A Perfect Fit
Many of you may be tackling your closets in the name of spring cleaning. This can entail taking stock of what you have and purging items that are outdated, damaged, or ill-fitting. Fit is a frequent topic of conversation in the TSALT studio. Tamara’s entire reason for developing a clothing line started with her search for clothing that fit. Tamara has tops and jackets in size 8 and 10 while her pants are typically a size 2. Knowing she could not be the only woman struggling with a body that does not fall into the confines of “off the rack,” she started to consider what it was about the pieces in her own wardrobe that were successful. It seemed unrealistic to create a collection that only fit her body type thus the TSALT collection was designed so that the items could be easily “personalized” to adjust to a variety of shapes.
In my opinion, understanding fit and proportion is the key to looking your best. While finding clothing that fits your body can be extremely difficult for many women with those drastic top to bottom size jumps like Tamara, in some ways we all stumble upon discrepancies with the “off the rack” formula. Should that keep you from making purchases? In some cases, yes. The price and time outweigh the practicality of the end result. In many instances however, with a few minor alterations, you can obtain the perfect fit for a few more dollars. I researched what the average prices are for some of the most popular types of alterations.
These can be minor when you already own the pieces you are altering but when you are adding $20 – $40 to the cost of a new purchase, it can cause you to reconsider. Understanding what women are up against, Tamara has added free alterations into her private label collection. Many clients have already taken advantage of this lucrative benefit. I thought it would be helpful to see some before and after pictures of the types of alterations we are finding most successful for our clients.
Amy described that she is uneven in her shoulders. When she tried on the TSALT cowl neck top (a hands down favorite at the boutique!), we could immediately see that there was some extra fabric causing the back to not lay completely flat over her shoulders. For this particular alteration, since one shoulder was shorter than the other, it affected both shoulders. Above, Rebecca makes use of some safety pins to adjust the fabric to Amy’s shoulders.
Anyone who has ever worked with me knows how I love to put clients in front of a mirror and start pulling and adjusting their clothing as they watch and listen. As I stated before, proportion is a very important part of fit. Amy has been considering the matching pant to wear with the cowl neck top. Together these look so effortless and make an ideal alternative to the LBD for cocktail attire. For Amy, I played with the dimension a little and we both agreed that giving it a little boot flare would make the look more contoured to her figure; the slight boot adds a little shape and makes the pant a little sassier — which suits Amy to a T!
You may ask why not make all the pants with this silhouette. Tamara developed the TSALT collection to be fully personalized to a variety of women. We have had clients not need a thing done to the pant and then others need the rise shortened a little or some of the width taken out. Being able to make these types of adjustments in the studio will hopefully set us apart as the business continues to grow.
To reinforce our takeaway message of fit, we are offering Stylebook readers another great offer from TSALT. This time it’s on Tamara’s own version of the iconic slip dress…with a nod to “athleisure.” The fabric is water resistant and can be worn with a pair of slip on sneakers for day and then transition into a mule, slide or sandal for evening being that it was developed as a travel item that can go from day to night. Easy to pack and simple to wear. Now through the end of the month mention the Stylebook Slip Dress Offer and receive 25 percent off the price of the dress. Available in Black, Seafoam, Blush, Ivory, Taupe and sized XS – L.
