There’s an obvious but often overlooked way to have a better relationship with your clothing: You need a tailor.

Modern clothing sucks. There are many reasons (check out the Clotheshorse Podcast for more info), but shoddy fabric and poor construction are often to blame. Even when you find well-made clothing in a fabric that will last, it usually doesn’t fit correctly. Waistbands gap, hems are in strange places, and garments just… hang weirdly.

Regardless of quality, each clothing brand has an individual “fit model,” which is the imaginary person they’re designing for — a specific idealized shape in a medium size. (You could call this a “base size.”) One brand will design clothing for a 5’5″ woman who wears a C cup and has a 10″ difference between her waist and hips, and another will design for a 5’7″ woman with a B cup bust, broad shoulders, and an 8″ difference between waist and hips. The first line may base its medium on a straight size 8, grading down to a 0 and up to a 16. The other may use 12 as their base size and grade down to a 2 and up to a 20. The same body shape is represented at every dress size. But YOU may not share that body shape, even if the garment is the correct size, so it will fit oddly.

(By the way, in case you think I’m only talking to people who identify as women, men’s brands are sized in the same way. Companies design for a specific body shape and grade up and down from this base size, so don’t imagine they have a better system. It’s the same general model. We’re all in the same boat, regardless of gender expression. Even clothing lines designed for nonbinary people — and there are a handful — still mainly determine sizing this way.)

So what are you supposed to do? Only wear the one or two brands closest to your shape? How do you even figure that out? What if you’re a different size on top than on the bottom? (I’m in that boat myself!) Do you need to wear shapeless sacks and constantly hitch up your ill-fitting jeans forever??

No, friends! You need a tailor.

Of course, not every modern clothing dilemma can be solved by finding a decent tailor. But a lot of them can! Should you take a tank top to the tailor to shorten its straps? I mean, you CAN. But, according to an online review I read of my actual tailor, you may suffer some sticker shock when you discover that it will cost $25 to do so, which was apparently 5 times the amount the disgruntled customer paid for the offending top. Yeah, tailors make a living wage. Go figure. So, no, it won’t do you much good to tailor your latest ill-fitting fast fashion mistake. It’s pricey, and most fast fashion garments will wear out too quickly to make it worth the investment.

But long-wearing items like jeans and dress shirts? Absolutely tailor those! Suits, formal wear, or any investment piece you will wear for years to come — all of these garments are great candidates for tailoring. It isn’t cheap, but consider the alteration cost part of your clothing expense. I personally include the cost of tailoring in my clothing budget, so it’s already factored in. (Although I sew, I don’t enjoy making alterations on ready-to-wear clothing. I’d rather pay a professional who will do a better job than I would.)

A tip for tailoring success: Buy a garment to fit your largest and longest measurements, as most ready-to-wear clothing can only be taken in or hemmed shorter. That’s logical, right? You can’t add fabric that isn’t there. Also, try to stick to long-wearing, sturdy fabrics. Once you go to the effort to have a garment tailored to fit, it becomes an “investment piece,” so you want it to last.

I know that not everyone is as clothes-obsessed as I am, but everyone, aside from the occasional nudist, has to wear clothing — and even the nudist has to wear something when they go to town for groceries. Why not wear well-fitting clothes that you don’t have to constantly adjust? The first time you put on a tailored pair of jeans when you’re used to pulling them up all day is a revelation of comfort. Because it’s not just about looking good. Having clothes that fit correctly is also about feeling good. Emotionally, sure — you might feel more confident. But also physically. Don’t underestimate the impact of not having to constantly fuss with ill-fitting clothing. It’s relaxing!

Do yourself a favor and find a tailor. You won’t regret it!

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• That’s right, I’m back with clothing content! It says “well-dressed” right there in the header, so don’t pretend you had no warning, LOL.
• I plan to include a book recommendation or two in each newsletter from now on. This week, I recommend Starter Villain by John Scalzi. I mean, John doesn’t need the boost (this book is a bestseller and has already been picked up by Paramount for development), but you may not have read it yet. I think you should! I don’t want to spoil anything, but you’ll come for the cats and stay for the dolphins. It was the most fun I’d had reading a book in a long time. Highly recommend!
• As you know, I’m not a single-genre reader, so my second pick this week is entirely different. Last weekend, I finished Dweller on the Threshold, an indie horror novel by Skyla Dawn Cameron. I really enjoyed it! It’s a unique take on the standard haunted house formula and a real page-turner. I bought it specifically because I saw a post on Bluesky that assured prospective readers that the cats don’t get hurt. I was like, “Sold! Sign me up.” It was creepy, a little wry, and had an intriguing supernatural twist. (And yes, the cats, indeed, were fine.) I’m glad I took the chance!

Okay, that’s more than enough. Have a great weekend!