I have recently dropped enough weight that the six suits I own do not fit me well enough to wear in public outside of a well-dressed clown convention. I’ve been hoping that I could continue to lose weight and level off sometime before some trials I’ve got scheduled for March of next year. However, it turns out I’ve got a two-day hearing to attend next week, so I can’t wait.
I’ve done some shopping, and it looks like I’ve gone from a size 50 jacket (one is a 52) down to something midway between a 48 and a 46 (neither looks quite right on me, although my wife thinks the 46s are closer). I’ve bought a couple of emergency suits in the meanwhile, but I’m still contemplating taking my “old” suits (which are relatively new, and which I’m rather fond of) to a tailor for resizing. The existing suit pants, of course, are 44s, and I’m now wearing size 40s.
I’m wondering whether this is a worthwhile endeavor. My wife and the internet have told me that the amount of work in going down a size-and-a-half or more, particularly in the jacket, is tremendous (especially with fixing the shoulders), and that the results still might not be all that favorable. But if it can be done for $100 per suit or so, that’s still preferable to me to having to replace my entire closet of suits.
So what are your thoughts? Please share your experiences. I live in LA, so I don’t have any concerns about finding a top-quality tailor, but I assume they’ll come with top-quality prices, too. So if they can do it, is it going to cost me a fortune?
Done a similar thing and the suits that I had made by a tailor were no dramas. The mass produced ones I didn’t have much luck particularly with the jackets due to the gluing or bonding process used.
Don’t waste your money on the old suits. A very good tailor will do his absolute best and the over large suit will still look terrible on you and you’ll have spent a bunch of money on an ill fitting suit that you’ll never wear again if you keep the weight off. You are better off putting the money into a new suit. It’ll have the advantage of fitting, looking more up to date, and you deserve the reward for losing the weight.
My experience wasn’t so good. My suit jacket ended up looking weird, which is the best way I can describe it.
I did go to a random tailor and it was an off the rack suit jacket. So a good tailor with a decent suit jacket might work. I’m curious about the answer myself.
Echoing those who said “no”. As a general rule, resizing a suit rarely works out. Basically they have to take the entire thing apart and put it back together. But it will still look weird because it’s still a size 50 cut suit sewn back together as a size 46.
Not to mention that the original suit you purchased was sized for what is probably a different body type.
So basically you’ll look like a giant man-sized kid wearing his dad’s suit.
Also, you mentioned needing it for next week. I don’t think most tailors can turn a job like that around that quickly anyway. Just getting my pant hems taken up takes a week.
If you really need a suit but you are still in the process of loosing weight, I would just buy a single suit from Men’s Warehouse or Today’s Man or whatever discount men’s retail clothing store is near you. You can usually get one for a couple hundred bucks.
I lost about 40 pounds over a couple of years, and found myself faced with a similar problem.
So far I’ve only tried it with a blazer that I really liked, at a tailor that my wife’s grandmother recommended highly*. It cost $75, and I guess it worked out. The one thing she was not able to do was retain the vent in the back - the resized jacket is ventless.
But it does fit, and I think it looks all right (certainly better than the clown outfit that it had become!). I wear this thing (or any kind of suit or jacket) pretty rarely, so I believe I’ve only worn it once since having the alteration done some six months ago.
I have a one other blazer and a suit that are potential candidates for a similar treatment, but so far I haven’t felt like doing it. The resized blazer and a (much) older suit that I shrank to fit (again) are serving me just fine on the rare occasions such attire is needed.
I believe the OP is from SoCal: Vil’s Fashion and Design in Long Beach
When I used to wear suits I’d buy big, get them tailored initially, and over time at least once more because they used to shrink for some reason. It was worth the cost. I didn’t get them done where I bought them, I’d go to an independent tailor, but I think there’s less of those now.
My experience was, the pants came out okay, but the jacket didn’t work right. Maybe a really good tailor with a lot of time and several fittings could have gotten every single thing right, but that’s more of a theoretical judgment than a practical one.
I appreciate all the feedback. I don’t think I’m interested in spending a lot of money for something that might not even work well. Looks like it might be time for a sizable donation to Goodwill.
Well,in my opinion it is quite difficult to resize suits at any condition. When I buy suit for me then I always try to tailored suits instead buying already tailored suits. It quite comfortable for me and saves many bucks.