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At Tang’s Alterations, the art of wearing the clothes is part of the deal

MANASSAS — It’s high school prom season across our area, and that fact is never more evident than when you walk into Tangs.

The alteration shop across from Prince William Hospital is lined with pink and white dresses, all waiting for a lovely lady to come pick them up to wear on their special night out.

Ashley, 17, is homeschooled and plans to attend Battlefield High School’s prom on May 12 with her 19-year-old boyfriend, Stephen. Some of her friends at Battlefield scored the couple some extra tickets to the spring dance.

There Ashley stood on a weekday afternoon in front of a mirror at Tangs, where she was being fitted for alterations to her dress that she bought online. Standing behind her was shop owner Xiao-Yin Byrom, better known as Tang, the shop’s namesake.

Expressive and quick-witted, Tang was not simply taking measurements, she was teaching Ashley how to wear her dress.

“She made me pull it up so it wore better… I didn’t think she’d teach me that,” said Ashley. “It was a good surprise.”

More than a seamstress, Tang has an art degree, and she uses that passion for style to educate her customers on how to look good in public.

“You have to tell people what to do… how to wear their clothes,” she said. “Alterations is half of the success. The other half is how to behave.”

For men, wearing a suit is an art, she says. And knowing how to move in it is paramount.

“If you look at the president when he’s first elected, you see him extending his arm high to wave at everyone. But then after a few months in office, you see him raising his arm only halfway to waive. The shoulder doesn’t go up, and he wears the suit better,” said Tang. “Suits are for gentlemen.”

The three fitting rooms in her shop are full of people trying on gowns, while the conversations at the register with customers coming and going are nonstop. In the back, a team of seamstresses works to make alterations for their customers.

This is a family business for Tang, one that she got into 30 years ago. But she never planned to make it a career.

She dreamed of traveling from city to city, selling her art. Children came, and she wanted to keep them close by, and she could do that in an alteration shop.

So, she decided to marry her passion for art and the family business, and give it a twist.

“My family has been in this business for a long time but they never taught anyone how to wear their clothes,” said Tang. “You can have a million-dollar suit and if you don’t wear it right, it will look like it came form Walmart.”

With so many proms happening across the region, this is peak season at Tang’s. And, Ashley is ready for her’s.

I love it, it’s perfect. It will fit me perfectly,” she said of her dress.

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