As we’ve seen this awards season, A-Listers make suit-wearing a seemingly effortless exercise, but appearances can be deceiving.
Red carpet clobber is no off-the-peg affair. Silver-screen heroes look the part thanks to a tailor (or several) that can create flattering looks regardless of the wearer’s body shape.
Flattering, and also expensive. Since most of us don’t enjoy a seven-figure contract with Warner Bros., we’ve collated some of the best readily available alteration services to make high street look Hollywood.
(Related: Ways To Make A Budget Suit Look Expensive)
SuitSupply
If you’re too broke for bespoke, SuitSupply is a few pounds shy of the full chalk-and-measuring-tape experience. An in-store tailor will help perfect the Dutch brand’s off-the-peg pieces while you wait.
Plus, a design-your-own service offers hundreds of different choices – including over 70 fabrics and six different fits – for a more personalised touch in just eight weeks.
Slaters
Most suit retailers will add on an alteration charge, ranging from modest amounts for slight tweaks to larger fees for a full overhaul. That’s not quite the case with the generous folk at Slaters.
Every store offers free alteration to jackets, suits and trousers no matter what the job, and that applies to online purchases, too.
Marks & Spencers
M&S has been upping its game recently, and that also extends to the stalwart’s tailoring line. Its larger stores offer free alterations on suits upwards of £299, with a nominal fee for any pieces below this threshold.
Combine that with one of the most expansive collections on the high street and you’ve got all boxes – from granddad’s 80th to that all-important job interview – well and truly ticked.
Uniqlo
Alteration doesn’t just apply to dandies, though. Uniqlo offers free alteration to any trousers priced over £20.
On the basis that your civvies deserve the same VIP treatment as your glad rags, that includes chinos and denim from across the range.
Reiss
Naturally, mid-level brands won’t ever hit Savile Row standards, but
The British retailer has always made suits of excellent quality that sit at the top of the high-street hierarchy, and thanks to its nip-tuck service in-store, your suit can toe the line between luxury and affordability.
Harrods
If you’ve splashed out on threads from the likes of Canali, Brioni or Armani, chances are you’ve saved on the flight to Milan and headed to Harrods.
The luxury department store offers an alteration service for all its stocked tailoring brands, and better yet, you can treat your trophy suit to a spot of monogramming at the same time.
Moss Bros
Despite the perfectly proportioned tailoring models on every billboard, very few men hit the specs for campaign material. So Moss Bros’ affordable tailoring option brings the perks of being genetically blessed to the masses.
For just £100 more than an off-the-peg suit, you can enjoy a fully made-to-measure design – perfect if normal high-street suits don’t fit and you’re neither Adonis-built nor Midas-touched.
T.M.Lewin
T.M.Lewin is the reliable, older brother of the high street. Neither flashy nor a flash-in-the-pan, the retailer has carved a reputation for offering solid, classic tailoring. So it makes sense that it offers a full alteration service, too.
Though there is a fee involved, measurements are stored and can be applied to any future purchases. Big brother is always watching, and keeping your threads in check.
