aybojs
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2002
- Messages
- 947
- Reaction score
- 2
I don't think alchimiste was taking a cheap shot. He's right in the practical sense; that it doesn't help them out much to go over the details of high quality construction techniques if they don't actually apply to the merchandise. If I did get asked by a customer about canvas front suits, I'd be really surprised to see said customer even shopping there. If I did get asked, I'd explain as much as I know about canvassing and offer my honest observation that stores like Jos. A Bank cater to different niche that values convenience and price over high-end craftsmanship. It doesn't come up from customers, though, and most salesmen don't need to know these details.
The worry on my part re: the underemphasis on clothing knowledge beyond the basics like sizing and fabric types is that it extends past mere salesmen at entry level stores and results in managers and high end salesmen who don't know anything about their expensive products because all their past experience derives from folding t-shirts at the Gap, and they didn't have any sort screening for this knowledge in the hiring process. I don't feel like going into a rant here, but when your average internet hobbyist can run circles around your average professional Barney's or Saks menswear salesman in terms of clothing knowledge, something's wrong. I think this would be a good topic for another thread, and since I have to leave for work in a bit I'll stop digressing.
Anyways, the gist of what I'm saying is that the nature of the mainstream market allows the industry to get away with being complacently ignorant about clothing, be it at the low or high ends. It's not so much the fault of your average salesman so much as it is the status quo that allows them to get hired and get by without accumulating sufficient knowledge of the subject.
The worry on my part re: the underemphasis on clothing knowledge beyond the basics like sizing and fabric types is that it extends past mere salesmen at entry level stores and results in managers and high end salesmen who don't know anything about their expensive products because all their past experience derives from folding t-shirts at the Gap, and they didn't have any sort screening for this knowledge in the hiring process. I don't feel like going into a rant here, but when your average internet hobbyist can run circles around your average professional Barney's or Saks menswear salesman in terms of clothing knowledge, something's wrong. I think this would be a good topic for another thread, and since I have to leave for work in a bit I'll stop digressing.
Anyways, the gist of what I'm saying is that the nature of the mainstream market allows the industry to get away with being complacently ignorant about clothing, be it at the low or high ends. It's not so much the fault of your average salesman so much as it is the status quo that allows them to get hired and get by without accumulating sufficient knowledge of the subject.