Hour of needle

Mike’s shirt

“I thought that mushroomy thing that shirts do when you tuck them in was cool.”

Even though it billowed like a tunic, TONY marketing director Mike Rucker bought the shapeless checked Brooks Brothers button-down because…well, it was on sale at upstate outlet mall Woodbury Commons. “I may have weighed a little more then or maybe I thought that mushroomy thing that shirts do when you tuck them in was cool at some point when I was younger,” he explains. Sure, baggy was once as stylish as bling, but even K-Fed has traded in his oversize tees and droopy cargo shorts for pin-striped suits. Rather than let it languish forever in the back of his closet, we dispatched him to New York Tailor Shop (60 Kenmare St between Mott and Mulberry Sts, 212-343-8790; from $7), a family-run nook where you’ll often find owner Juan Rivas sequestered behind his Singer sewing machine, consulting his son Jesus in Spanish about prices.

To revamp the Hefty sack of a top, Rivas trimmed the excess fabric, refashioned the seams and snipped the length a few inches, so that it hit at the hips and not midthigh. He also straightened the hem into a more modern cut. “It fits as well as anything bespoke,” says Rucker. “The seams and stitching are really top-notch. I can’t wait to wear it—untucked—with jeans and a sport coat and no sweater!”

Cost of shirt $30
+ Tailoring $70
Total $100

Erin’s dress

“God bless the Brunhilda of a woman who wore it before me.”

A gift from her fiancé, who scored this ’40s-style number from a Chelsea vintage shop, copy editor Erin Meister’s floral-print shirtdress hung like a muumuu when she first tried it on. “God bless the Brunhilda of a woman who wore it before me,” she laughs. But Meister and her man hoped they could turn it into a more summery design.

Enter Japanese alterations specialist Artfit (21 W 58th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, suite 1E; 212-207-9095; from $18), where the seamstresses performed some serious surgery on the piece. After removing the sleeves, clipping the length, and nipping and moving the waist up, the perfectionist tailors had Meister try on the dress before tweaking it two more times. “It was a relief and kind of exciting to discover that you can buy essentially any cool old dress that has some potential and have it transformed into something more wearable,” says Meister. “Expensive, yes, but it’s still cheaper than most off-the-rack dresses, it fits me perfectly and it’s one-of-a-kind.”

Cost of dress $20
+ Tailoring $200
Total $220

The price is right?

Custom tailoring usually carries custom prices, so expect to barter when you bring in your floor-skimming pants. Length, lining and fabric are all considered before your wardrobe’s new savior takes a cut out of your wallet. The list below details average alteration prices around the city.

Hemming a skirt: $20
Hemming pants: $12
Taking in the waist of pants: $13
Taking in the waist of a skirt/dress: $23
Shortening shirtsleeves: $20
Shortening a jacket: $25
Taking in a jacket’s shoulders: $65