Should I have my clothes tailored now that I am svelte?

December 2, 2008 11:05 AM

Does it make sense to take in men's pants after significant weight loss?

With gentle loving prodding from my wife, I've lost a good deal of weight (50 lbs). Gotten into shape and intend to stay that way.

All of my pants are falling off of me. Between the casual, work-khaki casual, work and formal clothes that I've collected over the years we're talking up to about twenty five pairs of pants alone.

Given the economic situation, I haven't the means to go on a shopping spree, however, even though I am in IT, I do need fairly decent meeting type work clothes, khaki type casual work clothes and lying about the house clothes etc.

Hence, would it make sense to go to a tailor and have the best pants taken in? Or would that just not look right and cost more than new clothes themselves? Just by how many sizes can you take in clothes before they look like hand-me-downs from President Taft?

Essential info:
1. no clothes horse me, ergo, no fancy expensive pants
2. no clothes horse me, ergo, I have *no idea* what tailors charge for alterations
3. size 42 -> size 34/36 US so it is fairly substantial
4. Shirts too but one can get away with the "billowy look" with shirts.
5. Yeah and suits too

Otherwise they go straight to goodwill, and I will buy about four pairs of pants right now so people don't stare at me on the subway, and add two pair/quarterly which is maximum for affordability.

Extra credit: Should a tailor be an option, does anyone know of a decent one in New York - around Columbia area?

posted by xetere to clothing, beauty, & fashion (12 comments total)

Taking in a waist that much is not really practical, I'm afraid. I had it done on my suit pants (because it was still a perfectly good suit, dontchaknow), and now my pockets are in a really funny place.
posted by Comrade_robot at 11:15 AM on December 2, 2008

Congratulations on getting in to shape! My husband lost a similar amount of weight (30-40 lbs) right before our wedding, and our tailor urged us to forgoe taking all of his pants in - yeah, it might be slightly cheaper than buying new pants, but it just won't look right. As he put it, "You might as well just pay me to make all-new pants. That's basically what I'd have to do, except it's even more challenging to do it out of fabric that's already been cut up."

I love Goodwill, but in your situation you might consider selling your clothes, depending on the quality. You can take the suits to a consignment shop or do it yourself on eBay.
posted by muddgirl at 11:22 AM on December 2, 2008

What about buying some new clothes at Goodwill?

I lost about the same amount of weight. I bought new pants. Luckily I kept some of the old ones because I put most of the weight back on. (intend to stay that way. Heh.) Granted, I've re-lost most of the weight, but I'm glad I kept some of the old pants.

So, if you have, say, 25 pr. of pants, keep about 5, toss the rest to Goodwill (or sell on CL if you want), and pick up a pair of new pants every week or month or whatever you can afford.
posted by Doohickie at 11:30 AM on December 2, 2008

As someone who's lost precisely the same number of waist inches, I'd say go for new clothes. The only reason I can think you might want to do otherwise is if your existing clothes have some sentimental value or were very very costly.

I'm no clothes-horse either but I found that putting on clothes made for my new size was the first thing that really made me think 'hey, I feel really good about myself now'.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 11:31 AM on December 2, 2008

I've gone the other way (Put on 45 lbs). Wanna trade pants?
posted by Hash at 11:32 AM on December 2, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

First, congratulations. That's a fantastic achievement.

The red automaton is right. Tailors size pants down by taking material out of the seat and cutting the waist in the back. Put on a pair of the large pants and cinch them in the back to get an idea of how they will turn out. Moving the front pockets 3-4 inches back typically doesn't work. Because the cost savings are potentially great ($5-10 per alteration), it couldn't hurt to peruse your wardrobe for viable candidates especially among otherwise fitting suits. There are other ways to cut the pants down with better results, but they're exponentially more expensive.

When you're at Goodwill, I'd suggest taking a look at their selection. Lots of junk, but you'll probably find something worth buying.

Whatever you do, get rid of the unalterable fat pants. Stick to your guns: you will never need to wear them again! (On preview, respectfully disagreeing with Doohickie. Give yourself an incentive to keep the weight off: not buying more clothes.)
posted by GPF at 11:33 AM on December 2, 2008

Donate them!

All menswear, and especially large-size menswear is constantly needed by charitable groups, notably transitional-employment programs.
posted by jgirl at 11:54 AM on December 2, 2008

Don't alter them, I bet you were wearing pleated pants before and can now wear flat front pants.
posted by Jahaza at 1:47 PM on December 2, 2008

Given the economic situation, I haven't the means to go on a shopping spree, however, even though I am in IT, I do need fairly decent meeting type work clothes, khaki type casual work clothes and lying about the house clothes etc.

congratulations! now take the train downtown to soho and check out h&m and uniqlo—both stores have fairly stylish clothes that will fit your needs at affordable prices. don't just get pants, get shirts too, the billowy shirt look is neither flattering nor office-appropriate.
posted by lia at 2:11 PM on December 2, 2008

I'd also side with the new pants crowd. I lost closer to 40 pounds and had a little shopping spree. It's very likely you could find goodwill/thrift store pants that look better on you than any altered pants at less than half the cost.

You can, on the other hand, easily get shirts taken in for not that much money. I wouldn't try to get polo shirts or the like taken in, but if you have dress shirts you like, you can get those worked out pretty easily. I found that going from poorly fitting shirts to the proper size got everyone to notice all the weight I lost.

Oh and BTW, way to go!
posted by advicepig at 6:11 PM on December 2, 2008

After a 30 lb weight loss, I had several pants altered. The waists look fine, but the pant legs are voluminous. I use these pairs for casual wear now. The cost for altering waist and legs by a good tailor would have nearly equaled the price of new pants on sale. Ditto GPF: Cull the herd. Keep the alterable pants. Toss the clown pants.
posted by terranova at 9:49 PM on December 2, 2008

Thanks to you all, bags are in the hallway waiting for the trip to Goodwill.
posted by xetere at 12:01 PM on December 3, 2008