Taren was waiting outside the door of ATL Tailor when we opened one morning this April. He told us that we was supposed to appear at his friend’s wedding as the best man in roughly five hours, but he had just realized his suit didn’t fit him. He needed rush alterations done, and he needed them done more quickly than the turnaround offered by most local tailors.
He explained that his wife had just given birth to a baby girl six months before, and he hadn’t had time to cook healthy meals or get a proper amount of excercise during the past year. Because of that, he had put on about 20 pounds and just couldn’t squeeze into the slim-fit suit he had been using for formal events like weddings since he was in his early 20s.
Also because of the constant craziness of having a newborn in the house, Taren had neglected to update his formalwear accordingly, and he was worried it was too late.
He breathed a sigh of relief, though, when head tailor Hong assured him that ATL prides itself on its fast turnaround times and that we’d be able to take care of the alterations in just a few hours.
We like to think ATL Tailor does the best suits anywhere, but we can also appreciate quality craftsmanship when we see it, and Taren’s suit was a beauty. A rich grey high twist plain weave wool material with an elegant golden lining, it was a smart casual garment perfect for a wedding. He told us he had it made during a trip to Bangkok, Thailand after college. Again, though, the issue was that it was made for an extremely slim man weighing 125 pounds, and Taren was closing in on 150.
You can learn about the rush alterations process in more detail in an upcoming post. In simple terms, though, we:
- Let out the seams a bit,
- Adjusted the waistband by releasing some of the fabric sewn into the band,
- Made small adjustments to the chest area by letting out fabric from the suit’s side seams.
We were able to finish the rush alterations in the time it took Taren to go grab a bubble tea at the cafe next door and spend a few minutes working on his wedding speech. Although speed was the order of the day, though, we didn’t compromise on quality and we were as happy with the new suit as he was.