A Three-Step Process to Finding Good Tailors and Dry Cleaners
I’m moving to Moscow for a few months, and being that it’s my first time there, I’ll have to find a new tailor and dry cleaner. When I was young, I used to worry about having to find a new barber when I travelled. The whole idea of having a new person cut my hair just seemed frightening. What if they chop my hair to uneven bits? I’ve learned, however, that hair grows back. Clothes that you’ve painstakingly poured a lot of time and money into, on the other hand, will never be restored once they’re ruined. That’s why it’s important to find good tailors and dry cleaners - one exchange with a bad one could ruin your favorite garments forever.
So I’ve developed a kind of system to finding good tailors and dry cleaners in a new area. Perhaps it will be useful for you as well, whether you’ve arrived in a new place or you’re still trying to find someone reliable. Here’s my three-step process:
1. Find the local consensus: The first step is to call the very best upscale stores and hotels in the area. For stores, this can be high-end boutiques such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus; independent fine menswear stores that sell brands you respect; and internationally known brand stores such as Tom Ford, Ralph Lauren, or Zegna. For hotels, this can include the Four Seasons, St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, etc. Just check your Zagat Survey for the five-star operations.
Ask the managers of these places which tailors and dry cleaners they send their work to. Hotels will obviously have dry cleaners they depend on, but menswear stores will often also have a dry cleaner that they send soiled garments to. They will most certainly at least have tailors they work with for alterations. Try to identify a consensus among these recommendations. You’re likely to spot at least two or three that everyone goes to. These will be your candidates.
2. Ask questions and identify quality operations: Call up your candidates and ask them questions about the job you’re looking to have done. Unfortunately, you have to know a little bit about tailoring and dry cleaning in order to know what are the right questions to ask. It’s beyond the scope of this article to cover these subjects, but you should search the archives of StyleForum to get a sense of the processes behind whatever you want done. Ask them about some of these technical details. A good tailor or dry cleaner should be able to discuss these things with you competently.
Additionally, for dry cleaners, look for places that do the work on-site and, ideally, offer hand ironing. The second part is particularly critical if you have high-end suits, otherwise your nice rolling lapels may come back incorrectly pressed.
Note that while you can often find a very skilled alterations tailor who is affordable, good dry cleaning never comes cheap. If someone tells you they only charge $25 to clean a suit and $5 to launder a shirt, and you can pick it up in just a few days, you’d be a fool to hand over your garments.
3. Give them your worst: Everyone has low-end, ill-fitting garments they don’t wear. Send these in before you hand over things you actually favor. After you get the garment back, spend two or three weeks with it - wear it a few times, see how it fits, examine the quality, etc. For me, it takes a few weeks to really review these things. First impressions are often always positive, but three weeks in, I may notice that the work might not be done as cleanly and well as I would like. Before I trust someone with something I’ve spent a considerable amount time to find, and somewhat hefty amount of money to purchase, it’s absolutely critical that I can fully trust their work. Getting to this place can sometimes take two or three “test runs.” It might seem like a lot of hassle, but imagine the hassle you’ll go through if you had to replace some of your favorite clothes.
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Part lookbook and archival evidence, part style diary, two information professionals (as well as a host of guest authors) seek personal style outside of the stereotypes.
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Collection development strategies are crucial to libraries and archives; they ensure that the institution’s holdings grow based on a clearly defined strategy to both fill in gaps in the collection and avoid the addition of materials outside of the institution’s scope.
So, I wondered why not apply the guidelines that govern the creation of collection development policies to my own wardrobe development strategy?
For today’s post, I thought I would look at how a lack of a clearly defined collection development strategy can lead to some questionable pieces in your wardrobe. Like 17th century French poetry in an archive of the American West, below I highlight some “problem” items in my collection, and how I plan to deal with them.
Collection Development Strategy 1. Just because it is on sale doesn’t mean you have to buy it.
I am a sucker for a sale. Really. I can’t tell you how many questionable purchases I’ve made because of a 75% off sticker. These pants are a classic example - at $9 they were too good to be true. The problem is that they don’t actually fit. I have a tendency to buy clothes that are (some times several sizes) too large. The waist falls somewhere around my hip bone, and the seat sags low.
