How Long Does It Take to Get a Suit Tailored?

A perfectly tailored suit is vital if you’re the groom or the best man. It can raise your self-esteem, make you feel comfortable, eliminate nervousness, and guarantee great wedding pictures.

Unfortunately, no suit fits flawlessly right off the rack unless your proportions are identical to the standard clothing chart. Even then, you’ll likely need to alter the collar or shorten the trousers.

An experienced tailor will quickly spot the suit fit issues and tailor it for a classy look. The timeline depends on the tailor’s workload, season, and alterations complexity.

Full Tailoring Timeline

How long it takes to get a suit tailored largely depends on how many areas need to be altered. If you aren’t satisfied with the suit’s entire fit, you’ll need full suit tailoring.

The tailor will likely have to alter the jacket and vest, shoulders, hem the trousers and sleeves, and adjust the collar.

Ideally, a suit should snugly fit your shoulders while allowing enough arm movement. The shoulder seam should lie flat. The trousers shouldn’t be too baggy or fitted and must reach your shoes but not drape over them.

Generally, altering a suit for a smaller size is more straightforward than making it bigger. If your suit is slightly baggy and the tailor needs to take in the seams in the jacket and trousers, expect to wait for three to four weeks.

Letting out the seams is equally easy, but it isn’t always possible. The suit may have little to no seam allowance, or the size may be too small.

If the tailor needs to make fabric panel inserts, the tailoring may take over six weeks.

The tricky thing is that one adjustment may affect how other suit areas sit on your body. For example, shoulder alterations may affect the sleeve length, or waist alterations may affect the rear look.

For this reason, you will likely need to attend two or more fittings. Don’t schedule the first fitting too early because weight is subject to change, and you don’t want to tailor the suit twice.

Note that the indicated times are only an estimation. Consult with your tailor to determine how much time they need to tailor your suit based on their workload and case complexity.

Shoulders

Shoulder alterations are common because everyone’s body structure is different, and clothing companies make suits for average shoulder width. If your suit’s shoulders dangle down your bicep or restrict arm movement, they need to be altered.

Unfortunately, the shoulders are one of the most complex suit parts to tailor. When choosing between a suit that fits perfectly on the shoulders but needs basic hemming and tapering and one that fits great everywhere but shoulders, buy the former.

The problem is that some men never get their jacket shoulder quite right with post-purchase tailoring. Therefore, be careful choosing your tailor.

As for the suit shoulder alterations timeline, expect to wait for about a week. However, this is only the time necessary for initial alteration, and the shoulders may not fit right from the first try.

You risk not getting your suit tailored on time if you bring it for alterations a week before the big day. Bring the suit to a tailor at least two to three weeks beforehand to allow enough time for additional fine-tuning.

Collar

A poorly fitting collar may seem like a minor problem that doesn’t require tailoring. But even though you don’t see a collar gap, everyone else does.

Thankfully, suit collar alterations don’t take as much time as shoulder alterations. Shortening the back of the collar typically takes under a week, often only a couple of days.

Note that collar alterations may affect the back fit, so allow a couple of extra weeks just in case.

Unfortunately, poor suit collar fit isn’t always related to excess or insufficient neck fabric. Often, the reason is a lousy back fit, which requires more significant alterations.

If you suspect the bad collar fit is only a symptom of a bigger problem, bring your suit for tailoring at least three weeks before the event.

Sleeve & Trouser Hemming

Sleeve and trouser hemming is the most common suit alteration, necessary for most men. Ideally, the trousers should reach the top of your shoes but not cover the shoe heel or drape.

Meanwhile, the perfect suit jacket sleeve length is about half an inch shorter than the shirt sleeve length. It shouldn’t cover the shirt sleeve entirely but shouldn’t show over an inch of it.

Too long sleeves and trousers give a sloppy feel, while too short sleeves and trousers make the figure appear bulkier and may make you look funny.

However, some modern suit trousers deliberately show off more leg – that’s a perfect choice for a preppy wedding.

Bring your wedding shirt to the fitting to determine the necessary sleeve length, and wear your formal shoes for the correct trouser length.

Shortening the sleeves and trousers is simple and shouldn’t take over a week, even if the tailor is busy. If the tailor is free, they can even hem your suit in a day.

The tailor can let out the seams equally quickly if you only need to make them longer by an inch or less. However, never buy a suit that’s way too short because the tailor may not be able to make it longer.

Some suits have buttonholes on the sleeves. Shortening such sleeves may be complex because relocating the holes is hard, and trimming the fabric too close to the holes may look odd. The tailor may have to spend more time working with the buttonholes.

Shortening the jacket may take slightly more time than trousers but shouldn’t exceed a week. Jackets typically have a lining, so the tailor has to work with two layers of fabric.

Waist Adjustments

The waist adjustments also aren’t uncommon. Off-the-rack suits are typically designed for men with some girth in the mid-section, so you will need to take in the trouser waist if you’re slim.

Taking in the suit trouser waist isn’t difficult and shouldn’t take over a week, sometimes a couple of days.

However, making suit trousers bigger is more complex and takes more time, often over a week, because the tailor may have to make a fabric insert at the back.

Taking in the jacket at the waist helps to achieve a slimmer, more formal look and takes a couple of days on average.

Tapering the Sleeves & Trousers

Tapering the suit sleeves and trousers can give you a more formal, classy look, emphasizing the silhouette and making you appear taller.

Despite such a significant effect on the final look, tapering the sleeves and trousers is a simple alteration that takes under a week. All the tailor needs to do is take in the seams.

Jacket Buttons

Sometimes, a poor suit jacket fit can be quickly fixed by relocating buttons. The alteration takes under a day, but a tailor may request more time due to a high workload.

Frankly, you (or your significant other) can make such a simple alteration yourself instead of wasting time and money on professional tailoring.

Note that relocating the buttons doesn’t always resolve the problem. Sometimes, the issue lies in the back or front jacket panels or lapels.

Factors Affecting the Timeline

You now know the average time required to tailor a suit, but it may differ depending on multiple factors. The most significant factors are where you tailor the suit and the sewist’s workload.

Many men prefer to tailor their suits in department stores. Trusting suit alterations to a store where you’ve purchased it makes sense because in-house tailors have likely already worked with that suit model.

Furthermore, many department stores offer alterations for free, and who wouldn’t like to save some money?

Unfortunately, tailors in department stores tend to be very busy. Full suit tailoring can take over four weeks, sometimes over six.

Small local pop shops are a better option if you’re in a rush. If the tailor isn’t busy, they can alter your suit in a couple of days.

The season also plays a role. If your wedding is scheduled for the peak wedding season, around public holidays or graduations, expect the alterations to take longer because many men will rush to tailor their suits.

On the other hand, if you’re getting married in January, February, or March when weddings and other holidays are rare, you may get your suit back quicker.

The fabric also affects the suit tailoring timeline. Most suits are made from fine wool, cotton, or polyester that are machine-stitching friendly and cause no trouble to the tailor.

However, some delicate natural fabrics require hand-stitching that takes more time.

Of course, the extent of necessary alterations can prolong the tailoring. Taking in a suit by size is simple, but extreme alterations by multiple sizes can get tricky.