Find the Perfect Fit with Custom Made Clothing

How many of us go into a store and wind up trying on 10 pairs of jeans before we find the one pair that fits ... just okay? Or how about struggling to find something to wear for a special occasion, when you really want to look your best?

Those days are done. Fashion designer Bless Mazarura, who donates 10 percent of all profits to both local and international charities, now custom makes clothes.

Talia Khan, a 26-year-old who works at McGreevy's, loved the fact that she could select the exact length of her high-waisted skirt. Talia also helped out Bless by working at his Boston Fashion Week show.

“I mean, how many times can you walk into a store and adjust the designer's pattern?” she said. “It fits perfect, and I love telling people ‘it's custom made’ when they ask me where I got it."

For Mazarura, making custom clothing enables him to meet each person individually, and it gives him the opportunity to communicate just how dedicated he is to his mission to evoke a ‘Love Revolution.’

“I think of myself as an armorer who is making armor for soldiers in a war for love," he said.  That is why I call Bless By Bless 'The Armor of Love.' All of my life I have seen that love and kindness is associated with weakness. So my approach is in-your-face with a proud attitude. When I look around I don't see enough love activists." 

Originally from Zimbabwe, he was inspired by his mother, a dressmaker who introduced him to fashion as a child.

When it comes to custom clothes, his truly are one of a kind. He began making custom clothes right after showing at Boston Fashion Week in October 2010. People came up and asked if a dress could be made longer, or if it could fit a larger size, since much of what Mazarura makes is body hugging.

Since he makes each dress one at a time anyway, it wasn't difficult for him to incorporate adjustments. There's an additional fee of 15 - 20 percent more for custom fit clothes but he prefers to quote it per job depending on the size of the order.

Mazarura uses sample fabrics, and will give you a few options once you choose. But once the fabric is gone, it’s gone. The sample rolls are shipped in from New York, and no one can ever say, ‘I know where you bought that dress.’

Mazarura has made a name for himself under the company Bless by Bless, a limited luxury brand of inspirational attire for men and women. Much of it is for sale at on Newbury Street, where he also has trunk shows.

There’s an underlying spirit of “rock star” image, as seen in many of his form-fitting dresses, which of course were featured in Boston Fashion Week. Models strutted down the runway in platform shoes, holding guitars and wearing oversized shades as the band in the background played on.

Lauren Tennant, originally from Back Bay, but who now lives in Los Angeles, is no stranger to custom made clothing.

"Living in Los Angeles I am invited to many a star-studded event," she said. "Traveling in the celebrity circus out here, I have to try and keep up with their high-end labels. So I prefer to show up in my one of a kind 'Bless Dress' perfectly fit to my body."