for fucks sake .. why are you handbagging each other over a chat on bespoke clothing? lol

back to the subject anyway .. the declining audience for bespoke is why the trade has shrunk drastically & even once famous names on the row have gone to the wall .. i cant speak for US culture, but in the UK most old money english gentlemen dont wear bespoke these days ..fact! if you need an example look at some of the high profile upper class british politicans, george osborne, boris johnson, david cameron .. if you know what to look out for you can tell they dont wear bespoke (or at least dont most of the time)! on the other hand a consumate middle class social climber such as tony blair used to wear bespoke, so draw your own conclusions!   

a lot of it comes down to basic economics .. cost of labour has risen exponentially over the last 50 years and bespoke tailoring has gone up with it, while RTW tailoring has become more affordable due to increasingly sophisticated machinery. So the gap in cost has widened enormously, the difference in quality I would also argue has shrunk so the advantages in bespoke are not as pronounced as they once were when machinery was limited in what it could do. in fact i would go as far as to say that if you look at some of the work in a bespoke suit you would probably prefer it to be machine stiched these days as a machine can do more reliable solid stiching which wont come apart as easily. hand stiching is often irregular, not straight and can stray along a hem or such like and can be too loose or tight etc. machinery these4 days can even put in looping stiching around the neck etc which is probably better than handstiching.

the buying public is subliminally aware of all of this, therefore they have voted with their feet. thats why in my opinion bespoke has become the preserve of new money business people looking to enjoy the percieved trappings of success, foreign money trying to buy some cachet or 'clothes hobbyists' such as our friends on various forums & blogs ofcourse you are going to get a few old money aristocrat types, but i would hazard a guess that these old boys are a dying breed (quite literally in many cases) and perhaps carry on seeing a tailor that they may have done so out of habit for the last 50 years, while their children are likely to just buy off the peg. obviously the saville row tailors are always going to talk up this type of customer base as thats what gives the brand cachet and thats what all the foreign buyers (arab oil money, us financiers & businessmen, chinese party workers who have 'diverted' funds and the like) are trying to buy into .. they want to be the archetypal english gent! problem is that character doesnt exist anymore .. the uk has changed enormously post war.

fruity

Last edited by Oldfruit1 (2012-11-08 09:43:17)

This fruit is clearly in agreement with me, homunculus...and he is quite right, and I like the cut of his jib.

Apologies will be accepted in the form of back rubs. Homunculus, when?

Last edited by ivanov (2012-11-08 10:14:50)

Last edited by ivanov (2012-11-08 10:13:40)

Are you a kebab or are you a South Asian? The Kebab in the name the Bollywood in the avatar...what are you Ali? A Turkish Hindi or something?

Success anywhere is marketing, which makes you correct but the problem is you sound bitter. I'd like to get something made on the Savile Row, but I've never been in London long enough for all those fittings.

I agree with you fruit. I use bespoke because I have a slight figure though, I am quite slim...Also my father got me into it.

What is M&S?

Hello formby, I am intrigued that you are telling me what I said...show proof that I even mentioned Savile Row before homu booted up his dusty critical thinking box.

I answer no questions until this is resolved.

Last edited by ivanov (2012-11-08 10:30:11)

Bespoke is attractive notion but the reality is sometimes a disappointment.

If people cannot be bothered with a simple alterations tailor to improve their ready-to-wear clothing, they are unlikely to truly value bespoke. Unless there is a quick win like cuff buttons that undo   - ' Look I am better than you! My suit cost more!'

I can remember when men cared about clothes but those days are long gone.

can someone advise on whether there is an 'ignore' button on this site .. if not can we sort this out ASAP.

Is this in reference to me, oldfruit? I can't understand why...you also deleted your link to M&S, I was just about to look into it. Very odd, I guess we aren't friends- sadness in my heart