Thread by @Delafina777

oh hey it's time to talk about why so many clothes look bad on all of us again and sizing and all that jazz

So maybe you've been sitting here wondering why even people on TV who DON'T have Ideal American Body Types manage to look better than you do, even in t-shirts and jeans, and you've been beating yourself up about why your body is "wrong"

Look me in the eyes. LOOK AT ME.

There is nothing wrong with your body.

Those people have their clothes tailored.

Tailoring is magic.

So as a young mother, my grandma, back in the 1950s and 1960s, used to take in sewing work to make a little extra money.

Until her eyesight went, when we went to visit her, we'd bring the new clothes I'd gotten, especially pants, and she'd alter them.

And then her eyesight went and she stopped sewing riiiiiight as I was a teenager and suddenly my clothes didn't fit as well

and being a teenage girl with a fatphobic mom, I naturally assumed that suddenly having curves was the problem

and it wasn't until literally like a DECADE+ OF MISERABLE CLOTHES SHOPPING LATER that I stumbled across a Tumblr post and had my mind blown.

The original's gone, but you can read a reblog of it here:

aliahatch.tumblr.com/post/139726599…

So until the 1930s/1940s, women who couldn't afford a dressmaker made most of their clothes at home.

When mass-produced clothing started being a thing, manufacturers tried to standardize it, and left big seam allowances so women could tailor it to fit at home.

I can't find the source I had at the time, but I was reading a thing that said that mass-produced clothing was originally designed to be a little boxier-shaped than would be flattering because the expectation was that women would take it in to fit their body at home.

(I wonder if that ended up interacting with the "boyish" shape for fashion models that eventually became the norm.)

Are you ready to be furious? Read this article about the history of women's clothes sizing:

seamwork.com/magazine/2016/…

So okay, this happened:

"In 1939, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a yearlong study titled Women’s Measurements for Garment and Pattern Construction. "

And maybe that doesn't sound so bad. However, one of their first ideas was that women shopping for clothes should state their weight to be given the correct size.

As dystopian as things are, at least we were spared that.

also they only measured white women to try to figure out which measurements were important for mass-producing clothing for the entire country and to standardize sizing

so, you know, racism is literally in OUR CLOTHES SIZING

But anyway, mass-produced clothes actually aren't designed to fit you well.

sooo those people on tv? whose clothes look good on them?

well, the author of that now-deleted blog post learned a lot of this because they had a friend who got a free consultation with a celebrity stylist

here's what he told her:

"He said that what they do is ignore the actual size numbers on the tags, find something that fits an individual’s widest place, and then have it completely altered to fit..."

"That’s how celebrities have jeans that magically fit them all over, and the rest of us chumps can’t ever find a pair that doesn’t gape here or ride up or slouch down or have about four yards of extra fabric here and there."

So, the good news in all of this is that if you spend some time looking, you can probably find a neighborhood seamstress. Like, you can also have alterations done at dry-cleaning shops and professional tailors, and if you can afford a professional tailor, congrats!

Those places tend to be kinda spendy (I spent $40 to have a dress shortened by a few inches, and my eyes practically fell out of my head when I got the estimate), but it might be worth it for something like a pair of pants you wear a lot.

But also if you check places like Nextdoor and Facebook marketplace and Craigslist and all that, you might be able to find the best thing in the world, which is a neighborhood seamstress.

Or seam-person--I'm sure not all of them are women.

Anyway, there's usually someone in the area who sews well and has a side-hustle of taking in repairs and alterations.

These people are local treasures.

They're usually way more affordable than professional tailoring shops or dry-cleaner alterations.

And I imagine, the economy being what it is, that more people are doing that sort of work right now.

Soooo if you have a little extra money right now, it might be a really good time to find your local seamstress and take the clothes you like to get custom-tailored, so that when we all do get to go back to work/in public/etc. you look great and feel good about your clothes.

(I need to push myself to take my own advice, since I moved right before the pandemic and have not gone looking for a seamstress in this area.)

Here's an article about alterations with some really helpful links:

recoveringshopaholic.com/2013/09/13/use…

Here's a post that talks about 34 types of basic alterations and what they do:

debbieroes.com/2012/08/30/pow…

Here's a brief post by a style consultant that identifies the easiest (and therefore, likely, most inexpensive) types of alteration and what body/shape features they help with to help you get the most bang for your buck.

insideoutstyleblog.com/2013/08/which-…

Like one of the things my grandma did that made a WORLD of difference was adding bra loops to sleeveless dresses (to keep your bra straps under the dress straps).

It's really simple--if you can sew on a snap you can do it yourself.

Another big one is, if you're a person with a fuller bust, adding snaps between the buttons of button-down shirts to keep them from gapping.

If you've got a sewing machine (IF YOU SEE A SEWING MACHINE AT A THRIFT SHOP, GRAB IT) and want to learn how to do some basic alterations for yourself, here are a few tutorials:

learning-alterations.com/how-to-do-alte…

Here's a Craftsy class you can take (it's not free, but a month's subscription is $7.99) on plus-size fitting:

craftsy.com/class/plus-siz…

And here's a Craftsy blog post with some pointers about how to understand and use your measurements to make your clothes fit better:

craftsy.com/post/taking-me…

Here's a post on how to identify what clothes are good candidates for alteration and what to do with them:

puttingmetogether.com/wardrobe-from-…

Here's another Craftsy course on tailoring ready-to-wear clothes:

craftsy.com/class/tailorin…

Here's a whole blog with really helpful posts on this stuff, ranging from the basic (how to open pockets, what to tailor) to the more complex (tailoring a fitted shirt):

alterationsneeded.com/category/style…

And for those who wear gentlemen's shirts, here's a primer on the "pinch and pin" method of tailoring your shirt:

instructables.com/How-to-tailor-…

anyway, while we're all still waiting for a vaccine, maybe treat yourself to some clothing alterations that will make you feel pretty/handsome/sophisticated/swanky/etc.