Clothing and customers

Clothing alteration hands repair and alter items of clothing for their customers. They can work in dedicated clothing alteration shops, behind the scenes in a dry cleaners, or for clothing retailers. Many also work in specialist shops, such as bridalwear retailers or tailors who offer a fitting service.

As a clothing alteration hand, your work would involve:

·         fitting the customer with a garment and deciding where to make adjustments

·         agreeing alterations and marking them out using chalk or pins

·         deciding what kind of stitching would suit different types of fabric

·         taking up or letting down hemlines

·         adjusting seams, darts or waistbands

·         repairing zips and other fastenings.

You may also stitch by hand or use an industrial-type sewing machine, like an overlocker.

You could combine this work with other roles, such as dressmaking or tailoring, which would involve estimating the cost of a repair and managing accounts.

Hours

You would usually work between 35 and 40 hours a week, which may include evenings and weekends.

You would be based in a shop or workshop, in a dry cleaners or, if you are self employed, you may work from home. Most of your time will be spent sitting at a sewing machine.

Income

Clothing alteration hands can earn between around £12,000 and £16,600 a year, depending on experience.

They may earn more by working on a piecework basis.

Entry Requirements

You may not need any academic qualifications to work as a clothing alteration hand, although employers will normally expect you to have sewing experience. You could start out by working as an assistant to a dressmaker or a tailor, or as a sewing machinist in a clothing factory.

You will need good eyesight, and normal colour vision for matching threads to fabrics.

Larger companies, particularly department stores and clothes retailers, will often prefer you to have a recognised qualification. There is a range of courses available that cover some of the skills needed for this job, for example:

·         City & Guilds Awards, Certificates and Diplomas at levels 1 to 3 in Creative Techniques (Fashion)

·         BTEC Awards, Certificates and Diplomas at levels 1 and 2 in Fashion and Clothing

·         NOCN Certificate at Level 2 in Skills for the Fashion Industries

·         NCFE Awards and Certificates at levels 1 to 3 in Creative Craft (Pattern Cutting, or Dressmaking).

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Training and Development

You will usually be trained on the job, working alongside experienced colleagues, learning a variety of sewing techniques.

You could develop your skills further by working towards an ABC Level 2 Certificate in Manufacturing Sewn Products and an ABC Level 3 Certificate in Apparel Manufacturing Technology. Achieving a Level 3 qualification may help you move into areas such as pattern grading, pattern cutting, tailoring and design.

Skills and Knowledge

·         an interest in textiles, colour, fashion, design and trends

·         good sewing skills – both by hand and on a machine

·         an appreciation for detail

·         an understanding of garment construction

·         good communication skills and tact when dealing with customers

·         the ability to work quickly and accurately

·         the ability to work on your own initiative.

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fashion outlet

Information sources and clothing

The intention of this article is to do an exploratory approach to consumer attitudes and clothing brands purchasing behavior of young Greeks and Portuguese’s. The article makes a comparative study between Greece and Portugal. Both countries are European, Mediterranean, and entered at the European Union at the same time. The purpose of the study is to analyze the attitudes of Mediterranean young consumers towards the clothing brands from the viewpoint of information sources, shopping behavior and purchasing choice criteria. Academic researches in this field have mainly used quantitative methods. We decided to use a qualitative method – focus groups - because of the richness of information that we could obtain. In this study we used college-age consumers. 

This target group is very sensitive to fashion clothing and a good percentage  of them purchase their own clothing. The focus groups were audio taped and videotaped recorded, transcribed and thematic analysis conducted. A number of themes emerged from the focus groups that were organized and exposed. Some of these elements have close associations within issues raised in the literature. In the first part of this article there is presented a discussion of the literature background about consumer purchasing behavior toward clothes. 

After that is presented the research questions and the description of the methodology used to examine these questions empirically. Finally is presented the major findings of this study and the discussion of the results. Implications for strategy development and areas for further research are presented at the end of the article

Clothing store

Among the factors that influence clothing purchasing is the store environment. The fashion stores were mentioned as important forms of brand communication: “the stores and the shop-windows are a certain form of advertising. . . people pass and see the image the store or the brand wants to give” (Ana, PT). Many brands that do not use traditional advertising use the stores and shopwindows to communicate the brand, for instance: “Zara does not use advertising on mass media, however has a strong identity and everybody knows the brand and the stores” (Marta, PT).

Some of the Greek interviewees prefer small stores: “because you can have better relation with the shopkeepers. I like to have contact with the storekeepers; I want them to tell me if the clothes suit me” (Thetis, GR). Another interviewees are expecting for just a “technical support from the staff” (Leon, GR), “you don’t want to have a person always beside you asking if you want help” (Joana, PT). In general the interviewees like to chose the clothes without any help: “I want to have the comfort to look whatever I  want by myself and I try on many things” (Ioanna, GR), “It is dif- ficult to try on clothes and have someone near you all the time” (Leon, GR). On the other hand, interviewees consider big stores “impersonal”.