Finding the tailor shop that fits

Consider price, convenience, and workmanship when having clothing altered

In another era, clothes were all handmade, and the best were crafted exactly to fit. Now, most garments are bought off the hanger in set sizes that don't always take into account long arms, short legs, or broad shoulders.

Tailors can reinvent those ill-fitting purchases, making a shirt pushed to the back of the closet into the star of a wardrobe.

And those pricey designer jeans made for supermodel-long legs? A tailor can miraculously trim them shorter without losing that frayed-just-so hem.

The Globe tested five of the top businesses known for their alterations around the Boston area: local shops Newbury Tailoring Co., Rizzo Tailoring, and Benny Ho Fine Fitting & Tailoring, plus chain companies Nordstrom and Zoots dry cleaners. At each, we had one blouse taken in and one pair of pants hemmed.

The cost of such relatively simple alterations ranged from $22 to $70 for the two items. And the quality was uniformly excellent, with original hems carefully retained on jeans and darts on the blouses smoothly ironed flat.

"Tailoring, it's a dying art," explained Armando Benedictis, who develops the designs for the Talbots clothing line into actual clothes and worked as a pattern maker for years.

Because it's an old-fashioned art, it also retains some old-fashioned aspects of business uncommon in this fast-food world: The tailors all said it could take several days to as long as two weeks to complete the work.

Rizzo Tailoring and Benny Ho Fine Fitting & Tailoring also don't take credit cards. They handwrite receipts or use ledgers to track customers. They also close on Mondays, Sundays, and one other day each week. Of course, the quality of the work is excellent; these are the shops you want to visit for those really high-value alterations, such as a wedding gowns.

But those old-school ways are also why we chose Newbury Tailoring Co. in Boston as our favorite shop instead. It combined the skill and workmanship of the tailors of old, but also incorporated the flexible hours and credit card convenience of modern business.

For just a minor alteration like a hem on pants, though, Benedictis recommends visiting a dry cleaning service that does alterations. "A tailor should be able to do it with his eyes closed," he said.

More expensive items - such as those $200 jeans that have become so popular - or more complicated work might merit a trip to the tailor shop, he said. Some clothes, such as jeans, should be washed beforehand so they shrink. Also, wear the shoes, the shirt, or even the bra that you would wear with the item.

Ask the tailor's opinion. We found that the tailors we tested know a lot about how clothes should look. One Nordstrom's tailor pointed out that the only way a blouse would actually fit right would be if the body in it changed. But most gave helpful pointers about just how low a cuff should fall.

And Benedictis advises customers to check out the person who's doing the work: "You also want to see how he's dressed. If he's a schlump, I'd be a little concerned about the clothes he makes."

NEWBURY TAILORING CO.
Newbury Street, Boston
Price: $50 for the two items
Pros: This old-style shop tucked into a second floor on glitzy Newbury Street had a fun ambiance with modern twists such as collections of superhero figurines in display cases and Latino music piped in, plus a lively staff of 12 tailors who appear to be having a good time. Accepts credit cards and opens every day but Sunday.
Cons: The fancy location means higher prices than the average alteration service.
The final word: It won our choice for its flexibility, long hours, and ability to take different forms of payment.

ZOOTS Brookline Village branch
Price: $22 for the two items
Pros: This chain offers a one-stop location for handling dry cleaning and alterations. Plus the friendly staff asked about one customer's kids and remembered another's dog's name and gave the pooch a treat.
Cons: The tailor was only available at this branch on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings so one needs to plan fittings. Some branches don't offer on-site tailoring at all.
The final word: It's a cheaper option than the others, even when asked to retain a complicated "original" hem on a pair of jeans. But the truncated tailoring schedule might not be ideal unless the shop is already part of a routine.

NORDSTROM Natick Collection
Price: $70 for the two items purchased elsewhere, about double the cost of alternations on items purchased at Nordstrom.
Pros: Their honesty. Two sets of staff discouraged us from getting the clothes altered there because they charge double the price on garments not purchased in-house. One tailor even suggested an alternative tailoring company.
Cons: Some stores won't alter certain non-Nordstrom items, concerned they can't replace them if they make a mistake. And not all Nordstrom stores will even alter items purchased outside of the shop, so call ahead.
The final word: At double the price for altering items purchased elsewhere, shoppers might want to stick to altering items purchased at the store, then go elsewhere for those other clothes.

BENNY HO FINE FITTING & TAILORING
Near Coolidge Corner, Brookline
Price: $47 for the two items
Pros: Benny Ho, who was recruited decades ago from Hong Kong to work at Louis Boston, called twice to remind us when clothes were ready and remembered us when we arrived to pick them up.
Cons: The shop doesn't accept credit cards and limits new customers to cash only. It is also closed Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays because the 72-year-old Ho is semiretired.
The final word: Benny Ho offers great customer service and the alterations themselves were expertly done, but those looking for the convenience of credit cards and more hours might choose to go elsewhere.

RIZZO TAILORING
Harvard Square, Cambridge
Price: $40 for the two items
Pros: It feels like walking into the Harvard Square of old times, with folks chatting amid suit forms and fabric books. In fact, the shop still has a tag for a suit made for Robert Kennedy in 1947, according to owner Joseph Calutti.
Cons: Cash or check only, because Calutti said the credit card companies charge a fee on each transaction that he doesn't want to pass along to customers.
The final word: A good shop with an old-world flavor that still lives in the old world without credit cards.