What fit means
The shoulder seam of a shirt or a jacket should sit at the edge of your shoulder bone. If it droops down the arm, put the garment back. Sleeves end at the wrist bone, and a jacket sleeve shows a quarter to half an inch of shirt cuff. A buttoned shirt should not pull into an X at the chest or carry more than two or three inches of spare cloth at each side. Trousers stay up without a belt and do not dig in when you sit, and the hem just touches the top of the shoe. Buy dresses, skirts and trousers to fit your widest point and have the rest taken in. In the fitting room, sit down and reach overhead. Sizes are not standardized, so ignore the number and know your chest, waist, hip and inseam in inches for ordering online.
What a tailor can do
Hemming trousers costs ten to twenty-five dollars, and taking in a waist, shortening shirt sleeves, tapering legs and taking in the sides of a shirt or dress cost about the same. Shoulders, jacket length and anything that is too small all over are expensive or impossible to change. Fabric can be removed but seldom added.
The core list
Choose two neutrals, such as navy, gray, black or tan, along with white and one accent color, so that every top works with every bottom.
- Two pairs of dark jeans without rips and one pair of trousers that are not denim cover most days.
- Five to seven tops fit for work, mixing solid T-shirts with button-front shirts or blouses, last a week between laundry days.
- Two sweaters or cardigans and one blazer in navy or charcoal dress up everything above.
- One dark outfit that fits today serves for interviews, weddings and funerals.
- A rain jacket and a winter coat handle the weather.
- Three pairs of shoes are enough: clean plain sneakers, leather shoes or boots that take polish, and one dressier pair.
Buying well
Read the fabric label, since cotton, wool, linen and their blends breathe and age better than pure polyester. Tug a seam gently and look for tight, even stitches. Think in cost per wear: a 200-dollar coat worn a hundred days a year for five years costs forty cents a day, while a 30-dollar shirt worn twice costs fifteen dollars each time. Thrift shops are a good source of blazers, coats and denim.
Tip Each season, remove whatever you did not wear. What remains shows you what to buy more of.
