Tailoring is more common and less expensive than you would expect.

Very few people, male or female, can buy a suit or formal dress off the rack and have it fit perfectly without tailoring.
Last time I had alterations done on a business suit it cost me about $30. An evening gown re-hem cost $15.
You wanna get Barack 'Barry' Obama's 'look'? He's a sharp dresser; but that doesn't mean he spent $2500 on a Valentino jacket! Try this- go down to the local last-season retailer (marshalls, tjmaxx, filenes basement, burlington coat factory, etc), spend $100- $150 on a nice suit (yes, this is an accurate price range for a non-couture designer suit from these types of retailers), spend another $50 (being generous) to have the sleeves done and the slacks taken in and hemmed, and you have a perfectly reasonable business suit that fits as if it was made for you. This is what us normal everyday cubicle-monkeys do... hell, I even had them do my motorcycle leathers! Rrrowr!