Verdict: Deaccession
Collection Development Strategy 2. If you don’t feel comfortable in something, you probably won’t wear it.
I like this dress, I really do. Why then have I only worn it once in over a year? Truth is, I don’t know. I just never feel quite comfortable… Maybe it is the slightly “prairie” style, or maybe it is the all over pattern. I can’t figure it out.
Verdict: Keep it, and keep working on styling this dress. The only time I wore this was last winter, and I paired it with brown tights and boots - making me feel like I was auditioning for Little House on the Prairie. Perhaps moving this to my “spring collection” and wearing in as seen above with flats (and perhaps sleeves rolled up) will make me more comfortable. If i still haven’t worn it in six months, deaccession.
Collection Development Strategy 3. Know how you will wear a garment (and what you’ll wear it with) before you buy it.
This sweater was bought out of a desire for a chunky sweater. Upon getting it home I realized I didn’t have a clue how to wear this thing. A short sleeved sweater? Can I wear long sleeves underneath or do I always have to wear short (not a great option in the winter). Also, should I belt it, or does it look ok hanging open? And the kicker - it doesn’t fit under my winter coat.
Verdict: Keep it. I like this piece, and I think it will be great once the transition to spring begins. I think it could look really nice over dresses (I have a particular mustard colored one in mind).
Just remember, two of the main goals of collection development policies are to aid in selection and planning. (GUIDELINES FOR A COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY, IFLA) I’ll keep you posted as my development policy grows. What are your policies?
ev
Guys in Las Vegas Never Enjoyed Reading, Until Now… (via Roadsidepictures)
Hairstyles: A Librarian’s Guide
Thus far Archival Allure has been primarily focused on matters of clothing and accessories. The time has come to consider archives appropriate hairstyles.
We begin with the bun, the most classic of our profession’s hairstyles. Though many of our sources for style inspiration have come from archival material, this post looks to current trends for inspiration. On A Cup of Jo’s very lovely blog, Joanna Goddard points we readers to step-by-step instructions on the messy french bun, via Yves Saint Laurent. - A perfectly updated look of classic style.
For a lower version of the same messy bun, see Annie Hall.
Love her frames here too, but glasses are a topic for another day…
lauren?
Declaring my own personal “casual Friday” I made the leap and wore jeans to work for the first time since I started at my current institution about a month ago. While there is no official dress code, I generally try to keep my look polished. For this reason, I went with denim in a darker wash and more traditional cut.
I looked toward slightly more recent history for inspiration (please note that Archival Allure does not endorse Kool cigarettes, or smoking in general. We’re fine with scooters and waterfalls, and especially the phrase “Lady be cool” ).
Combining a well-loved tan and blue plaid button-down (thrifted from the boy’s section) and a cozy dark green sweater, I thought today’s look created an updated version of a classic 1970s look.
To finish off the outfit, I slipped on my gold lame easy spirits - making this outfit one of my favorites (and most comfortable) of my brief professional career.
*Please note that all top of head crops are entirely unintentional and due to self-photographing; my normal photographer had to work late.
ev
From now on, Emily and Lauren will post to the group blog, but for previous posts, click the link!
In anticipation of some great content from our own I wanted to share a link to some great looking mens fashion with a decided librarian/archivist point of view.
Alright this post in particular is a little bit more “distinguished” than I perhaps our audience — emerging information professionals — but I wanted to share nonetheless.
In my great excitement for Archival Allure, I spent a few hours rooting around the internet for fashion inspiration. I don’t know if you’ve plugged “librarian” into a Google image search lately, but the results were certainly not the inspiration I was hoping for.
Frustrating by the Google search,…
A special thanks to lizlilac for bringing the new librarian-centric Fall collection by Marc Jacobs to our attention. Combining beautifully structured pieces and traditional suiting material, MJ’s collection would fit right in a fashionable librarian’s wardrobe, if not within her budget.
For more, check out the New York Time’s coverage of Fashion Week and MJ’s Fall 2010 Collection
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