Tailors, dressmakers retire their pincushions as US demand for skilled sewers grows

NEW YORK– Hunched over a sewing machine, Kil Bae is hemming a dress in his Manhattan tailoring studio when a new customer stops by with a vintage Tommy Hilfiger jacket he wants to bring to her.

The modeling agent paid $20 at a thrift store for her reversible bomber style that was plaid on one side and red on the other. He is willing to spend $280 to reduce it. Requests for alterations with such a disparity in price would have seemed odd a few years ago, the tailor says, but they help keep the spools moving at his one-man workshop, 85 Custom Tailor.

Bae examines the cotton jacket carefully before pinning it, circling the customer like a sculptor with a chisel. He began training as a tailor at age 17, in his native South Korea. Now 63, he is part of a declining breed in the United States, where professional dressmakers, dressmakers and tailors are aging as their services find new demand.

Shoppers who grew up with disposable fast fashion are turning to tailors and seamstresses to give their off-the-rack purchases a custom fit or personal touch, to revive thrifted finds or to extend the life of their wardrobes, according to fashion industry experts. Weight-loss drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy mean more Americans are looking for fitted waistbands, tapered sleeves and other types of resizing, Bae said.

“I recommend this work to young people because this one cannot be done by AI,” Bae said, pointing out that artificial intelligence automates pattern creation but so far cannot replicate the work of a tailor. “Different bodies. Different shapes. They can’t copy like that. If I close this door, I can go out and find another one.”

But like engraving, musical instrument repair and many other skilled trades, creating and fitting clothing to individual specifications has not attracted enough entry-level workers over the years to replace professionals who retire after decades of plying their trade.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated nearly two years ago that there were fewer than 17,000 tailors, dressmakers and dressmakers working in commercial establishments nationwide, a 30 percent decline from a decade earlier.

Including self-employed workers and people working in private households, the median age of all dressmakers, dressmakers and tailors was 54 last year, 12 years older than the median age of the entire employed population, according to the bureau.

The income required to master the needle and thread relative to the skills needed and the physical exertion of poring over detailed work for hours likely discourages teens and young adults from following Bae’s advice, fashion industry experts said.

The average annual wage for tailors, tailors and custom seamstresses in May 2024 was $44,050 per year, compared to $68,000 for all workers, according to BLS calculations.

“Most fashion education is really focused on mass production, not spending time in a store making a garment by hand,” said Scott Carnz, director of LIM College, a for-profit college that offers degrees in disciplines on the business side of fashion. “The work is also tedious.”

Online job postings for tailors, dressmakers and dressmakers have remained fairly stable, according to Cory Stahle, an economist in the search arm of job site Indeed. Between February 2020 and the end of the same month this year, advertised job openings declined by about 2%, while marketing and software job postings declined by almost 30%, he said.

“There’s a kind of know-how … that I think is an important element that we can’t ignore,” said Stahle, who focuses on the U.S. job market.

Immigrants with and without permanent legal status, refugees, and naturalized citizens have fueled the American garment industry for more than a century.

An analysis of recent census data by the Migration Policy Institute found that about 40 percent of tailors, dressmakers and dressmakers were foreign-born, according to Julia Gelatt, associate director of the nonpartisan think tank’s U.S. immigration policy program. The largest shares came from Mexico, South Korea, Vietnam and China, she said.

To address a worsening labor shortage, the fashion industry is seeking to create a new generation of master tailors.

Nordstrom, North America’s largest employer of tailors and alteration specialists, has partnered with the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York to launch a nine-week program in advanced tailoring and alteration techniques.

“Typically, sewing has never been an American skill set,” said FIT instructor and Broadway costume builder Michael Harrell, who teaches the course.

The fashion institute received 200 applications for the first cohort of 15 students, who started in October and received certificates of completion in February, said Jacqueline Jenkins, executive director of the school’s Center for Continuing and Professional Studies.

The hands-on training was designed to prepare participants to work at Nordstrom. The luxury department store chain employs 1,500 people to carry out tailoring and alternations, from hemming jeans and repairing rips to fitting suits and altering evening dresses.

Ten members of the first class have been hired or are in the process of being hired, said Marco Esquivel, Nordstrom’s director of changes.

“We owe it to the industry as a whole to ensure that this is an art form that will exist for years and years to come and continue to serve customers both inside our walls and outside,” Esquivel said.

Meanwhile, other retailers are expanding their sewing services due to demand.

Brooks Brothers, a luxury brand that has been making custom clothing for men since the 1800s, tested a similar service for women in five stores last year. This year, the company expanded its women’s custom tailoring operations to 40 additional stores. Prices start at $165 for shirts and $1,398 for suits, the company said.

Back at 85 Custom Tailor, Bae asked several times if the customer wearing the Tommy Hilfiger jacket was sure he wanted to make the alterations. Jonathan Reiss, 33, was sure of it. He said he plans to wear the jacket often.

“I think I’ve been a victim of buying cheap products and then you realize they fall apart, shrink, or just don’t last long,” Reiss said.

Bae has a son a year older than Reiss. He tried to persuade him to take up sewing. The son worked with computers and later opened a bagel shop.

“Young people. They just want to get a job in IT,” Bae said. “I think it’s too boring. I think it’s very interesting. Every time I draw in my head. I’m like an artist.”

Bae trained under his older sister and brother at their custom clothing store located about 150 kilometers outside Seoul. After five years, he moved to the South Korean capital to work on custom orders and samples for various companies. He moved to the New York area, where he worked as a pattern maker for Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan and other designer brands.

He opened his own store in Connecticut in 2011, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to close after a decade. It reopened in its current location a year later.

He uses three different sewing machines: a basic one, another for heavy materials like denim and leather, and an overlocker, which simultaneously cuts, trims and finishes the edges of the fabric.

Bae said he intended to continue working as long as his hands remained stable enough.

“I’m always learning,” he says.