See Fit

Back when Aaron Jones was 12, if he wasn’t on the football field, he was sitting at a sewing machine, helping his mother with the seamstress work she took on to make ends meet.

“There was a shirt that I wanted, and my mother couldn’t afford to buy it, so she took me to the store, we bought the fabric, and I tried to make it myself,” says Jones, now age 30. “It was a lavender gingham shirt with western appliques on the shoulders, and it was so ugly, but I could wear it, and I am still proud of that.”

It was then that Jones discovered the power of making and altering his own garments. He attended the Savannah College of Art and Design and then began working as a tailor’s apprentice at Nordstrom in Towson, which was where he truly began to understand proper fit and how to tailor garments correctly.

Jones stayed with Nordstrom until 2013, when he and his friend Jason Bass created the high-quality bag line Treason Toting Co. The accessories company was a hit, even catching the eye of Sagamore Ventures, who invested in the brand. However, Jones was still hearing from his old tailoring clients, who were looking for him to alter their clothing and suits.

So this fall, he decided to branch out on his own, opening the Bushelers of Baltimore tailor shop in Mt. Vernon. “People don’t realize that tailors are providing a service similar to a barber or beautician,” says Jones. “They are essentially there as your clothes therapist, listening to the issues you are having with your clothing and helping you to feel your best.”

And Jones says the difference a well-fitting garment can make is immeasurable. “Wearing tailored garments gives you an added boost of confidence,” he says. “People react to you differently, you even walk and talk differently because you can feel the difference, and I want to share that with people.”

As the retail climate shifts to more people shopping online, a great fit has become even more of a challenge—a problem that Jones thinks is easily solvable by seeking out a good tailor. He points out that it’s more affordable than people think. “I think people still see tailoring as a regal service,” he says. “But you can go to a tailor and not spend too much. I am very straightforward with my customers about their budgets. It’s really all about how much you love something.”

Bushelers is open in the evenings Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. “I’m at Treason during the day, so we make it an evening thing,” says Jones. “We have a couple of whiskeys, figure out their fitting issues, and then I send them on their merry way with an outfit cut to perfection.”