Tailor-fitting: Your secret weapon to looking great

The boots I bought vs what I received vs. how I had them fit to my legs.

So, for anyone, male or female, finding clothing that sits well on your body can be challenging. But if you are a westerner living in Asia (or vice versa), a person who identifies as trans, gender-fluid or two-spirit,  or any combination of the three, the challenge becomes even greater. 

We’ve all had the feeling of seeing something super cute on a mannequin or perfectly proportioned model, only to have a sense of disappointment when we first try it on because that just isn’t how it looks on us. Sometimes this leads to a seemingly endless cycle of returning and reordering to get just the right size, only to have the season pass before we actually get a chance to wear it out. In the case that it’s too small, this item can end up in back of a drawer or closet until we “lose weight” or in the case that it’s too big, it can lead us to throw it away, or give it a way. Either way, this means we are wasting both time, money and energy on something that we can never actually wear :( 

Why I Started Tailor-fitting my Casual Clothes

Last year I was doing make-up on a film set when I heard an actress compliment another one on how well her jeans fit. The girl in question, responded by saying it was because she always had all of her jeans tailor-fitted. I don’t know about all of you, but until that point, I had only ever considered tailor fitting for suits; the idea of doing it for casual clothing like jeans had never even occurred to me. I thought it was worth a try. 

The Time & Cost Involved in Tailor-fitting

Getting all of my jeans fit to my waist and hips size.

I decided to give it a first try on a pair of cheap jeans that fit OK, but not exactly well. The tailor I brought them to measured them on me, asked me how I wanted them to fit, and then asked for a week or two to get around to it. She also gave me great advice on how to make them sit better on my body (ie not letting the legs get twisted as I pulled them on, etc). 

If I recall, the price was around 6000yen or so. Given the fact that I only paid around 2000yen for the jeans, the idea that I could have jeans that fit me perfectly (instead of having to choose between “loose on the hips” or “loose in the waist) for 8000yen seemed like a heck of a good deal. 

What kind of things can you have tailor-fitted?

The fit on the waist of my favorite skirt before and after getting it tailor fitted.

Getting your jeans tailor fitted to your figure is a great way to accentuate your natural curves and give a smoother and cleaner look overall.

I got the jeans back and the fit was fantastic. I was hooked. After that I started moving on to skirts, dresses and anything else that didn’t sit right because of the particular proportions of my body. It seemed like the sky was the limit.

Every time I got the item in question back, it was comfortable, it looked really nice, and it was gender euphoria at its finest🥰✨💃🏽

The final frontier; boots

After getting what felt like half of my closet done, I attacked the last major area of frustration I had; my boots collection. I absolutely love boots, but for whatever reason, boot-makers always seemed to assume that anyone with my shoe size (29cm) must have really thick legs too… because the shaft of literally ANY boots I get were always way too big. I tried thick socks, leg warmers and everything else you can think of, but still nothing could give me that “pittari” fit on the calf that Japanese girls always seemed to have. This I thought was the final frontier. 

While my usual tailor said she does not work with leather, she did recommend me to shoe maker / fixer who could. Naturally, this was was a bit more expensive and time consuming (around 8000yen and about 2-3 weeks) but when I got my boots back and felt them hug my calves as I zipped them up for the first time, it was so incredibly worth it. 

Of course I had to go back and get all of my knee high boots done too😅

Granted, I may not be able to sell any of these second hand now…as they are all fit for my legs; but at this point I love how everything looks on me, I don’t really wanna sell or give it away anyway. I’d be perfectly happy to wear all this stuff until they die of natural causes. 😅

Conclusion

I've always strugged with the calves of boots being way too wide for my legs; getting my boots tailor fit was a game-changer.

While tailor fitting your casual clothes may seem like an unusual approach, for trans people, gender fluid, two-spirit people, athletes, or anyone living in a foreign country where the locals are built differently, it’s a wonderful way to ensure that all the clothes you get fit well. As my mother always told me 

“Don’t compromise. Go and get exactly what you want. Then you are always satisfied with what you have.” 

For trans women in particular who are early in their journey, every little bit of gender euphoria helps and this is one simple thing you can do to both look better and feel better about how you look. As long as the base clothes you use are not expensive, there is no need for it to break your bank either. Just find a good tailor, let them work their magic and go bit by bit😊❤️ As always, hope this helps❤️✨💃🏽

✨❤️Tisha❤️✨😊