What is Wednesday.

This weekly What is Wednesday post is aimed at answering some of the more basic and critical aspects of tailoring and the terminology we use to describe them. It stems from realizing that I’m constantly throwing out different terms with my clients and quite often they’re unsure as to what I exactly mean.  The goal of this section then is to alleviate this terminology gap and provide you with some know-how to talk tailoring with a little more ease.

What is…meant by waist ease?

We’re picking up from where we left off last week in regards to discussing a true waist.  When we make a pant from scratch we always add a touch of ease at the waistband as opposed to making it the exact same width as the tape measurement.  For example; if the waist measurement is 34″ then it is typical to add anywhere from a 1/4 to 1″ of ease.  This is done to make the pant more comfortable for the wearer as well as to account for the slight fluctuation that occurs in the waistline throughout the day due to eating and drinking.

How much ease should you add?  That is a very personal question thus it comes down to what feels right for each individual.  Put it this way – a pant should never “need” a belt rather the choice to wear one is to “finish off” a look off as opposed to be there to hold the pants up.  To give a touch more guidance; on a personal level I prefer a relatively snug fitting waistband hence I go with a 1/2″ of ease.  I find this amount accounts nicely for my standard weight fluctuations and is comfortable in terms of where it sits on my waist.  That said I have clients who want it “on the verge” of tight and choose a 1/4″; while others prefer to use a belt and go with 3/4 to 1″ of ease.

As always I’d love to hear your opinions on this or any sartorial subject for that matter.  Better yet book a free appointment and we can banter in person and see if we might be a good fit to work together.

Take care – Michael

info@martinfishertailors.com