How much $ to have a women’s wool blazer custom made?

[Anonymous]

I am spending too much time looking for blazers that fit me — petite with larger chest, size 12 tops. Even when I find a petite jacket, I still need to have the sleeves hemmed a bit.

I had a custom wool skirt made last year by a local tailor and loved it, but it was like $700. I feel like a blazer is going to
be much more expensive.

There is a Lafayette148 petite blazer that is $1100; trying to decide whether to get that and have it altered or have a custom blazer made. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

It seems that hemming a sleeve would be much cheaper than getting a custom jacket. I could hem a jacket sleeve myself, even it required moving a button (which most wouldn't).

[Anonymous]

I would buy and alter because yes a custom blazer will be super pricy.

If also probably experiment with other styles because while you have a hard-to-fit body for structured jackets you may have better luck with other options (sheath dresses, sweater jackets, silk blouses, etc.) where you don't have to deal with jacket closures at the waist which are so tricky with a big bust.

[Anonymous]

It's not that expensive if you already have an established professional relationship with a tailor/tailor studio. I usually make trips to NYC meet with my tailor and look at some fabric swatches/design ideas, then go back 1x for fittings. At this point my tailor knows my form so well he will mail me the finished items, unless it is a particularly new design/special event outfit, and then I'll got back for the final fitting.

[Anonymous]

Also petite and busty and spend loads tailoring store bought blasters to fit, and my main issue is that even then I am limited to petite options because you can’t alter where the curves hit enough to make a non-petite work. I shorten and narrow sleeves and in one case added a button to turn a one button into two. Would pay something like $600 for a custom blazer but probably not $1000. If I pay that I’m guaranteed to immediately spill coffee on it or something, or it won’t come out quite as expected and that will drive me nuts. I go to Christopher Kim in DC for blazer alterations and he’s amazing. Folks who make custom are the best for this but haven’t asked if he’d do a women’s custom blazer or how much would cost.

PP who do you use in NYC？

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. I used to go to Christopher Kim when I worked in that area of town; I am going to try him again.

[Anonymous]

I have two wool suits that I had made in Hong Kong. You can also get them made cheaper in Bangkok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two wool suits that I had made in Hong Kong. You can also get them made cheaper in Bangkok.

I used to consider this option as a future possibility because I love travel. To go to Asia for 7-10 days and make wardrobe renovation part of the goal. I would try that.

I have not done it because dress standards continue to fall at my F500 company. And my role does not require dressing up more than a few times a year. In fact, wearing nice sweaters with jeans is fine in the dead of winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two wool suits that I had made in Hong Kong. You can also get them made cheaper in Bangkok.

I used to consider this option as a future possibility because I love travel. To go to Asia for 7-10 days and make wardrobe renovation part of the goal. I would try that.

I have not done it because dress standards continue to fall at my F500 company. And my role does not require dressing up more than a few times a year. In fact, wearing nice sweaters with jeans is fine in the dead of winter.

I'm the PP who had suits made in HK. I had them made a long time ago, before my company's dress code relaxed. Now I mostly wear the parts of my suit, like I wear the jackets with jeans.

[Anonymous]

Do you think fancier dress for work will come back around?

[Anonymous]

I have a Herve Leger jacket I love - it’s falling apart, and you can no longer buy it (not even secondhand) -what would it cost to have a copy of it made? Any tailors in the DMV who could do this?

[Anonymous]

Worth the price of a ticket to Vietnam for the custom tailoring in Hoi An. You can get tons of custom-made clothes plus a wonderful vacation at the same time!

[Anonymous]

I'm petite but with athletic proportions, and I get something like 90% of my clothes tailored. I just took a bunch of stuff to the tailor, and it included sweats and a workout top. I love my kids to fit really well, and I'm willing to pay for that.

I've tried custom tailoring, but women's fashions change so frequently that it's really hard. I've had better luck buying designer clothes made of high quality fabrics and getting them altered. Unless you are getting the custom clothes from a designer, you might find you don't like the clothes you have made.

YMMV, of course. But I'm not super trendy, and consider my tastes to be "classic". Still, there is a difference between classic and frumpy/outdated, and that evolves faster for women than men.