{"id":74044,"date":"2026-07-01T09:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T09:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/74044\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T09:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T09:40:16","slug":"tailors-age-out-despite-job-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/74044\/","title":{"rendered":"Tailors Age Out Despite Job Security"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hunched over, tailor Kil Bae sews in his Manhattan shop when a customer stops in. The patron wants a $20 flashy vintage jacket\u2014plaid on one side, red on the other\u2014altered for a custom fit. Bae can do the work. Not everyone could. He\u2019s part of a class of sewers, dressmakers, and tailors aging out of the U.S. workforce\u2014just as their services find fresh demand.<\/p>\n

Alterations like the jacket\u2019s would have seemed odd a few years ago, Bae says. After all, $280 for the overhaul far exceeds the garment\u2019s cost. But jobs like this help keep Bae\u2019s bobbins bobbing.<\/p>\n

The 63-year-old began training as a tailor at age 17 in South Korea. Eventually, he moved to the New York City area and worked for Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, and other designers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recommend this job to young people because this one cannot be AI\u2019d,\u201d Bae says. He admits artificial intelligence is automating patternmaking. But so far, it can\u2019t replicate a tailor\u2019s painstaking handiwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifferent bodies. Different shape. They cannot copy like this. If I close this door, I can go out and find another one,\u201d he says of his shop and ease of securing employment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true. Bae\u2019s skill is increasingly in demand. Experts say shoppers who grew up wearing fast fashion<\/a> now enlist tailors to custom fit off-the-rack purchases, revive secondhand finds, or refresh current wardrobes.<\/p>\n

But like engraving, repairing musical instruments, and other skilled trades, fitting garments to individual measurements isn\u2019t attracting new workers.<\/p>\n

Relatively low pay and the physical toll of bending over detail work for hours probably discourage many young workers from the garment-making profession. So there aren\u2019t enough new workers to replace those retiring their pincushions.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of fashion training is really aimed at mass production, not spending time in a shop handmaking a garment,\u201d says Scott Carnz, provost of a college offering degrees in fashion business.<\/p>\n

Yet unlike many other job areas, online postings for tailors, dressmakers, and sewers have remained fairly stable or even increased slightly, according to economist Cory Stahle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a kind of a craftsmanship,\u201d he says, calling that \u201can important piece that we can\u2019t ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bae plans to keep working as long as his hands stay steady enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people. They just want to find a job in computers,\u201d Bae says. \u201cI think that\u2019s too boring. I think this is very interesting. Every time, I am drawing in my head. I am like an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work is one of God\u2019s gracious gifts. Finding joy and purpose in doing what God has for you honors His good purpose for your life and contributes to the well-being of others. (Ecclesiastes 9:10; Psalm 128:2)<\/p>\n

Plus, Bae says, \u201cI\u2019m always learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why? Some jobs provide value beyond the goods they produce\u2014especially when they require thoughtful skill, using God\u2019s giftings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hunched over, tailor Kil Bae sews in his Manhattan shop when a customer stops in. The patron wants…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21224],"tags":[21234,8160,33636,33633,33628,10317,33631,33632,33630,33635,33629,33634,33627],"class_list":["post-74044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bae","tag-bae","tag-bae-systems","tag-best-magazines-for-tweens","tag-christian-families","tag-christian-family-resources","tag-current-events","tag-curriculum-supplement","tag-kids-magazine-subscriptions","tag-kids-magazines","tag-magazines-for-6-year-olds","tag-magazines-for-kids","tag-magazines-for-preschoolers","tag-news-for-christians"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116844064163666495","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}