any work starts. The order matters: a job quoted on the garment in front of someone is a real number, and one quoted from a description is a guess that can change when the garment arrives.