Where I get my suits altered in Toronto

A good alterations tailor isn’t just someone who can shorten pants or take in a jacket. They will quite literally shape your wardrobe. And hopefully you will form a relationship that will last years, if not decades.

There are plenty of dry cleaners in Toronto who offer alterations services and in a pinch any of them will do for simple jobs like hemming pants. But when it comes to having a jacket altered, you should work with someone who is an actual tailor. His knowledge of how to make a suit will allow him to fix one properly.

My own alterations tailor, with whom I’ve spent a number of years building a relationship, is close to retirement. He does exactly what I ask him, he does it well, and he does it at a very good price. But because of his age, I am feeling increasingly guilty about bringing something in for intense alterations. I realized it was time to find a “backup”, if you will.

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The opportunity arrived with a 3 piece flannel suit from Kingpin’s Hideaway. Unlike most vintage clothes, it fit me extremely well. The waist was perfect, the vest long enough to cover the waistband and big enough so the buttons weren’t straining. But what sold me was the fit of the jacket: the shoulders were perfect. Not only were they an excellent width, they were neither too padded nor too natural. Plus they were slightly roped, a feature I’ve wanted in my wardrobe for years.

All that said, like any vintage suit, each piece needed some alterations. The man for whom the suit had been made in 1972 had shorter, thinner legs than mine – sitting down was rather constricting. He was also slightly barrel chested so there was some extra fabric under the arms of the vest and jacket. And the jacket was a bit too long.

I had read about Xavier on a few men’s style blogs and the reviews were similar: very hard to find and very good. He is certainly the most hidden tailor in Toronto. While his address is listed as 10 St. Mary’s, when you arrive, it is just a non-descript office building off of Yonge. No sign indicates you’re at the right place. In fact, you have to enter the lobby and check the old office listings board to find “Xavier Custom Tailors” – on the forth floor. He is in a relatively small office with no frills. There’s a desk, a work table, some racks of clothes in process and a back room which is used for storage and as a change-room.

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Xavier was friendly and as we talked more and more about the suit he offered advice on what could or couldn’t be done. Even though I was concerned that shortening the jacket would disrupt the balance, he measured the placement of the pockets and assured me that taking a bit off the bottom wouldn’t be a problem. He pinned and chalked the rest of the suit and promised delivery in a couple of weeks at what I would call a standard cost – not too high, not too low. The results are spectacular.

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The jacket, which I liked before, now feels custom-made. Xavier shortened it by about an inch without affecting the balance or shape. He also took away just the right amount of fabric under the arms – the drape is still there, but without any puckering.

waistcoatThe vest looks completely transformed. By taking in some fabric under the arms, the vest now shapes perfectly to my chest, while retaining that lovely pinch at the waist. (I forgot to ask for that missing button to be put in.)

pantsThe changes to the pants are somewhat subtler, but no less important. By letting out the legs below the thighs, and lengthening the bottoms, the pants now look and feel perfectly fitted. The entire suit, over 40 years old, feels reborn.

After picking up the suit and marvelling at Xavier’s work, I sat down with him for a chat. The first thing I found out was his full name, Anthony Xavier. Anthony trained to be a tailor in Trinidad as a way to ease his way to Canada as a skilled labourer. When he arrived in 1970, he was so good at his trade, and enjoyed it so much, he decided to take up tailoring full time. His first four years were spent in a clothing factory but in 1974 he partnered with his Trinidadian teacher to open a shop at Yonge and Bloor. Just over four years after that, in 1979, he went out on his own and hasn’t looked back since.

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Anthony can and will make a full custom suit – adjusting set patterns and with two or more fittings – but 80% of his business is alterations. And most of that work is small “remodelling” as he calls it. That typically involves fitting suits tighter to the body, following the current trend. And Anthony is happy to help his customers follow trends. He’s well aware of the classics – he tells me my 3-piece suit reminds him of how he learned to make suits in the late 60s – but he wants his customers to feel contemporary in their clothes. And I will admit, Anthony is one of the very few tailors of his generation who are not only plugged into current men’s style trends, but wear them too – on each visit he’s been wearing a fitted shirt, slim pants and colourful brogues.

I am thrilled to have found not only a very skilled tailor, but yet another singular character in the Toronto tailoring world.