Question: When not to alter? - YouLookFab Forum

Was just looking at Vix's thread and the results of her dress alterations - which were fantastic! I have a jacket out now being altered at Nordstrom. Anyways, the influence of my economist mom may be coming out. I was thinking... I think Vix's alterations equalled a third of the price of her dress. Mine are half the price of my jacket. I was wondering if there was a consensus, ballpark limit when the cost of an alteration is not worth it / when the reconstruction amounts to constructing a new dress and doing so would be easier.

Or I'll put it another way: If I buy a dress for $100, you know it didn't cost $100 to make it - unless I got it at a liquidation sale. If I make the dress a $200 one by adding a $100 in alterations, am I out to lunch? Can you figure out when the tipping point is reached by the floor price of a garment - between reconstruction and construction from scratch?

I've had seamstresses tell me when it's not worth it to alter a garment, but this current one wouldn't answer the question. I'm not entirely sure she understood me / had that much English.

12 years ago

catgirl

Veteran

I only alter items that I adore or that were expensive enough that they must be perfect. But have never done more than $40 of damage for anything. Its usually sleeves and hems. My style is less needing of tweaks as I'm not tailored and I scrunch anything I can.

Sarah A

If it is new I am not so sure, but i do try to follow the rule of not throwing good money after bad if it is a closet orphan for some reason unless I can very very cleary articulate what it would need to work and be fairly certain the alteration would take care of the not wearing it hang up issue. I try very carefully not to alter a dated item unless it is a sewing project I am doing myself to work on the learning sewing processes, and i am not concerned if the result comes out as desired or not.

Suz

(website)

It depends on your budget and your particular fit issues, and how much you need that particular garment, I would think.

So it would be tough to generalize. If you are easy to fit off the rack, aren't too particular, are happy with waiting for a while (i.e. it isn't an immediate need), etc. then maybe it doesn't make sense to alter except for simple hemming.

But if you're tough to fit, you need the item desperately, or it's something that is very difficult to find and a staple of your wardrobe, then I would say, alter away and #$*% the cost!

Gaylene

Much like Suz with these added thoughts. I'd be more leery of altering an outdated item or an orphan than something new. I also think it depends on how long you think you will keep the item. A coat, definitely; an inexpensive T, probably not; a classic dress, worth considering. And, from my own experience, I think altering usually gives more bang for the buck than custom made, odd though that might seem. Knowing you like the cut, design, and drape of a garment on your body is huge; with a custom made item, you don't get to know that until you are well into the process.

Anonymous

i think Suz summed it up well. if you are generally easy to fit then it's possible there is another alternative garment out there to go for; unless of course it is very unusual in style. i know you mentioned struggling with trousers in previous posts and having made them myself I know what a pain they can be to get right. Something like that is sometimes worth even getting made from scratch as the same pattern can be used over and over again once the first one is perfected. As for alterations I wouldn't pay any more than half the cost of a garment I don't think. Sale items are obviously a different matter.

rachylou

I've gone way over $40 getting things altered. I think I'm RATE not only because I'm hard to fit off-the-rack, but because my alterations always need to be extensive. So extensive, I really feel a need to question what I'm about. Like maybe I should reject some things because it's too much effort and it would just be better to start from a better starting point.

Ana

I get many of my clothes altered and I usually draw the line on "price of alterations" at "price of the garment" (price of alterations <= price of garment). So cheap items that probably won't last long, I don't spend a fortune in alterations on, but things that are high quality that I will have a long time I am willing to spend more on.

Gaylene - I have wondered about that. If alter things - well, you have fabric and design at the ready. If you get things made, you don't. And I have no idea how things work. When I was little and things were made for me, well I don't know... the dressmaker seemed to come with patterns. But I don't think things work like that now, or not for adults anyways.

Diane - that sounds kinda cool to me. Find my pattern and stick to it! But no, it's nice to have variations of something that works. For me anyways. And I really appreciate your input on what's worth the effort when it comes to alterations. If I'm paying more than half, having so much done to an item... I have to say, I ask myself whether or not I really like the thing.

Ana - That makes sense. I've tended to alter jackets (which I've been trained to do), dresses (which are very hard for me to fit), and the occasional trouser (but this has really depended on in-store availability of tailoring for me).

I don't know. I spent $20 to alter $10 wide legged satin pants into cigarette legs and wear them more now than I ever did. Of course, the overall cost was still low.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

You might find these posts helpful:

http://youlookfab.com/2007/08/.....rfect-fit/

K. Period.

My experience has been that the more extensive (and expensive) the alteration, the less likely it is to make an item work for me. I am always very happy with little tweaks (slightly shorten straps, hem to proper length, move buttons slightly, add a snap to keep a button placket from gaping), find medium complexity alterations are a grab bag (tapering can be great or horrible, depending on how well the tailor understands what he/she is doing; taking in the hips sometimes works, but more often not) and a bust for more expensive alterations (shoulders? don't even go there). I'm always happier waiting for an item that is so near a perfect fit that it just needs a minor tweak than making a major alteration to a piece.

Janet

I agree with Suz and K. I'm relatively easy to fit off the rack, but I usually require pieces to be taken up at the shoulders (short torso), sleeves removed, waists taken in, and occasional hemming (darn uneven legs). If a piece seems like it's going to require more tailoring than that, I just won't buy it.

Thanks Angie! Reading carefully right now...

Interesting K - your experience rather corroborates what Angie is saying in the blog post...

Janet - Pieces taken up at the shoulders? So that the arm hole is made smaller? Do you do that with sleeved items or only sleeveless?

And after reading Angie's alterations posts... ETA: Whoops. Cross your fingers. Because the jacket alteration currently happening is a narrowing one...

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