iMessage for tailors and alterations

Alterations work is deadline work. Nobody brings a dress in casually — there is an event, the date is fixed, and being a day late is the same as being a month late. Everything about the messaging should be organised around that date.

Work backwards from the event, out loud

export const fitting = {
  // Said at drop-off, repeated in writing. Sets the whole schedule.
  plan: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.shop}: for ${c.eventDate} we'll want a fitting around ` +
    `${c.fittingDate} and final collection by ${c.collectionDate}. ` +
    `That leaves room if anything needs a second go.`,
 
  fittingReady: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.shop}: ${c.garment} is ready for its fitting. ` +
    `${c.slotA} or ${c.slotB}? Bring the shoes you'll be wearing.`,
 
  finished: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.shop}: all done — photo attached. Ready whenever you are, ` +
    `and that's ${c.daysBeforeEvent} days clear of ${c.eventName}.`,
};

Photographs settle expectations

Customers describe what they want in words that mean different things to different people — 'taken in a bit', 'not too short'. A photo with a pin in it, agreed by reply, converts an opinion into a specification.

It also protects you. When someone returns a week later saying it is too tight, the thread contains a photograph they approved, which turns an argument into a conversation about a further alteration.

Wedding parties are a group problem

Five bridesmaids in three cities, one date, and a bride coordinating all of it. This is the case for a group thread — everyone sees the same deadlines, and the bride stops being a message relay.

Keep individual fitting details in individual threads, though. Nobody wants their measurements discussed in a group chat, and that discretion is noticed.