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Since there isn't anything more delightful in the sartorial world than a perfectly fit bespoke masterpiece and nothing more frustrating than a bespoke experience gone bad...
I think it would be good to have those who've gone bespoke and those who make bespoke cobble together a list of do's and don'ts.
I'll start off with a generality. 100 years ago or even 30 years ago most bespoke makers dealt with local clients and those who frequently visited their area. Today tailors travel and many of their customers have over a million butt-in-seat frequent flier miles. For a tailor you can drop in and visit every week it is easier to work together toward a successful conclusion and things were often done on a handshake. Among many bespoke makers things like contracts are unheard of due to the historical tradition of things being done on a handshake between gentlemen.
Some suggestions for the buyer:
1. Start small. It is better to order one suit and make sure that it turns out properly before ordering 6. Some makers have a minimum and that is fine - but make it clear that garment 2 through X depend on garment 1.
2. Make sure you spell out every detail. After 6-12 months you can ask two people what they agreed to and both could tell an entirely different story yet both would pass a polygraph and feel certain that they were telling the truth.
3. Understand when payment is due and be on time with payment.
4. Very often a customer will ask a tailor to do a style they like that the tailor is not practiced in. This is not a show-stopper if a tailor and customer have worked together before and can sit down and plan the piece together and it can be a lot of fun. What I am saying is that if you want a Nicolosi you don't go to Fioravanti and vice versa. I am of the opinion that most good tailors CAN do anything but do 'their thing' much better. It makes sense to find someone who does the look you want or else you make it a special project with a tailor you have worked with a great deal.
5. Participate in the process, keep the original notes and if they change during the process then record and agree to the changes. If the tailor was supposed to do one thing and did it wrong it is on the tailor to fix it. If the tailor did what you asked for and you change your mine then offer to pay for the change when you change the goal. If things are not as you would like explain why and allow the tailor every reasonable opportunity to make it right and have patience. Your tailor knows what you said - he can't see the picture in your mind's eye.
6. Ask questions at every stage. Smart questions, dumb questions, insightful questions and other questions.
7. Treat your tailor with respect. If you don't respect his artistry you should not be using him. If you do, you should show him some respect and listen to him - especially if you are new to bespoke because your tailor can best advise you. Show up for appointments, give notice if you must cancel and don't leave your tailor waiting to meet you.
The maker should:
1. Be able to explain the process, timeframe, costs and other relevant details. For reasons mentioned above these expectations should be put down in writing and agreed to. It should also be made clear that the timeframe will depend on some things. A garment might come in near perfect on the first try-on and be perfect at the next one. It may take 3-4 fittings to get things right. Communicate this and if tailor and client only see one another every 3-6 months this can be a long process. That is bad if the expectation is not set.
2. Be accountable for delivering a garment that the customer is well pleased with. If you can't reach agreement on the first garment then the rest of the order should be called off, deposits returned and everyone can walk away. It is better to spell out these terms before the first piece of cloth meets the shears. Define when money has been 'spent' in the process. It is unfair to ask a tailor to give a full refund on a garment that is not quite perfect to the customer assuming that the tailor has made no overt mistakes - once they have spent money on cloth and their tailors they can't do it. On the other hand if the customer isn't happy any money NOT spent should be returned. The details are unimportant, what is important is that the monetary terms are understood and agreed upon before a dispute comes up.
3. Perhaps the toughest one: Don't take on more business than you can keep up with. This is a very difficult proposition for every small business - in the short term it feels like passing a kidney stone to put a moratorium on new work until caught up but sometimes you just have to. As a business grows there are points where what worked before no longer works and you have to pause to get some help and infrastructure in place before continuing to grow. Being reachable and responsive to 10 customers is easy - with 100 it is hard and with 200 it requires help and an entirely different sort of organization/administration. Once you fall behind, you're dead.
It makes me very sad to see the problems posted on another thread today on a number of levels.
Anxious to hear from some of our custom makers how they define the process, how they document it and how they think it ought to work.
My list above is obviously from the perspective of a bespoke customer trying to be fair and objective - it probably needs a good dose of a maker's frustrations to balance it out.
At the end of the day when a tailor and client have a good working relationship it is a wonderful thing. Getting there might be a little more difficult in this day and age when most standards and rules are based on a model no longer used.
Anyway - my goal here is to come up with a set of good guidelines that a first time bespoke customer can print off and take with him when he goes to commission that first bespoke suit and have that 'tip sheet' make life easier for the tailor they visit. Seems to me a worthwhile endeavor.
www.carlofranco.com
Seven Fold Ties
Handmade in Italy
I think it would be good to have those who've gone bespoke and those who make bespoke cobble together a list of do's and don'ts.
