PSA: Get Your Clothes Altered

An Old Way to Battle Fast Fashion

I never got my clothes altered growing up. I also wasn’t as much of a consumer then as I am now, and I just wore whatever I had and whatever was given to me as it was. As an adult, I’ve started shopping waaaaay more than I ever thought I would. And, I’ve become aware of how those shopping habits are impacting the planet negatively.

I mostly buy clothes online, so I rarely get to try things on before committing. I’m also a bargain hunter, 90% of the time the stuff I’ve bought is on sale, and non-refundable. Result? I’ve gotten my share of clothes that kind of/sort of fit. At least enough to be wearable, but are nothing like what I’d imagine. I mostly wear them out of guilt for having bought them, and am constantly disappointed at how badly they fit me. So I made the simply choice get getting my clothes altered.

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What I Got Altered: the shorts

These were THE shorts. My mind could never dream up a more adorable pair of shorts if I spent a million years trying. They were going FAST on the sale, and they only had a size 8 left. No big deal, I’m usually a size 6 but I never buy shorts from Topshop in that size because my bum won’t fit in them, so a size 8 made sense. Right? Wrong. As soon as I tried them on, I realized they were a good few inches too big around the waist, but fit perfectly around the bum and thighs. The biggest issue was that they fell down to sit on my hips rather than hugging my waist, which made them look frumpy and misshapen. I only wore them a few times, and constantly had my hands in my pockets to hold them up.

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The dress

Looking through my closet, I found this beautiful pink satin dress that I had worn just once, to my history formal in second year. I had to tape my boobs up when I wore it because the chest didn’t fit right. Then, I loaned it to a friend to wear and she had broken the strap. Even though it’s perfect for a wedding, I couldn’t wear it with the beat up strap, and I’m over taping my boobs. Solution? Get. It. Altered.

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Result

I brought both my gingham shorts and my pink satin dress in to the seamstress and had them altered. I now have two pieces of clothing that fit me like a glove, and that I know I will love until the day I die. The shorts were taken in at the back and fit perfectly around my waist now, not too snug, but they don’t fall down anymore. It only cost $12 CAD to have them done, so all in all it cost me around $50 to get super stylish, perfect fitting gingham shorts.

Before

After

They were taken in along the waist and two darts were put in at the back. This means I can always have them taken back out again, so I’ll never have to get rid of them!

Before

The dress was too roomy and I couldn’t wear it without taping my boobs into place. Talk about uncomfortable.

The dress was taken in along the top of each side of the chest. Now, I can wear it without a bra! It’s super comfortable and even more flattering. The strap was fixed and looks as good as new. The alterations cost around $25, and the dress was $70 from ASOS. This brings the total to STILL under $100 for this dress! Craziness!

After

Why you should get clothes altered

Getting clothes altered is usually very affordable. And, honestly, I can’t put a price on a tailored fit. My only advice is… If you’re going to dish out some extra cash, make sure the item is going to last a good while, use the 30 wears rule. If something is calling out to you, and you know you’re going to wear it a ton annnnd it’s going to last all those wears, it’s generally worth another $30 to get it to fit you how you want.
From now on, I’ll always ask myself if it would be better to have something altered or fixed, before donating it and buying myself a newer version.


Next up: should I be taking my shoes to a cobbler to get them fixed up, rather than throwing them away and buying new ones? I’m particularly worried about replacing my oxfords…… updates to follow (but please give me advise if you use a cobbler!).

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