Everything you've ever wanted to know about your tailor

By Bharat G. Advani

JAKARTA (JP): Choosing to have a suit specially tailored in always preferable to being a slave to the fashion dictates of Paris, Rome and New York.

People have appreciated the art of tailoring for centuries. The tailored clothes in people's closets are subject to endless modifications but always include effectively expressed details.

It is worth noting for those who dress in Western style jackets and pants that cuts and tailoring are divided into four to five great schools. Even when trying to create a suit with personal style, a tailor is likely to produce a finished product bearing influence of one of the schools.

The "school" of a suit depends on how the shoulders is shaped. It may be padded or just natural, or it may be sharply or broadly angled, narrow and high, or low and sloping. Other influences include the suit's capacity to cling or adhere to the body, for which a jacket can be waisted or straight.

One of the schools is the English style. The English jacket tends to adhere to the lines of the body and is marked at the waist. The shoulders are soft. They have little padding. The armhole is usually cut quite high, and there are frequently two side vents. A single breasted jacket has two or three buttons.

The double breasted jacket, alone or in a suit, is more popular in the United States. The trousers usually have two pleats while the pockets are placed along the seams.

American fashion, another "school", has special characteristic styles. The shoulder is soft, slopes evenly and has little or no padding. Jackets almost always have three buttons, with only the center button fastened. Comfort has always been the imperative of American clothing. The armholes are wider than the English jackets and the back has only one vent. The trousers are always without pleats, and the fit down the leg is relatively tight.

The Italian school dominated by tailors from southern Italy is usually marked by jacket shoulders which are quite high, padded and sag a bit. Like jackets in the continental style, the Italian jacket clings tightly to the body and has a rather narrow armhole. The jackets usually have pockets without flaps and are ventless in the back. The pants are diagonally cut and have a low waist. Giorgio Armani can be credited with a revision in clothing style that over time has led to production of jackets with a looser, more casual fit and appearance.

The French school is derived from the style of Pierre Cardin in the l960s, who proposed a jacket with high and very long shoulders. The German school, on the other hand, has always been designed for comfort and durability. The shoulder of the jacket is low and natural.

The jacket within the boundaries of a particular school depends on the accessories, the cut of the lapel, or the number of buttons. The single breasted, with two or three buttons, fastens only in the middle, never the lowest. However, with particular jackets, the top two buttons can be fastened.

The most important pockets of a jacket are those on the side with flaps to prevent objects from accidentally falling out. There is also a pocket on the left breast that is used exclusively for handkerchiefs, and once used for glasses as well. In the case of the buttonholes, the highest button on a single breasted jacket with three buttons should be trimmed on both sides. Custom made jackets usually have unbuttonable buttonholes on the sleeves, even though they do not serve any purpose. They are however considered a sign of elegance.

Like jackets, pants can also be classified according to the particular styles of the cut adopted by various schools that produce the pants. The ironed-in pleat or fold was virtually unknown until the 20th century, probably because it served no useful function, as the pants earlier had elastic straps. It was only recently as pants became larger that the pleat became useful to give a neat and orderly look.

Tailoring

Understanding the preliminary phase of tailoring will help the buyer to explain his preferences to a tailor or the salesperson.

Tailors divide physical postures into four or five different ones. Therefore, if you are a bit overweight and have a poor posture, it is useless to stand with your shoulders back and stomach in just to impress your tailor. A sunken chest and curved back require a jacket with a bit more length in the back.

The key measurements for the jackets are the external circumference of the chest, the arms, the waist, the hips, individual height and the shoulder.

If the tailor does not measure your arms, it is a good idea to remind him as there is a difference in length between the left arm and the right arm.

The measurements of pants, taken with legs slightly apart, consist of the length of the inside and outside of the leg and also that of the waist.

Taking exact measurements is a rather difficult art. Clients are invited to try on the suit that best fits them, while the salesperson takes more precise measurements to calculate which additional modifications have to be made.

Fabric also plays an important role in rendering a figure more slender or robust. Dark and thinly striped materials help create impression of slimness. If the stripes are not thin, they will create exactly the opposite effect. Light or checkered materials with designs create an impression of weight and should therefore be avoided by heavier people. Thin people will benefit from double breasted jackets.

Short people should avoid long jackets. A sense of height could be enhanced by a higher waist or by having the pockets moved a bit higher up. In case of the lapels, widening the lapels is best suited for tall people. Nothing makes a jacket look more heavier than a jacket that cannot be buttoned because it is too tight.

One of the most delicate stages in the making of the jacket is the insertion of the lining and the interlinings. The most important elements of the interlining is made of canvas which is a hand sewn fabric or synthetic thermo adhesives which do not have to be sewn to the fabric to keep them attached. These garments are called front fused.

Sewing is today carried out by machine. But it is important that the armhole, the sleeve vent, the collar and the undercollar and the lower corners of the lining are hand sewn. Pressing is another important part of the preparation, entailing different types of intermediate procedures.

The making of trousers is simpler as sewing is virtually straight. The inside lining is very important in this case because it helps reduce contact between the skin and the front part of the trousers in order to avoid friction.

But should it be custom made or ready-to-wear?

In general, the tailor shapes the suit to fit the client within the bounds of the tailor style. The ready-to-wear, instead fits the clients to its production line. On the other hand, the tailor will require more fitting usually then the ready-to-wear, with the exception of final adjustments.

Before visiting a tailor, it is advisable to examine the type of work carried out for friends or acquaintances. One way of judging a good tailor might be to look the way he dresses himself. Clearly the personalization you get from a tailor is difficult to obtain with industrially manufactured garments. However, ready-to-wear suits can be more convenient.

Quality

What is that distinguishes a suit of high quality?

One of the most important answers is price; a tailor would take short cuts to produce less expensive garments. However, high price does not necessarily ensure good quality. Other indications of good quality suits would be the finishing of the buttonholes, the lining, and the buttons, which are more expensive if made of horn.

The interlinings are fundamental part of the jacket. The more a jacket is padded, the easier it is to shape it to the client therefore making it less comfortable. The lining is also important in determine the value of the garment, as a tailor first completes the garment and then applies the lining by hand.

Another way to determine quality is to examine the thickness of the seams and the mountings.

The best maintenance and care for the articles of clothing is to divide them according to their categories and uses. They should have enough space to "breathe" and be arranged to provide easy access.

The writer is an executive at Laksmi Tailor.