Since the dawn of clothing, tailoring has been an integral part of outfits. Tailoring really makes or breaks an outfit. When someone is shopping off the rack, a plan should be set in place to take the suit to an existing, well rounded tailor. A shop that boasts their alteration skills may not cut it, a true tailor is someone a suit owner should have on speed dial.

Tailoring is the art of designing, cutting, fitting, and finishing clothing. In Latin, the word for tailor is sartor, which originally meant patcher or mender. This is where the word sartorial came from, referring to the tailoring of clothing.

Tailoring, as a craft, can be dated back to the early middle ages, when guilds were established to provide the higher class with fine clothing, and blacksmiths with padded linen undergarments to be worn under heavy armor to prevent chafing.

Suit brands like Kiton, Isaia, and Givocci, rely on master tailors to produce their products. In the realm of retail, tailoring is essential for the finished look. There are very few bodies that work in an off the rack suit, most need to be fitted properly.

A true tailor will know how to construct, deconstruct, and then reconstruct everything from jeans and t-shirts, to suits and heavy outerwear. The price of suits is factored greatly by the way they are tailored. More hand-work usually equates to higher price. Suits are able to be produced at a lower price when machines are the main form of manufacturing. The downside to mass produced, machine made suits is obviously the construction and durability. A well made suit will have a canvas lining, and be made to last years, whereas cheaper machine made suits will be fused, or glued, together. No amount of tailoring will revive a cheap suit that is puckering from the glue used to fuse the suit melting away.

When you are suit shopping in the future, pay attention and ask questions regarding the tailoring process, buy the suit, and get it tailored. A well tailored suit is what makes people stand out from the crowd.