My Requests at the Tailor, and What He Said

This spring, I went to a tailor for my first made-to-measure suit. He measured me from top to toe and marked the cloth all over with chalk. Then he asked if I had any requests. I had a list.

My Requests

1. “Make the shoulders bigger.” He said they were already my size. I said, “Bigger.” He sighed and made them a little bigger.
2. “A pocket for my snacks.” He added one on the inside. It holds a whole sandwich. Nobody would ever know.
3. “Longer sleeves, for waving.” He said a little shirt cuff should show at the wrist. I explained that I’m a big waver.
4. “Can the jacket be longer?” Longer. Longer. Now it was a coat. We went back to the second-longest.
5. “My name stitched on the lining.” He said a few initials is traditional. We agreed on all of the letters, small.
6. “Can it make me look taller?” He said, “It’s a suit, not a pair of stilts.”

The Final Fitting

Three weeks later, the suit was ready. I put it on in the fitting room. It fit perfectly, everywhere.

The tailor stood back and said it was one of the best suits he had ever made. I said that was because of my requests. He didn’t say anything at all, very politely, for quite a while.

Then I put my hand in the inside pocket, and he’d left me a sandwich. That’s what I call service.