I'd be interested in rehearsing the ol' saw about Shanghai tailors.  Seems to me that the myth of their superiority is dubious.  It's like nostalgia and invented genealogies.  Reminds me of the "back story" to Vass and Austrian shoe tradition.  Did either of those things really survive their respective decades under communism? 

There's a new book that I want to buy called the Craftsman that reminded me of this.  In it, the author asks what conditions are necessary for a society to have craftsman making beautiful, well-made things. 

On another note:  other books have argued that the mass-produced idea of luxury has denigrated "real" luxury, but I don't think so.  I think the haute, top drawer stuff remains (a Hermes saddle, for instance), but the middle-area has diminished and in its place a plethora of cheap, shoddy stuff.

I note that in that article there is the statement I have seen elsewhere that the Chinese tailors look down on the Indian tailors in HK, as a general matter. I got to musing about H. Baroman, who is certainly rated among the top HK tailors. Some would say Baroman is the very best. So, what kind of a name is "Baroman"? It doesn't sound very Chinese, nor particularly Indian, for that matter. I was thinking maybe Manchu. Anyone know for a fact or have a good idea?

Last edited by The_Shooman (2008-04-23 01:32:06)

"Reminds me of the "back story" to Vass and Austrian shoe tradition.  Did either of those things really survive their respective decades under communism?" 

Well, Austria was never entirely under Soviet dominion and became entirely independent in 1955, so the survival of bourgeois crafts was never really threatened.  Hungary was a unruly Soviet satellite so Vass and others may well have found a way to carry on operations.  Baksheesh, perhaps?

Last edited by Voltaire's Bastard (2008-04-23 10:36:39)