Finding Your Perfect Fit

"Girl, you are wearing that dress," an acquaintance of mine exclaimed.

"Oh, thanks," I said. And I'm always quick to give credit where it's due. "But I only look this cute because of my tailor, Mimi."

"You got that tailored?" Her surprised tone revealed she didn't use one on a regular basis.

"Sweetie, I get most of my clothes tailored."

Now that isn't bragging. It's more of a necessity, really. Because at 5'2,  a cross between an apple and a whimsical rectangle, nothing fits me perfectly. The tailor is my best friend.

When I was younger, I would look in the mirror and hate myself for not fitting into the clothes I wanted to wear. But then I got smart and realized I was looking at the problem all wrong. Rather than seeing my body as the problem, why not blame the clothes instead? If I could change the clothes, then I'd fix the problem altogether.

Enter my tailor. It took a couple of tries but I finally found Mimi.

Now, most people don't use tailors and that's crazy to me. They think it costs too much money and instead they opt to either returning the clothes that don't fit them perfectly or buy dozens of cheaply made clothes that break down after three washes.

See, I'd rather take that money I'd spend on those poorly made clothes and put it into fixing a wool sheath dress. I insist that all women find a tailor. Stop going through the clearance rack for yet another t-shirt and spend the money on a good closet staple like a little black dress, or a crisp white button down shirt, or jeans. It's crazy to expect that clothes would fit every single woman perfectly when all of us have different curves. I mean, that's the truth. We have apples, and pears, and hourglasses. If there was something that fit all those body types, I assure you it's made with stretchy fabric like rayon or that weird scuba material and it's not going to look right.


My tailor, Mimi, has rescued so many dresses from being donated to Goodwill. There was nothing wrong with them, they just didn't wear right on me.  Something tugged or pulled or seemed drab. But she altered a hemline here, loosened a stitch there, and suddenly the dress I hated became the dress I loved. One by one, my clothes started to have their makeovers and I was amazed at what a difference tailoring made for their fit.

Clothes that fit you as if they were made for you  (which they were) make you look sooooo much better than ill-fitting clothes. Not only does it look better, people think you paid more than you did because the fit is so on point.

Here are a couple of things she's fixed. They're mostly dresses because I wear a lot of dresses.

-Dress that hurt my armpits b/c it armholes were too small. I have always had huge upper arms. I like to think it balances out the huge boobs. But anyways, she fixed it and widened the arm holes and now the dress is super comfortable.

-Dresses that went below my knees. I'm so short that I need every bit of leg I can get. Mimi has to alter most of my dresses to my knee or an inch above my knee (if I'm feeling fiesty). She saves me from looking like an OompaLoompa.

-Jeans that were too loose on me. Or too long. Or made me look like I was wearing a diaper. She made thirty dollar jeans look like two hundred dollar ones.

-Dress that was one size too small. Yes, the woman managed to make me fit into it. It was on clearance and I loved the dress but they didn't have my size and I thought I'd lose weight and fit into it. Two years later, nope. But I was desperate. I didn't want to give it away. I went to her and she said she'd add material to the side panels (because it wouldn't zip past the waist) and when I came back a week later, it fit and I hugged her and to this day believe she performed a miracle.

-Dress that was TOO short. Yes, short. She unhemmed the hem and found an extra two inches of fabric to make the dress workplace appropriate.

Look, I like a good bargain. I do. But I'm also sick of bulging closets filled with clothes that disintegrate after the second wash because they're made from crappy materials.

Buy yourself a nice dress. Buy a size up. Go to the tailor and let them fix it so that it fits you perfectly. I'm telling you, the investment is worth it and you'll find yourself falling in love with your fashion sense all over again.