The End of an Era
Imagine if you could buy jeans with the same attention to detail you employ when purchasing suit pants. That’s the premise behind the creation of “Jeans to a T,” a small storefront in downtown San Rafael, California, and it’s the setting for the documentary short The Right Fit.
The affable Tom Deittrich is the store’s proprietor, as he has been for 47 years, though these days he only comes in six days a week, not seven. People from all over the world buy jeans from Tom, who sits at his sewing machine tailoring every size, style and color imaginable.
Directors Max Mollring and Nicolas Collins put you inside Tom’s store, meeting loyal customers and watching Tom going about his life’s work—one hemmed cuff at a time. At the same time, they are documenting the end of an era.
When Tom opened “Jeans to a T” it was the only store of its kind, selling jeans to the laid-back Baby Boomers of the Bay Area. Today, Levi’s alone has 16,000 jeans stores in 110 countries, and the Internet allows customers to buy jeans at the click of a mouse.
Tom knows the end is coming, too. Toward the finale of the 15-minute short film he says, “I’m still here.” It’s as if in this changing world the “Jeans Whisperer” has to convince himself that his life’s work still survives.
To that end, The Right Fit is a time capsule for a store and for a time in American commerce that is fast fading away.
The Right Fit (World Premiere, 13 minutes, USA, rated PG, in English) is one of five short films (including A Man Who Takes Pictures of Flowers, Love Birds, Oh Whale, and Swim Sistas) screening during Shorts #1: Peak Journalism at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival April 23-28.