The Power of Tailoring

The ‘Devil is in the Details’, so the idiom goes. There is a power in attending to the tailoring with your wardrobe. It shows that you care about how you look, and people will be attracted to you and your business.

Here are a few of my Top Tailoring Tips:

  • Narrow the sleeves — very often, the sleeve on a suit jacket is cut generously and can make you look heavy and bulky. Slimming down a sleeve will give you a sleeker silhouette instantly.
  • Jacket collar – make sure it lays flat and there is no gap-O-sis where the collar is standing away from your neck, as if you left the hanger inside the jacket.
  • Button blouse/jacket — If you can not button, then the garment is not the right size or cut for you. Better to go a size larger and alter to get a better fit

Pant length

  • Women: the back of pant hem should hit about one inch from bottom of heel.
  • Men: the back of your pant hem should be at the top of your shoe heel.
  • Waistbands — should fit comfortably. You should be able to get at least 2 fingers in waistband.The waistband is an easy fix for a good tailor. Fit your largest area first and foremost, then alter the rest of the pant or skirt.
  • Crotch creases – one of my biggest pet peeves is to have fabric bunch up in the crotch area. It looks simply…bad. Not an easy alteration to fix, but it can be done by an experienced tailor. My suggestion… is to try another brand of pants.
  • Sleeve length — don’t think this one will not go unnoticed if your sleeves are too long. Looks unpolished. The wristbone area is a good spot for the ladies while men should make sure at least 1/2″ of shirt cuff shows beneath the jacket sleeve. If there is a lot of detail on the edge of sleeve,it may require the sleeve to be removed and shortened from the shoulder cap. Can be a bit expensive, but worth it to keep the detail intact.
  • Side pockets on pants/skirt — Have them sewn shut if they wing out on the sides. It will make your hips look slimmer.
  • Skirt length – IMO the perfect length is right blow the knee where the leg curves.SEXY SPOT. In the back, the skirt would be right in the knee crook.
  • Shoulder fit — the shoulders should be balanced and be straight without pull.The garment is definitely too tight if pulling happens between the shoulders, and you will eventually rip the seams. Better to go up a size and alter waist and sleeve etc. if those areas are too big.
July 29th, 2010 Posted to larconsultants, lori ann robinson, skirt lengths, tailoring tips | Comments (0)

The Perfect Cardigans

I lovey-love cardigans. I love them all year round.
Cardigans in the Summer? “You must be kidding”, you say! Well yes! even in the Summer there are really light weight sweaters that feel like tissue. The new August 2010 issue of InStyle did a 2 -page spread on cardies.

I know how we women of a certain age get about showing off our arms. Cardies are the perfect camouflage clothing items. Even if you wear over your shoulders, you can artfully drape to cover your upper arm. Just leave the sweater unbuttoned and tie the sleeves( if it is a long sleeved cardigan) around your shoulders. Casual,carefree look, and it is doing a concealing job to boot!

The cardigan is the perfect thing to wear over a tailored sleeveless dress to work. You will certainly look professional.

My all time fav’s are from J.Crew. The best choices are online. The J Crew stores never have the complete selection. So I suggest going in the store to try on the basic style to figure out your size. Ordering is sooo easy on the J Crew web site.

Here are some of my favorites

July 22nd, 2010 Posted to cardigans, JCrew, lar consultants, lori ann robinson | Comments (0)

Tips for Wearing Clothes "Off the Rack"

Image consultants work with all body shapes and sizes, and what I know to be true—- is off-the-rack seldom works without alterations. Sometimes the cut isn’t quite right for a body type, but often garments, expensive or not, have flaws that can be repaired by a good tailor. You need to be a discriminating buyer.

Watch for these off-the-rack problems so you can fix what is fixable and pass on garments that do not meet ‘dressing for success’ standards.

  1. Uneven or too-long sleeves: tradition dictates the sleeve ends at the bend in the wrist but if you have about 1/2″ longer, you’re well within acceptable limits. For men, a long sleeve dress shirt should show 1/2″ below the jacket sleeve
  2. Professional skirt lengths should be right below your knee at the curve. If you want shorter, keep it at mid-knee and not above.
  3. Women’s pants lengths should be 1/2″ to 1″ off the ground from the bottom of the heel with a nice break in the front
  4. Billowing sleeves add 10 pounds, so have the sleeves narrowed for a quick fix
  5. Bulky ‘armseye’ area makes the fabric bunch up under your armpits and around your bust and adds width where we don’t want it. These problems can be repaired but you need an expert tailor to get it right and this repair is very expensive
  6. When buying a jacket fit your largest area first, and then have the rest of the jacket altered. This can be costly so be sure the jacket is worth the investment. Fewer well fitting jackets are preferable to many poorly fitting jackets
  7. If the back of the jacket is too long, or if there’s a bubble back there then you’ll need to raise the shoulders. This is a major alternation that may not be worth it for you

Here are some other tricks for making that off-the-rack look like a custom fit.
1. Unless you want to add 10 lbs,your clothes should skim your body rather than be tight or too big
2. Check your rear view to avoid saggy, baggy or too snug skirts and pants
3. Have your clothes adjusted in length, especially if you are vertically challenged. Nothing should say “please-don’t-buy-that”,faster then the wrong proportions on your frame.
July 15th, 2010 Posted to how to wear clothes off the rack, image consultants, lar consultants, lori ann robinson | Comments (0)