If you’re like most guys, most shirts you purchase off the shelf doesn’t have such a great fit. Sometimes, they’re too saggy along the arms, too baggy on the chest, or too loose on the lower back. And, yes, that’s the reason why many people take new shirts to a tailor before actually wearing them. The ZipSeam offers a DIY alternative.
A straw-like plastic tube, the accessory lets you tuck in all the extra fabric on shirts inside their hollowed compartments, allowing you to turn an erstwhile baggy shirt into a tailored-looking garment. That way, all your off-the-shelf shirts look like bespoke fare, so you can dress like a million bucks without having to spend as much.
The ZipSeam consists of slim tubes with cut-out segments along the body that you can affix on any shirt’s seams, giving you a place to bundle up all that extra material right along the seams. That way, the shirt looks tailored rather than just meticulously bundled up in your bedroom. To use, place it on the inner part of the seam on any section you want to trim down, whether it’s those baggy sleeves or that sagging torso, inserting the fabric inside the tube using a credit card. Once you’ve inserted enough fabric to get the desired fit, you then lock it in place by pulling the included cord into the channel.
Construction is a flexible plastic material (nylon and thermoplastic copolymer) that, combined with the segmented body, will allow the tube to follow along with all your movements. That means, you can walk, run, and jump around in fits of joy like normal without ruining your garment’s new tailored fit. It’s so flexible, in fact, it can withstand up to 15 pounds of force, so a lady friend can pull forcefully on your shirt in a moment of passion without damaging the tubes, all while being lightweight enough (three full lengths of tube weigh less than an ounce) that it won’t affect the way the shirt drapes on your body.
Since the ZipSeam’s length consists of multiple cut-out segments, you can easily cut them into smaller sizes. As such, you can use just the exact length that you need to properly trim down any section of a garment. That makes it ideal for contouring the fit of your shirts, allowing you tighten the fit on minor sections, like the shoulders, the cuffs, and more.
Aside from dress shirts and button downs, the tube can also be used to trim the shape of t-shirts and any other garment with a reasonably material. Yes, the fabric needs to be slim, since each tube has a diameter of just a quarter of an inch, so there’s not a lot of room there to squeeze in a thick sweater. All that said, this is a great way to make erstwhile thrift shop finds look like they were made-to-fit by an actual tailor.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the ZipSeam. You can reserve a set for pledges starting at $5.