The London Lounge

I have become accustomed to e-mails, e-books, e-business, but e-tailors are something new, and rather gloomy to me. The idea is that one can have one’s entire body scanned, the measures are then stored in a smart card, and one can order one’s suit with the features of one’s choice online, or maybe in the back of a copy shop around the corner. The very concept of bespoke would be misapplied here, since one is not expected to “bespeak” anything. These days, it seems no one can wait longer than two or three days to receive a product bought online. The relationship with one’s tailor, supposed to grow over the years into a form of cooperative work, does not count.

These news I read in an article published in 2002, in the German newspaper DIE ZEIT. I do not know if the text was referred to earlier in the LL:

http://www.zeit.de/2002/45/Der_digitale_Massanzug

google-translated page: http://translate.google.com.br/translat ... n%26sa%3DG

What is interesting is how they interpret the measurements and translate them into a pattern. Such a service offers the factory's standard cut and styling, adapted to the customer's body measurements. They may even be good at that, but I doubt it - we should have some customer feedback and pictures to be able to judge.
However, what about the customer's styling preferences, beyond the factory standard patterns? "I would like a 2x6 DB with the lapels rolling through the waist button, with drape, and fishtail back trousers cut for braces, please."

I had thought the attempt to make a perfect "bespoke" suit with precise measurements, taken with the help of the best available technology, was a pretty recent idea. But revolutionary tailoring methods for the elimination of fittings have been proposed for along time by now. This article stems from LIFE, published in 1948.





full article: http://books.google.com.br/books?id=MkY ... &q=&f=true

I agree that I don't get very excited about e tailoring. I like E "insert whatever" for most everything else but one of the reasons that I find tailoring so interesting is the history behind it. Part of the fun for me is spending the time to select the right cloth (and researching where the cloth comes from, what makes it special, etc), researching the details and the history behind the type of cut I want. I'm treating it more as a hobby than anything else. It just seems to me plugging numbers into a spreadsheet that is mailed somewhere takes away that personal connection that I am looking for.

lowndes wrote:... Part of the fun for me is spending the time to select the right cloth (and researching where the cloth comes from, what makes it special, etc), researching the details and the history behind the type of cut I want. ...

Indeed, Lowndes! For me, too, part of the fun in bespoke tailoring consists in enjoying every minute of the very proceeding these people have been trying to get rid of…

In Copenhagen there's a firm that specialises in this kind of made to measure (as such, it is of course not really e-tailoring, but anyway) where the body is scanned. Their approach is not one of fit (at least not solely), but rather on design. As such, their target audience is gents tired of having some designer deciding how they should look and wanting to create their own garments that they have designed (very post-modern).

You can check out their web site here: http://www.alsinger.dk

Alsinger have tried to up the made to measure game by offering a selection of fine fabrics from weavers such as Dormeuil, like some Savile Row houses have also done. This has made me wonder: If you decide to go made to measure for whatever reasons, would it be a waste using a superior fabric (such as one from the Cloth Club) or would the better quality of the cloth improve on the finished product?

Does great cloth deserve great tailoring?

The prices of a made to measure suit from Alsinger range from approximately £550 with "standard cloth" (I haven't felt it with my own hands, so I have no idea of the quality) to £700-£1000 with Dormeuil fabrics, while local Copenhagen tailors offer suits at around £1400-£1600 (sans fabric).

On a slightly different note, aside from made to measure garments, Alsinger also offers a range of accessories and footwear: Crockett & Jones shoes, Swims galoches, Zimmerli undergarments, Thurston braces and hand made belts from Danish belt marker Graae Design.

I recall reading elsewhere something similar about this topic in the past as well.

Like the many before me, I do enjoy the time-consuming process of bespeaking a suit the traditional way (as opposed to 'e-tailoring', 'remote bespoke', 'long distance tailoring' or however many other labels one can think of to describe this new technological feat!), and aside from the obvious merits of bespoke which many have cited, I thought I'd bring to attention the other easily overlooked yet inherent flaws of the 'e-tailoring' method.

For starters, such forms of tailoring are typically reliant, although not exclusively, on measurements taken by the customers themselves. For the less confident customer, I understand a further option whereby the customer meets a visiting tailor to have his measurements taken by a ‘professional’ may typically be arranged. However, the problem with this approach is the lack of consistency, since different tailors or individuals can produce slightly different measurements for the same person. Crucially, the nature of such a business model also usually means that (i) the person who measured you; (ii) the cutter who used such measurements to draft your personal pattern (in cases where we are moving away from MTM and more towards, 'remote bespoke' tailoring); and (iii) the tailor who makes up the garment, may all be different people. With such a degree of variance in the construction process, trying to achieve a consistently well-fitted garment is a huge challenge.

Another factor that complicates the process further, I think, would be attributable to the diverse behaviour of different fabrics. Different cloths drape and form differently when made into garments. That aside, cloths take up variable amounts of space due to their thickness, and some cloths take to iron work more than others. As some of these remote tailors do not ever meet the customer, the result will be different if you are working with different fabric choices, even though the same set of measurements are being applied. Given the geographical distance and potential language barriers across the different countries, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to verify such information.

And I suppose the most crucial element in true bespoke often lies in the personal relationship you forge with your own tailor, which will virtually (no pun intended, ) be non-existent in such cases of e-tailoring.

E-tailoring. Hmm, I wonder if "e" stands for empty-headed twit. What's next for the common man, swiping a credit card in a vending machine and having a synthetic suit plop out of the shoot?

JMB

J.S. Groot wrote: Alsinger have tried to up the made to measure game by offering a selection of fine fabrics from weavers such as Dormeuil, like some Savile Row houses have also done. This has made me wonder: If you decide to go made to measure for whatever reasons, would it be a waste using a superior fabric (such as one from the Cloth Club) or would the better quality of the cloth improve on the finished product?

Does great cloth deserve great tailoring?

The prices of a made to measure suit from Alsinger range from approximately £550 with "standard cloth" (I haven't felt it with my own hands, so I have no idea of the quality) to £700-£1000 with Dormeuil fabrics, while local Copenhagen tailors offer suits at around £1400-£1600 (sans fabric).

A good quality cloth always improves the quality of the final garment, true bespoke or not. The more body the cloth has, the better. It can also cover some physical flaws which would show with a flimsy fabric.
Best or minimum weight should be around 300 grams/ m, I think, for an all year suit (if you work in an office). Heavier cloths drape better, not only in the chest, but also the sleeves can have a "fuller" look.
Plus good cloths make the sewing/ tailoring part much easier and more fun (not that the factory workers will notice the big difference) and it will last longer (better value for money)!

Does great cloth deserve great tailoring?

Definitely a "YES"!
There is so much work, experience, effort, knowledge, skill and creativity involved in making that cloth that it would be a shame if the tailor did not honour that with the best he can do, even though the final results may not always be seen as "great tailoring"!