zegnamtl wrote:Dear Mr. Stall,
You raise a point that Manton has on several occasions.
What adds tangible value to the suit?
This topic came up with Mike Cohen at Oxxford and Michael Samuelsohn during my visit to the Samuelsohn factory. Both Mr. Cohen and Mr. Samuelsohn spoke of using a sewing machine where it performs the task best and so forth.
I am still very much a rookie with much to learn, but not from lack of desire or thirst.
I have had several discussions on this, the lapels seems to be a point of contention. Many are singing the vertues of a machine stitched for consistency and cleanliness, others preach nothing but hand. How do you stitch your lapels and why, what do you see as the short comings and advantages of either machine or hand.
The machine padded lapels I watched were performed on a $70,000 machine that surely very few small tailors own.
How do most tailoring shops handle lapels?
Your thoughts are most appreciated,
Thanks for your questions. I'll try to give my opinions as neutrally as I can: mind you, I don't intend to preach, my opinion isn't the law.
It's not easy to establish the value of handwork. As I said before, it depends on quality etc. In my shop, all lapels are handpadded. Because I like it that way. I like to have the feel of the cloth. I will treat different cloths very differently, and this is a matter of experience and personal preference. A very soft, thin cloth will have finer and more numerous stitches. A heavy tweed, or overcoat material would become stiff with that kind of padding. So there I might choose larger, looser stitches. But also the amount of roll that I put in while padding differs. This makes each piece unique. I think that is a factor which is strangely overlooked in general it seems, that really does add value, tangible value: Is something unique or mass-produced.
The pic of the padding machine is great, as are the other pics. That lapel machine looks like one hell of a padder, for sure. But within certain variables, all lapels are treated in the same way, I guess. Not so with handwork. Sure, the disadvantage is that with some cloths, being very very thin, handpadding will leave tiny dots on the back of the lapel. A machine like that can be adjusted to avoid that.
How do most shops do it? I guess most fuse their lapels. Then their must be a bunch of tailors who use a padding machine, though not such a fancy one, obviously. I know tricks for machine padding on a regular blind hemmer (oops, should I be saying that here? Yeah, why not: I DON'T DO IT ANYWAY.) It's not bad, it might in some cases even turn out better than handpadded or than the oxxford machine does it. But one buys a handmade product, and pays the price for GOOD handwork. Therefore one should get that, and naught less. Byt the way, it looks to me like the lapel on that machine also has fusing on it, on the right edge of it. The greyish stuff is what I mean....
In the end, it depends on the way the tailor defines quality as linked to beauty, and how he places value, e.g. price on that. The question for the client is: Do I want this artisan to make it personally, with his own three hands (which, by the way, I don't do with all my suits: I have really very skilled people who make some of my suits) or by his specially selected craftsmen, or do I want this to be made by a truly efficient and perfectionist setup of cutter, machine-worker, factory style?
Would you buy a high-end BMW or a handbuilt sportscar? You can bet the handbuilt one will have flaws, in the body and seats as well as in the engine. But it will have more character, personality. It will be a work of art. (Hm, guess I turned preaching after all-sorry
Guess it's a form of professional deformation-ex monk and all that)
To end this epic, the point of cleanliness is a good one: Handwork is bound to be irregular. I'm not a machine, neither is my tailor, nor is any of the professionals on Savile Row or anywhere else in the world. Some people LIKE the irregularity. Some people LIKE unstructured suits. Some LIKE fluting in the sleeve, where others insist that it's bad tailoring.
So. What is the point? You are, as a customer. You decide what is quality IN YOUR EYES. You decide what you feel most comfortable with. You decide and select which tailor to use, or which MTM house. There is no definition of beauty, no definition of quality. Define either to me, and I can break them down for you. The definition comes exclusively from the taste and choice of the customer.
