The Most Stylish Guys You Know Are Getting Everything Tailored (Even T-shirts)

SOMETIMES WHEN Evan Glick, who’s cursed with a “fairly short torso,” tries on T-shirts in stores, “it just looks like I’m wearing a summer dress.” But if you spotted the 32-year-old Brooklyn data engineer in the street, you’d never mistake his top for a frock. Last summer, he began taking his tees and shorts to get tailored at his local wash and fold, for $15 a pop. Now everything fits snugly. “I don’t have to be disappointed with a too-big shirt,” he said.

A tailored T-shirt? Many men reserve tailoring for pricey, special-occasion suits. But in-the-know guys are turning to local, low-key tailors—with no hint of stuffy Savile Row—to tweak casual items from jeans to swim trunks. The move neatly solves an oft-ignored problem: Most off-the-rack clothes fit guys imperfectly. Men can easily look disheveled in too-long jeans or toothpick-armed in polos with gaping sleeves.

It’s Not Just for the Rich

For less money and effort than you’d think, a smarter-looking wardrobe awaits. Getting casual items tailored is “like a cheat code,” said Jermaine Crawford, 30, a Los Angeles actor who has all his jeans nipped at the waist because he finds belts bothersome.

But even men less hostile to belts are seeking help. Over the past two years, Yamil Vaca, founder of Manhattan’s Flatiron Tailor Shop, has noticed more guys bringing in casual items. Most commonly submitted for surgery: tees that billow, jeans that puddle on the floor and running shirts that run too roomy. Men with ill-fitting pajama sets also want his services. Vaca’s prices start at around $20 for abbreviating a pair of pants, and often just one, 5-minute fitting is required. Usually the tweaked item can be picked up in 24 hours if needed (the industry standard is about 3-7 days).

Less? Yep. More? Sure.

In many cases, said Vaca, guys with newly rigorous workout regimens want more-fitted clothes to better flaunt their physiques. But a good tailor can magically make items bigger too. A client of New York personal stylist Turner Allen recently lamented the too-short sleeves on a chore jacket. So a clever tailor stole fabric from its back to lengthen them. Allen doubts most men “would know you could do that, but it made all the difference.”

One particularly egregious issue any good tailor can easily fix? Overly roomy shirt sleeves that make men’s arms look spindly. L.A. style consultant Andrew Weitz said he’s always having clients’ sleeves narrowed. Recently, one guy’s knit polo with short but cavernous sleeves got the treatment and suddenly he looked like he’d been eating his spinach. “Now it hugs his biceps and gives him that [defined] arm shape,” said Weitz.

Weitz also finds swim shorts often disappoint off-the-rack. “A lot of guys feel they’re a little too long,” he said, so they’ll get an inch or so snipped off. Flashing more thigh gives the illusion of longer, leaner legs, he said. Swim shorts should hit at about mid-quad, he added.

L.A. stylist Ugo Mozie seeks out tailoring to alter garments more dramatically. He once tasked his tailor with transforming a women’s trench-coat dress into a men’s jacket. For less statuesque clients, he has shirts, T-shirts and tank tops all hewed to right below the waist. That length works on shorter guys, said Mozie—it suggests “a longer frame.”

How to Ease In Gradually

Whether you’re after a startling chop or a subtle tweak, you’ll need a trustworthy tailor. Beyond checking reviews, experts suggest first testing a new tailor with an easy alteration, like hemming some pants. “If you’re happy with that, you can take a shirt to be slimmed, and then a blazer to be altered,” said Allen. “Start small and go from there.” Snip by snip, let the style upgrade begin.

They Got What Tailored?

Insiders report on some of the unlikely items that men have been getting tweaked

1. Sportswear

Billowing running tops and Lycra cycling tights in need of extra tightening are a common sight at Manhattan’s Flatiron Tailor Shop, said Vaca.

2. Swimwear

Lots of guys find swim trunks a little too long off-the-rack, said Weitz. He’ll ask a tailor to slice about an inch off. Result: Guys’ legs look longer (and they can sun their thighs).

3. Casual slacks

Mozie’s hot tip to achieve a louche pant cut? Buy a wide-leg pair in a slightly too-big size and get the waist and upper thigh taken in. This, he said, achieves the ideal relaxed shape.

4. Pajamas

Vaca has been seeing more sleepwear drift into his shop—especially pajama sets that men want either lengthened or trimmed. “I guess guys want to feel stylish right before they go to bed.”

5. Workwear

Allen recently had the sleeves of a chore jacket lengthened for a long-limbed client whose wrists were awkwardly sticking out.

6. Knitwear

When a knit polo or a sweater is too voluminous, Weitz will have a tailor “take in the body.” Even if it’s meant to be an oversize design, too many guys end up swimming in their sweaters, he said. It shouldn’t wear you, he added.