Tips on purchasing, tailoring and caring for suits

Wearing a suit is one thing, looking stylish in one is a whole different story. Even if you don’t wear one everyday, at some point every working women will have to, even if it is just to interview.

First, tailoring makes a huge difference. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times a client hasn’t needed a suit tailored before she wears it, and I have been in business for 12 years.

Even the smallest of alternations, like a tiny hem on the sleeves, skirt or jacket can make a huge difference. Suits are investments; spend a little extra money to make sure they look good. Even the cheapest of suits can look expensive when they are tailored well.

Dry clean your entire suit together each and every time, even if you don’t wear both pieces all the time. Dry cleaning all the pieces of your suits together are crucial in keeping the color and look of them consistent.

Let’s say you have a pair of pants that you often wear alone without the jacket. If you dry clean those pants more often, in time, the pants and jacket won’t match any longer.

Speaking of dry cleaning, don’t do it too often. Dry cleaning isn’t great for clothes and should be done as sparingly as possible. You can wear a suit multiple times before you have to drop it off to be cleaned. One tip that I suggest is keeping a steamer in your home to release some of the natural creases created in your suits from wear and to freshen them up.

Dry clean first, then tailor. Admittedly, I don’t always follow this rule with my clients. If a client buys a suit and needs just a few alternations we will have the in-house seamstress at the store come in and do the alternations.

However, it can happen that a suit will shrink a bit during its first dry cleaning and you may notice that the hems of your pants have shortened a bit. This is why some people believe in dry cleaning and then doing alterations like hems to guarantee the length stays right.

Unlined pants are more expensive to construct than lined ones. I bet you didn’t know this fact. It actually costs a manufacturer or designer more money to make a pair of pants without lining than with.

I always chuckle when a client tells me how the pants she is wearing are so luxurious because they are lined.

Here’s the truth: when pants are unlined it costs more money, labor-wise, to cleanly finish all the seams versus just dropping a cheap acetate lining into the pants.

Additionally, pants that can be unlined and comfortable are typically in top quality fabrics that won’t itch on the skin unless you have an allergy. Now, does this mean that you shouldn’t wear lined pants?

No, not at all. Some women feel more comfortable in them and many designers just line their pants because of the preconceived notion that they are more expensive. However, don’t discount a gorgeous pair of pants because they aren’t lined. They’re actually well made.