I'll start off with a generality. 100 years ago or even 30 years ago most bespoke makers dealt with local clients and those who frequently visited their area. Today tailors travel and many of their customers have over a million butt-in-seat frequent flier miles. For a tailor you can drop in and visit every week it is easier to work together toward a successful conclusion and things were often done on a handshake. Among many bespoke makers things like contracts are unheard of due to the historical tradition of things being done on a handshake between gentlemen.
Some suggestions for the buyer:
1. Start small. It is better to order one suit and make sure that it turns out properly before ordering 6. Some makers have a minimum and that is fine - but make it clear that garment 2 through X depend on garment 1.
2. Make sure you spell out every detail. After 6-12 months you can ask two people what they agreed to and both could tell an entirely different story yet both would pass a polygraph and feel certain that they were telling the truth.
3. Understand when payment is due and be on time with payment.
4. Very often a customer will ask a tailor to do a style they like that the tailor is not practiced in. This is not a show-stopper if a tailor and customer have worked together before and can sit down and plan the piece together and it can be a lot of fun. What I am saying is that if you want a Nicolosi you don't go to Fioravanti and vice versa. I am of the opinion that most good tailors CAN do anything but do 'their thing' much better. It makes sense to find someone who does the look you want or else you make it a special project with a tailor you have worked with a great deal.
5. Participate in the process, keep the original notes and if they change during the process then record and agree to the changes. If the tailor was supposed to do one thing and did it wrong it is on the tailor to fix it. If the tailor did what you asked for and you change your mine then offer to pay for the change when you change the goal. If things are not as you would like explain why and allow the tailor every reasonable opportunity to make it right and have patience. Your tailor knows what you said - he can't see the picture in your mind's eye.
6. Ask questions at every stage. Smart questions, dumb questions, insightful questions and other questions.
7. Treat your tailor with respect. If you don't respect his artistry you should not be using him. If you do, you should show him some respect and listen to him - especially if you are new to bespoke because your tailor can best advise you. Show up for appointments, give notice if you must cancel and don't leave your tailor waiting to meet you.
The maker should:
1. Be able to explain the process, timeframe, costs and other relevant details. For reasons mentioned above these expectations should be put down in writing and agreed to. It should also be made clear that the timeframe will depend on some things. A garment might come in near perfect on the first try-on and be perfect at the next one. It may take 3-4 fittings to get things right. Communicate this and if tailor and client only see one another every 3-6 months this can be a long process. That is bad if the expectation is not set.
2. Be accountable for delivering a garment that the customer is well pleased with. If you can't reach agreement on the first garment then the rest of the order should be called off, deposits returned and everyone can walk away. It is better to spell out these terms before the first piece of cloth meets the shears. Define when money has been 'spent' in the process. It is unfair to ask a tailor to give a full refund on a garment that is not quite perfect to the customer assuming that the tailor has made no overt mistakes - once they have spent money on cloth and their tailors they can't do it. On the other hand if the customer isn't happy any money NOT spent should be returned. The details are unimportant, what is important is that the monetary terms are understood and agreed upon before a dispute comes up.
3. Perhaps the toughest one: Don't take on more business than you can keep up with. This is a very difficult proposition for every small business - in the short term it feels like passing a kidney stone to put a moratorium on new work until caught up but sometimes you just have to. As a business grows there are points where what worked before no longer works and you have to pause to get some help and infrastructure in place before continuing to grow. Being reachable and responsive to 10 customers is easy - with 100 it is hard and with 200 it requires help and an entirely different sort of organization/administration. Once you fall behind, you're dead.
It makes me very sad to see the problems posted on another thread today on a number of levels.
Anxious to hear from some of our custom makers how they define the process, how they document it and how they think it ought to work.
My list above is obviously from the perspective of a bespoke customer trying to be fair and objective - it probably needs a good dose of a maker's frustrations to balance it out.
At the end of the day when a tailor and client have a good working relationship it is a wonderful thing. Getting there might be a little more difficult in this day and age when most standards and rules are based on a model no longer used.
Anyway - my goal here is to come up with a set of good guidelines that a first time bespoke customer can print off and take with him when he goes to commission that first bespoke suit and have that 'tip sheet' make life easier for the tailor they visit. Seems to me a worthwhile endeavor.
www.carlofranco.com
Seven Fold Ties
Handmade in Italy
