Prior to the creaton of LL, I remember Alden, too, waxing poetic on AA about those elite  Neapolitan tailors plying their trade each day doing God's sartorial work.  Despite pleas to disclose at least a few of their names, he remained curiously evasive, leaving some to wonder if it's all really just a myth after all.

Last edited by mafoofan (2008-04-20 11:03:37)

I have found the downsides of Internet attention of bespoke artisans to be minimal, so I don't really buy into that argument for keeping the names of your tailor, etc. close to the vest lest they be deluged by unwanted new inquiries.  On the upside, added business generated by favorable attention can only serve to keep your tailor in business that much longer and prosper, which, in the end, is good for everyone.  I know of very few tailors so busy that they purposely avoid any publicity and weep at the thought of new customers.  Problem with many of them, if not most, is an unhealthy reliance on a few whales, however, when those whales die off, so can your entire business if you have no backup business with the smaller guppies.

I sometimes felt the same way (that these hidden tailors were exagerated). But if you are likely to be robbed in the Spanish Quarter, so are the tailors, and they have probably moved to safer digs. That there are lots of genius tailors unknown to the masses, is a stretch, but there are probably lots of very good ones in every town of Italy (not just Naples), including its suburbs. To a tourist without a car, this is Dark Territory, much like Ardmore was to me when I first came to Philadelphia (without a car).

Last edited by brescd01 (2008-04-21 01:04:57)

I honestly think that many of them don't want their shops to be hugely successful because this would increase the amount of time they'd have to spend at their shops attending to business when they would much prefer to be spending their time enjoying themselves with their families and loved ones. You certainly see this in France were once a shopkeeper has made enough money for the day they shut up shop and bugger off home or to the beach with the kids. They've certainly got the balance right.

As Oscar Wilde said:

"Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do"