By Elizabeth Soh

WORN-OUT shoes and threadbare clothes are getting a new lease of life as Singaporeans turn thrifty, getting their old gear fixed rather than buying new items.

The result is that business for tailors and cobblers has improved by up to 30 per cent as the recession takes hold.

For tailor Foo Soey Eng, who is in her 60s, the dark clouds of recession certainly have a silver lining.

The owner of Lorena Fashion in Peninsula Plaza, Madam Foo, who also does alterations, has watched with delight as her earnings started rising from $1,000 to $1,300 a month since the economic downturn began.

'My clientele consists mainly of working women. During hard times, more of them are turning to getting old clothes tucked in or shortened for a fresher look, instead of buying new clothes.'

She reports that she now mends up to 20 orders a day, up from an average of 10 pieces previously. She charges about $8 to shorten a pair of pants and $6 to take in the waist of skirts or dresses.

This trend extends to the men as well.

Mr Daniel Goh, 46, owner of custom tailor Men's Tradition, which alters only the clothing it makes, says customers are returning to have their clothes updated.

'I've been seeing a 30 per cent increase in enquiries made about altering pants and shirts from white-collar workers,' he says. 'Most of them are looking into expanding their old work pants which no longer fit instead of buying new ones.'

An average pair of made-to-measure work trousers costs about $85, depending on the material. But adjusting a pair of trousers costs just $4 at Men's Tradition.

That is just what management trainee Jason Chong, 24, is resorting to these days. 'In these times, I can't afford to buy a pair of new pants just because the old ones don't fit as well,' he says.

Demand for alteration services in the heartlands has also been brisk.

Madam G. L. Tan, 56, the owner of a sewing academy in Bedok, now earns about $1,100 a month, up from $900 this time last year.

Her business used to consist mostly of schoolgirls coming in to shorten their skirts for a trendier look. These days, she is seeing more mothers coming in to modify their children's school uniforms to hand them down.

Madam Jeannie Lim, 43, who was visiting the shop with her children, says: 'I decided that it is too wasteful to just throw my daughter's uniform away during these bad times. So I'm going to alter it so her younger sister can wear it next semester.'

Cobblers in the Central Business District and Tampines Plaza, where the back offices of many banks are located, are also enjoying brisk business despite the economic gloom. Of the 10 interviewed, nine said that business had improved by at least 10 per cent since last year.

'My business in the past used to be mainly people bringing in new shoes to stretch or improve their fit,' says Mr Benson Tan, 45, who runs Benson Cobbler Store in Shenton Way.

'These days, I'm also getting office workers who want their old shoes fixed instead. They normally add insoles and get worn-out shoes re-heeled.'

He adds that he now sees at least about 60 customers a day, compared to about 50 a day before the recession. He charges $12 for the replacement of insoles and $6 to re-heel a pair of shoes.

Roadside cobbler Woo Kian Lee, 63, who plies his trade next to City Hall MRT station, is doing well too. 'Although business overall had slowed last month when people bought new shoes for Chinese New Year, I'm seeing more office workers coming to get simple repairs done.'

Bank executive Alex Teo, 27, says he is considering using Mr Woo's services.

'Before the recession, I would probably have thrown my shoes away when their insoles got worn out,' he says. 'But if he can fix them for me for just $5, and they can last another month or so, why not?'

This 'sole' revival appears to have taken off internationally as well. American television network NBC recently aired a programme on this trend. Newspapers such as Britain's The Sentinel in Staffordshire and South Cheshire have also reported a similar spike of about 30 per cent in the demand for cobbler services.

'People need cobblers whether times are good or bad,' says Mr Willy Tang, 38, who runs cobbler and key-making shop Shukey in Tampines. 'I guess you could say we are recession-proof.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.