marcodalondra
Distinguished Member
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Following on some recent PMs and older threads, I have thoughts to summarise my views on a separate thread where other could also express their view or refer back as reference.
The skills of the tailor and shirt makers is first and foremost the cutting of the individual pattern and the ability to "mettere a misura", putting it to measure in English, but that in Naples, summarise the process of fittings and adjustment made to the client individual body. The fascination with Hand finishes in Naples, is born out of the visual differentiation between a bespoke shirt vs. an RTW one. Before Borrelli, Kiton, Finamore etc..., if you wore a shirt with hand felled armscye and "mezzo punto" on the shoulder/front yoke", the wearer was immediately recognised as having a bespoke shirt made for him, whilst machine stitches wear a sign of RTW. I once wore an RTW "Neapolitan shirt" at a fitting for a new bespoke shirt, and the cutter asked me who made that shirt for me as it was ill fitting as the finseshes suggested to him it was bespoke...
So in the search for a shirt maker one needs to look for the best cutter and fitter out there. Hand finishes is a visual option that should be secondary This is because virtually all large operation will now prefer making 100% machine made shirts and offer the option of 7/8 hand finishes at an additional costs of 25-35 Euro depending on the operation. This is because they all send the shirts to be hand finished to home based seamstress that probably charges around 20 Euro per shirt, and these women are probably the same working for many different operations.
On the origins of those hand finishes, as said before the very visible armscye and front yoke finishes, were a sign of bespoke. Bespoke shirts were made only by small scale home based operations, often seamstress with one or two helpers. The collars, and sometimes cuffs, hand finishes would facilitate the replacement later on (very common up to my dad generation) and the button holes and button attachment would also made by hand as the dedicated machine would have cost too much and take extra space in these home based operations. The difficulty in finding a 4mm felling feet for the Necchi Machines (it is mainly found for Pfaff machines), could have meant that also side seams and hems would be hand felled, however this was rarer in the past and even more rare now. In fact I have found evidence that some used the hemming foot to fell the side seams as well. There is seriously no benefits in doing these two steps by hand, especially the hems that end up tucked in ones trouser... However, I believe that at an additional premium, on top of the 25-35 Euro per the 7-8 normal hand steps, most shirt makers would comply with making you hand finished side seams and hems. Virtually all these operations were CMT as there were many shops around Naples selling shirting (often the same shops selling furniture/curtains fabrics), and few still remains today.
So again, when searching for a Neapolitan shirt maker, focus on his/her ability to cut your individual pattern and fit you with a perfect flattening shirt. You should also be able to request, and pay accordingly, and finishes and details you are after. If you really want the Kiton hand felled hem and side seams ask for it and consider the benefit of spending the extra money.
The skills of the tailor and shirt makers is first and foremost the cutting of the individual pattern and the ability to "mettere a misura", putting it to measure in English, but that in Naples, summarise the process of fittings and adjustment made to the client individual body. The fascination with Hand finishes in Naples, is born out of the visual differentiation between a bespoke shirt vs. an RTW one. Before Borrelli, Kiton, Finamore etc..., if you wore a shirt with hand felled armscye and "mezzo punto" on the shoulder/front yoke", the wearer was immediately recognised as having a bespoke shirt made for him, whilst machine stitches wear a sign of RTW. I once wore an RTW "Neapolitan shirt" at a fitting for a new bespoke shirt, and the cutter asked me who made that shirt for me as it was ill fitting as the finseshes suggested to him it was bespoke...
So in the search for a shirt maker one needs to look for the best cutter and fitter out there. Hand finishes is a visual option that should be secondary This is because virtually all large operation will now prefer making 100% machine made shirts and offer the option of 7/8 hand finishes at an additional costs of 25-35 Euro depending on the operation. This is because they all send the shirts to be hand finished to home based seamstress that probably charges around 20 Euro per shirt, and these women are probably the same working for many different operations.
On the origins of those hand finishes, as said before the very visible armscye and front yoke finishes, were a sign of bespoke. Bespoke shirts were made only by small scale home based operations, often seamstress with one or two helpers. The collars, and sometimes cuffs, hand finishes would facilitate the replacement later on (very common up to my dad generation) and the button holes and button attachment would also made by hand as the dedicated machine would have cost too much and take extra space in these home based operations. The difficulty in finding a 4mm felling feet for the Necchi Machines (it is mainly found for Pfaff machines), could have meant that also side seams and hems would be hand felled, however this was rarer in the past and even more rare now. In fact I have found evidence that some used the hemming foot to fell the side seams as well. There is seriously no benefits in doing these two steps by hand, especially the hems that end up tucked in ones trouser... However, I believe that at an additional premium, on top of the 25-35 Euro per the 7-8 normal hand steps, most shirt makers would comply with making you hand finished side seams and hems. Virtually all these operations were CMT as there were many shops around Naples selling shirting (often the same shops selling furniture/curtains fabrics), and few still remains today.
So again, when searching for a Neapolitan shirt maker, focus on his/her ability to cut your individual pattern and fit you with a perfect flattening shirt. You should also be able to request, and pay accordingly, and finishes and details you are after. If you really want the Kiton hand felled hem and side seams ask for it and consider the benefit of spending the extra money.