Hossein Padar turned a vintage Missoni Size 10 blazer into a Size 4. Photograph by: JOHN KENNEY, MONTREAL GAZETTE.
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I have a leather jacket that’s been rebuilt twice already. Each time it costs about $100. I just can’t seem to part with its perfect fit and buttery worn leather — or justify spending $600 on a new one. New boots or shoes? All it takes is $24 to make a pair of vanity heels downtown-proof with a set of rubber treads. That way my darling soles will remain intact until irreparable scuffs do us part.
Behind-the-scenes tailors and shoemakers make this one-woman fashion show go on.Like a modern-day Scarlett O’Hara weaving her drapes into a gown, I’m a diva who will always dress to impress — even if my fortunes or circumstances dictate otherwise. And my need for these trusted helpers is hardly rare.
The best wardrobes I’ve seen are amassed by ladies who conquer their inner fashion victim with the help of a tailor. Perhaps she’s too stout, too shapeless or too lopsided underneath it all? Or maybe she’s an impulse buyer who needs to spruce up all those non- returnable items? No matter — she knows exactly where to turn to stay on top of her game.
“I go several times a year,” says Kathy Acimovic, senior PR manager of Aldo, a devoted customer of Mark the Tailor in Montreal since the late ’90s. “That’s what happens when you’re 5-foot-2-inches and everything needs to be hemmed,” she says.
A petite physique explains only part of Acimovic’s visits, however. She’s also a self-described “diehard DIY-er” — design-it-yourself-er — a growing trend whereby fashionable denizens whip up their own designer-inspired items for a fraction of the cost.
As such, about twice a year, Acimovic goes to Mark the Tailor (who chooses not to give out his full name) with five to 10 items she plans to refresh into this season’s style.
The duo recently morphed a $10 H&M plaid baby-doll dress into a high-waisted Vivienne Westwood-inspired skirt. The alterations cost about $35, whereas the original Westwood is about $285. Another DIY-creation was born out of a tacky ’80s prom dress she bought ironically at a vintage shop; it was a fuchsia pink concoction with pouffy sleeves. Its lace V-shaped bodice dipped into a full taffeta skirt.
Channelling Oscar de la Renta, Acimovic and her tailor turned the bodice into a tube-top and deflated the skirt into a sleek minimalist number.
YO-YO DIETERS
Whether it’s because of weight gain, weight loss or a soon-to-arrive baby, many women visit alterations experts to have clothes rebuilt.
“A lot of people have problems with their body,” says Michael Rivkin, who operates Mila Design and Alterations in Montreal with his wife, Mila Rivkin. She designs custom-made “kosher” gowns for religious women who need full coverage on their arms and neck. Michael does alterations.
“But it’s easiest to (alter clothing) after losing weight,” he says. Having taken-in clothes countless times, he knows to keep extra fabric in the seam, just in case. “That way it’s half-price if they gain it back.”
Melanie Schwam, 31, a veteran fashionista and avid dress collector, recently moved back home after completing her Masters of Social Work at Columbia University in New York City.
Within months of her return, Schwam’s pounds melted away. How did she do it? Schwam says it was a bittersweet combination of home cooked meals, yoga classes and the stress of looking for work in Montreal.
“Instead of buying a whole new wardrobe, I got the one I had made smaller,” she says. “I love my dresses so much, but they were too big.”
Schwam brought five cocktail numbers and a bagful of blouses and pants to Rivkin, her go-to neighbourhood alterations guy. She estimates she saved more than $1,000. “A whole new dress could cost between $300 and $500,” she said. Each of Rivkin’s alterations cost about $32.
EXECUTIVE SUITS
“What we do are called ‘Renaissances,'” explains Hossein Padar, showing me around his studio, pulling out a mini fringe dress that was floor-length the day before. “We give a second life to clothes.”
Also known as Alterations Mark, Padar’s operations include 17 employees. Some work out of his Ste. Catherine Street studio, while others work at Oglivy’s in-house alterations department (www.hpadar.ca).
A popular “renaissance” request is nipping and tucking old suits so that they’re more fitted. “Men also — everybody wants it fitted today, which is completely different from a couple of years ago,” Padar says. “Skirts are shorter and tighter. Blazers are more fitted to the body.”
Being downtown, Padar finds many of his clients want business suits that are both unique yet not too far out there. “They don’t want to look like they’re wearing a uniform, but at the same time, they want a conservative look because it’s part of the job,” he said. “Many are lawyers.”
A TWINKLE IN YOUR TOES
Montreal women would be far less fabulous without the help of Dominique Bergeron, owner of Carinthia shoe repairs.
“It’s certainly not a dying trade. I can tell you that much. Me and my assistants Blair and Laura have been rocking and rolling.”
Among Bergeron’s specialties are making Uggs look like new for $25; fixing worn-down stilettos for $10; and adding rubberized soles to boots and heels for $24. “And, these days, we get a lot of women coming in with shoes they need to stretch or make smaller,” Bergeron says. “They’re like a 7 and there’s only a 6-1/2 left in the store, so we stretch it.
How much does it cost to make the perfect shoe fit? Oh, about $8 to $12.