Trip to the tailor part two

About a month and a half ago, I wrote a post about taking a stack of sport coats to a tailor in order to get them in more wearable shape. Because of weather conditions, one of them (a thick lambswool number) only got worn a single time before it was put back into storage for the spring/summer, but another of the three has made several appearances (and should work through spring).

This particular piece was one that I actually found way back in the summer of 2011 (it definitely would have made my list), then wore once and promptly returned to the closet because I realized it didn't fit me as well as I would have liked. Alas, at the same time that I had a couple other sport coats fixed up, this one (sleeves lengthened and waist suppressed) was altered as well.

As with a fair portion of my favorite clothes, this piece doesn't have a designer label, but is instead from a regional shop, made in the days when there were a lot more small clothiers and quality items made in the United States. My guess is that it's actually an orphaned jacket (and what I would give to have gotten the pants and possible vest along with it!) and the through the magic of thrifting I was only able to acquire the one piece. It's made of a nice, medium-weight wool and features some nice detailing (including the ticket pocket), and filled a niche in my wardrobe, so I certainly can't complain.

On this particular occasion, I paired it with a white button-down, a vintage gold grenadine tie, a plain linen pocket square, some darker chinos, and my trusty Florsheim ankle-boots. Kind of a disparate mixture, but nothing was too outlandish in color, so it didn't feel awkward.

As with the previous piece, the tailoring results on this jacket were nice enough that I've piled up another batch of items to take in and have worked on (including this beast). More results will be forthcoming.

Trip to the tailor

Although I've been lucky (and persistent) enough to find a solid rotation of clothes that fit me well at thrift stores, I've also been known to purchase things that are close, but not quite there. What usually happens is that they stack up in corner of a rack somewhere until I get off my butt and get them altered, and that doesn't always happen immediately.

About nine months ago I made a post with pictures of a sport coat that I picked up that I liked quite a bit. Made entirely of rough silk, the navy/off white herringbone pattern goes with a lot of different combinations, and adds a subtle texture to just about everything. When I put the sport coat on that day, it felt a little bit boxy, and despite getting a nice compliment on it at work, the photos in the aforementioned post made me realize that it needed a bit of work.

After an alteration that I was less-than-flattered with at another tailor, I grabbed a stack of three things and took them to a fellow in town who had been recommended to me by two others. In total, there were three sport coats, two of which I had brought in at the waist, and all three of which had sleeve adjustments.

The aforementioned herringbone sport coat came back, and I immediately felt better when I put it on. I didn't have it aggressively brought-in, as I have a tendency to pop a v-neck sweater on sometimes under just about everything, but the fit is enormously better.

Here they are side-by-side, just for good measure. With the alterations, this coat has gone from an afterthought in the back of my closet to one of my favorites. Considering what I paid for the changes (roughly $35*), I'd say it was worth every penny.

Oh, and yes, those are red suede bucks down there.

*$35 is just an estimate, as my total bill for all three pieces came out to just under $80. This cost was about 60% of what I figured I was going to have to fork over, but when the the tailor that I took them to (an older Greek gentleman with a small paper full of chicken-scratched numbers) told me the price, I happily paid and didn't even ask for price breakdown. Needless to say, he'll be getting a lot more of my future business.

Thread through the needle and the needle on the record

Over the course of the past two weeks, I've been easing myself back into doing some sewing. I took a class in high school ages ago, but other than repairing some buttons on a couple shirts, I hadn't picked up a needle and thread in earnest for quite some time.

My goal was to start out simple, and with that I decided that re-hemming pants would be the way to go. I have a stack that I've collected over the course of the past six months or so that needed work, and finally decided to wade in.

Bonus points to the first person to recognize the record at the front of the stack :)

This is the area that I've set up in the corner of one of our bedrooms, and it works out pretty well. I have a portable Crosley record player off to the side of my desk and a stack of LPs leaning against a chair (where I sit a glass of wine and a glass of water). In starting back at it, albums have worked best for me simply because my hands aren't used to the acute motions of moving the needle and thread in such a focused way. It's good to have the small breaks of flipping the record over every 25 minutes or so to re-focus my eyes and wiggle my fingers a bit.

Vintage emerald green Izod Lacoste pants is just the start

The stack of pants on the table represent, from top to bottom, the level of difficulty at which I plan on progessing. On the top are 6 pairs of pants to re-hem, of which I've already finished 2.

Below that are 4 pairs of pants that fit my waist perfectly, but are far too short in the inseam. I plan on cutting them off and making them into nice pairs of shorts for next summer, if for no other reason than it will hopefully break me out of my self-conscious habit of never wearing shorts, no matter what the temperature.

At the very bottom of the pile is a great pair of pants that require what will be a fairly large alteration in that they need the waist taken in approximately 2-3 inches. They're absolutely beautiful pants that I got for a song ($1), so I figure I'm not out much if I screw them up, and I can always take them to a real tailor if I still want to try to wear them.

(I know I mentioned in my last post that I was going to launch a new feature this week, but it's going to have to wait one more week, as it requires me taking a few photos that I haven't gotten around to yet. It'll happen soon, I swear.)