Adventures in Alterations – J.Crew Foulard Café Capri

Whew! Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I spent all week battling whatever terrible plague is going around these days, and just recently regained the strength to edit photos and post again!

So, here we are with a look at the J.Crew foulard print café capri (product link) before and after alterations. I chose to purchase and have these pants tailored for a few reasons:

Petite-Friendly Proportions – While the J.Crew café capri in petite 00 isn’t a great fit on me off the rack, the proportions are much better for my frame than many other pant styles. The rise is lower, hip is narrower and length is shorter, which is a better place to start for alterations. I always make sure the rise on a pair of pants is acceptable, since that’s the part that can be difficult and pricey to tailor.

Print – I loved this print for two reasons. First, it’s a foulard, which is one of my favorite print patterns. Second, the navy and merlot color-way is one that matches my wardrobe color story beautifully.

Fabric & Details – The pant is cut from a thick silk, with side pockets and belt loops. My hands are lost in pants without pockets (I need to stuff them somewhere), and belt loops are always nice to keep belts in the right spot and tidy looking (I hate readjusting belts that shimmy their way up and off the waistband).

— Alterations —

Pant Alterations In General

It’s best if you don’t mess with the pant rise, since that can be costly and difficult to tailor. Most other things on a pair of pants can be tailored without to much difficulty. Also, if the pant is lined (these are not), it can raise the cost of the tailoring.

Waist Taken In

This is a pretty common alteration with a symptom (a waist gap at the back of a pair of pants) that a lot of women complain about.  Price range: ~ $25 – $45.

Rear Seam Taken In

When I’m getting a pant waist taken in, if the pant is also a little baggy across the rear, a tailor will usually continue to pin right down the middle seam of the rear to take it in. This alteration can be tricky because sometimes it makes the back pockets appear closer together than is pleasing, or can come out unevenly placed if a tailor is not careful.  Price range: ~ $15 – $25.

Leg Slimmed

This is the easiest alteration, especially if the pants are unlined as these are. The seam is simply taken in down the leg line for a slimmer silhouette. Tip: after having a tailor pin your pant, bend your leg at the knee to make sure it is comfortable and not too tight (especially if the fabric lacks stretch, like the thick silk of these pants).  Price range: ~ $15 – $40.

Total Price Paid For This Alteration: $46

The J.Crew foulard print café capri is currently sold out (product page for reference), but other café capri styles can be found here. I wore the altered J.Crew foulard café capri pants here.

* prices are meant as a rough guide only. They are highly subjective and can vary wildly based on many factors including (but not limited to) average city storefront rental rates/taxes, tailor skill level/experience, competition from other tailoring shops, and complexity of the individual tailoring job.