There are many of us who at one point had the need of receiving some type of correction to an article of clothing at a local alteration or tailor shop without understanding the difference in services. An alteration is a minor modification or change where an adjustment is made to an article of clothing. Tailoring is to adapt an article of clothing on a minor to major scale to be able to meet fashion needs or tastes.
Although these two processes are similar, to tailor something is more encompassing than to simply alter something. An alteration would fall under the act of tailoring but a tailored piece also includes more complicated tasks that only a skilled person is capable of doing. An alteration would include more simple tasks such as hemming or shortening of pants, adjusting the waist line of a garment, or tapering – just to name a few. These duties are simple sewing tasks which do not required a high level of experience. Getting something tailored would include the aforementioned acts but also include more complex tasks and therefore require a higher skill set. Tailoring includes such things as refitting a garment, adding style attributes that did not previously exist such as a collar, cuffs, or pockets, and other more complex sewing tasks.
It’s a fine line in trying to distinguish between the two, but perhaps the best way to separate them is to realize that alterations are all the simple tasks of tailoring that do not required any significant experience to accomplish and can be quickly taught and learned. A tailor can do it all where someone who is only skilled enough to do alterations should not and cannot legitimately be called a tailor. Hopefully we can go out into the world being a little more knowledgeable about this topic and better appreciate the craft of a tailor.
Source by Mercedes D
