Best of Philly 2005: Style

Least awkward place for a back waxing: Reset Wellness Spa Reset’s gayborhood branch discreetly caters to a largely male clientele, so while you’re getting super-smooth, you’ll be unlikely to run into the girl who may be this weekend’s blind date (201 South Camac Street; 215-893-9934).

Expensive-Looking Haircut: Style of Man What makes for a good cheap haircut? It has to look expensive. This place offers a modern, classy cut for only $30 (the Shops at Liberty Place, 1625 Chestnut Street, 215-561-2887; 4448 Main Street, Manayunk, 215-487-2820; 1007 Orange Street, Wilmington, 302-984-1902).

Leather Coat Refinisher: Jacques Ferber Furs Cows spend their days outside, but their weather resistance doesn’t translate when the same skin is turned into a Ralph Lauren Purple Label jacket. Ferber’s craftsmen will clean, repair, and apply an all–but-unnoticeable protective finish that’ll have that coat looking almost new again (1708 Walnut Street, 215-735-4173; 58 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-642-5230; 2 Greenville Crossing, Wilmington, 302-652-4340).

Custom Shoemaker: Perry Ercolino Custom Made Footwear Ercolino will measure your feet, create an individual wooden last, produce a “fitting shoe” that insures a perfect fit, and in total spend about 60 hours crafting a single pair of shoes by hand. Pricey, yes—about $3,300 per pair—but you’ll certainly walk a bit taller (51 East Oakland Avenue, Doylestown; 215-348-5885).

Tailor to seamlessly shorten your Diesel jeans: Tina Kang at Natural Cleaners Sometimes no amount of shopping will yield the perfectly fitting pair of jeans, and while there’s little to be done about the waist or seat of those $185 Diesels, the length is one dimension that can be fixed. Tina Kang does her repairs by cutting the fabric and reattaching the bottoms, for a fix that’s virtually indistinguishable from the original (225 South 17th Street; 215- 732-3880).

Dress Shirts for the Least Scratch: Zara For $59, you can look sharp in one of Zara’s all–cotton multi-striped shirts, each made with great-looking fabrics and a perfect collar style. How do they do it? They make them in Turkey and sell them in volume at more than 750 stores worldwide (1715 Walnut Street; 215-557-0911).