Hi Guys

I need a second opinion about suit alteration. I have a tailor made suit and apparently the armhole is a bit low and when i open up my hands to the sides, the shoulder pads bulge up so much that it looks squarish and doesn't fit well on my body. Is this normal? Or is this because of the armhole and the shoulder pads are too big for me? I sent it back to the tailor and he told me that he can reduce the waistline of the suit but he can't do much on the shoulder and armholes as it's impossible to be altered. Is it true?

I tried on their ready made suit Size 48 (or 38), and it fits well overall and i like that sort of cutting (slim cut) but unfortunately the suit that i have is a one size bigger. Basically the tailor told me that he can't do much alteration to make it exactly the same as their ready made Size 48 that i've tried! The tailor just told me that they will try their best to alter it as much as possible for me but to be honest, I don't feel convinced for what he told me because i can't imagine how it will looks like after the alteration.

Do you think i should alter the suit to make it look slimmer on me or just sell it off and make a new suit instead? If i were to sell it off, where do you think i can find a potential buyer? Please help!


Thanks!

Thx for your reply. Actually I think it's my fault that during the fitting i didn't try moving my body with normal gestures but instead i kept standing still. During that time, my wife and i did highlight about the shoulder which looks a bit funny & big but the tailor assured us that it's ok once it's fabricated. So we trusted him and let him do all the measurements. I didn't tell the tailor what i expect because I though the tailor would be asking me questions on how i would like my suit to be. Instead he just measure my body and make the suit accordingly to fit my body. Since this is my first time making a suit, i thought he should know what should be done... so, i let him do his job.... Perhaps we didn't communicate well enough so that's why the outcome is not what i was expected!

I called up a few tailors to enquire about the alterations and many of them requested me to bring in my suit to let them have a look. I am not sure if i should do so since alteration from other tailors need extra cost but if i were to let my existing tailor to do it then it will be at no charge.

Since the suit is with the tailor now, I can't post any pictures of me wearing the suit. I can only post it this weekend when me and my wife go over to the tailor to discuss on this issue. So sorry for the inconvenience.

Do you think the armhole and shoulder can be altered? My tailor told me it's impossible.

Oh... in that case i think i have to put my bet on it again for the alterations required. This tailor shop is pretty commercialized and they have a new branch just opened in Bangsar, Telawi Street. It's de-catano... i guess the reason for me of not feeling assured and confidence is because the person who took my measurement is not the person who do the tailoring! This is my biggest mistake... I would have tried Lord's Tailor or Bespoked instead.. de-catano very much focus on selling their ready made garments, therefore they might unable to give me the personalized tailoring service that a detailed and picky person like me is looking for. I would have expect that it's not always perfect for our first suit...hence, i therefore participate in this forum to acquire others' comments about altering my suit.

So it's true that it can be done on the shoulder...hmm.. what about reducing the size of the armhole or bringing the armhole higher?

If de-catano would hesitate to do the necessary alterations (ie shoulders & armholes), is there any tailor that you know of who is willing to do the alteration?

I've decided to take back my suit from de-catano tomorrow and snap some pictures to post it here you guys to comment. Meanwhile, please help to suggest if I should sell it off at a low price or should i just alter it.

Thx so much!

Thx for your advise. I did my only fitting without much issue because the tailor told me it's perfect. He even told me that he can tighten the waistline a bit so that it has some body shape. As i asked him if i should tighten it more so that i will look slimmer, he told me no! Sigh! I guess i didn't do much research before i tailor my suit.... I shouldn't have trust him that it's perfect too. I didn't move my body much during the fitting because he asked me to stand still....so i did what he told. and i guess it's also a mistake to do exactly because i believed we have to move around like raising up our arms and do all necessary movements to make sure that it looks good in every gestures. So, as usual, the tailor told me that i should have raise all these issues during my fitting and now it's too late to alter it according to what i want since it's already made! so it's an expensive lesson and for that i will never go back to de-catano anymore since this is how they tailor made a customer's suit! i guess a ready made suit looks so much better on me than that tailor made suit! such a dissapointment...

Since the slimming part is only around the waist and not the chest, will it look awkward if i let them alter it?

It has nothing to do with how the tailor house operate their business because this is all about professionalism, workmanship and service level. If the suit looks good then the tailor himself would disagree with me when i bring back the suit to him to comment about the fitting of the suit! He himself was never even there to do the fitting of my vest and never showed up on the day i collected my suit... I did complaint that it doesn't fit me when i tried it on but so what, it's too late to complaint and nothing can be done at all! So, if i were them i would also tell my client the same thing - "It looks perfect on you!" Eventhough deep inside you know it sucks! I would say, this is just not the way a tailor should service their clients.

I think you should see it by yourself when i post the picture here soon. This might be my first tailor made suit but this is not my first time wearing one... like i said earlier, it's my mistake to trust someone whom i think i could trust! perhaps trusting your own taste and instinct is a fairer judgment. For those who intend to tailor made their suit, i suggest that you show them a picture of how u want to look in a suit instead of head over to the tailor and let the tailor do all the selling & bullshit. this will prevent all unnecessary misunderstandings and to avoid false expectations. I'm not saying all tailors are such jerks but there are some who think they know what they are doing professionally but in fact they know nuts!

Cool... I would drop by at Ah Loke Tailor & show him the suit later... Perhaps he would have some good advises for me. If alteration is not recommended, I would opt to sell it off and tailor made a new suit instead. I prefers to talk to the man who hands on the suit making process. Sales talk is a no no, not to me or anyone anymore i guess.

Hmm.. I would check out Bespoke too since i planned to have another suit soon. Thx!