Bespoke Overload?

[RSS]

I've been the same size now for almost 40 years ... and have built up a wardrobe over time. Longevity alone gives me an advantage over younger members. It was a while ago that I reached the point I was well aware that more clothing isn't needed. But I may now have reached the place I don't want more. Unless I'm forgetting something -- at my age that's possible -- it's been almost a year since an order was placed for anything. There has been a hankering to add a new piece or two on occasion ... when I get something specific in my mind ... but that feeling passes.

I'm not going to say that I'll never again get a new suit or odd coat. Replaceing favorites as they wear out is a strong possibility.

Someone mentioned hobby ... and I think the process of bespeaking clothing has been a hobby for me. It's not so much about buying ... it's about the making ... the process of envisioning a particular piece and then seeing it come together.

Oh well ... just sharing thoughts. There was somthing more I wanted to say ... but the desire has passed ... or has been forgotten.

 

[sellahi22]

Originally Posted by alphaO888

If I goto Walmart and buy 100+ different colored Hanes T-shirts along with 50+ matching pairs of $10 jeans I would have the exact same problem as what you have.

No, the bespoke part of the question is relevant. With bespoke, you can get exactly what you want. If you only buy RTW, you will rarely get exactly what you want and need to keep acquiring stuff to fill in the gaps. Kind of like when you're starving and pig out on junk food, when a moderate amount of nutritious food would sate your hunger.

I don't think you need to restrict bespoke purchases to items that are part of your core rotation. Once you have established a solid foundation of basics, it's ok to indulge a little. For example iammatt posted a cream dupioni suit once. I know I would hardly ever wear it but it's so cool that it remains on my shopping list (albeit not very close to the top).

 

[srivats]

Originally Posted by RSS

Oh well ... just sharing thoughts. There was somthing more I wanted to say ... but the desire has passed ... or has been forgotten.

RSS, that sentence is very profound. Hope I am reading it right.

 

[poorsod]

Originally Posted by mmkn

You really want to see bespoke overload?

How about this guy and his bespoke scrubs [second iteration] . . .

Yes there was fabric selection [100% cotton in midnight, no less]. Yes there is a pattern. Yes there are fittings. Yes there are specifications for pocket detailings . . .

Talk about overkill.

- M

I'm waiting for you to get the bespoke water proof JLP clogs.

 

[mmkn]

Originally Posted by poorsod

bespoke water proof JLP clogs.

Hmmm . . . where was this [bespoke overload] idea last month when I requested another piece of work by them?

- M

 

[David Reeves]

Maybe the buying hit or process is enough. it doesn't matter if you actually wear all the items. I think it would be quite easy to have 100 bespoke items in a wardrobe actually. I have 2 Hayward suits, 5 Richard James, 4 Gieves, 6 A@S, 6 Huntsman, 11 Rubinacci, 7 Poole, and 2 Richard Anderson Bespoke suits and I cant even wear them with having my own brand.

I have a client who has 300 suits in his wardrobe but only one of mine so far. He imports Fish I believe. Thats a true story

DAVID REEVES BLOG:

http://davidreevesbespoke.wordpress.com/

 

[MikeDT]

Does the OP really have all this gear or is it a fantasy? One thinks the latter.

 

[greger]

An interesting thread. In the 60s I saw many fashion tailored clothes. This classic everlasting is for only a few clothes it seems to me. The fashions gave people a reason to rotate clothes right out of the closet. The only people I remember wanting ordinary clothes that are moderate were old men who lost the fire. Beside, fashions gave people a change of seasons. People had fun with clothes. Wide lapels to narrow lapels. And, of course, legs of trousers of many designs. I'd rather see what used to be than what has become. Like Lasbar's method of bespoke- many different tailors. Going to tailors that are popular because people write about them doesn't mean they are the best. Nor does high cost mean they are the best. There used to be thousands of tailors across the US. Now there are a few scattered around and they can't all be bad. Some of them would be famous if they lived in New York City. But if they don't want to live there it doesn't mean their tailoring is poor if they live somewhere else and charge a whole lot less. After all, it is not the price or location that makes best. It is the quality that makes best. Don't know why some people think wealth is wrong. It is by chance that some have and some don't. Even among criminals only a few make lots of dirty money, the rest, some, just a little. Looking down on criminals is right. But, accusing the honest who earned lots, or those who were born to lots, is criminal. It is not sin to have money, but it is sin to love it. Those who love money do evil to the rest of us. Liking money is different than loving money. Poor who love money are just as dangerous as the rich who love money. But there is no sin in liking money. When you see evil you know that person loves money and is caught in that vice. After all, if wealth is sin, then God in his heaven would be a sinner.

 

[Saturdays]

Bespoke overload...more like... Bespoke overlord.

 

[S. Magnozzi]

Originally Posted by MikeDT

Does the OP really have all this gear or is it a fantasy? One thinks the latter.

Perhaps you should read the thread before posting...

Just sayin'

 

[MikeDT]

Originally Posted by S. Magnozzi

Perhaps you should read the thread before posting...

Just sayin'

Yes I did, and I think the OP might be winding you all up... just saying.

 

[academe]

Originally Posted by MikeDT

Yes I did, and I think the OP might be winding you all up... just saying.

Butler seems like an honest and forthright chap, based on my experience with him on this forum.

...And I personally know of at least one person who posts here who has commissioned >300 bespoke (coats, suits) garments in their lifetime, so >100 doesn't seem so far-fetched, especially given age and wealth.

Might be worthwhile reading some of the OPs posts to understand what he's really getting at, rather than just posting some thing reactionary. Just sayin'...

 

[Patek]

Originally Posted by Saturdays

Bespoke overload...more like... Bespoke overlord.

That is actually how I read it until I saw your post.

 

[youngScholar]

Originally Posted by mmkn

You really want to see bespoke overload?

How about this guy and his bespoke scrubs [second iteration] . . .

Yes there was fabric selection [100% cotton in midnight, no less]. Yes there is a pattern. Yes there are fittings. Yes there are specifications for pocket detailings . . .

Talk about overkill.

- M

Bespoke scrubs? For real?

Did the first iteration get too much blood on them?

 

[Butler]

Originally Posted by braised

Butler,

Time to be Jeffersonian about this. Collect data about what you have and how you use it.

Chart out all of your good clothes, separate suits from odd jackets and then group by color (gray, blue, tan, etc) within seasonal sets (summer,3 season, winter). No hard rules, just allcoate them out.

Round 1 of analysis is to see what is duplicative and where holes may be.

Round 2 is to take the vertically arrayed list and add a couple of columns for seasons. Print it out, put it on, in or by your dresser.

Everytime you wear a garment, mark a stroke in the column/box.

After a year or two you'll know how what you wear and what you dont and can make reasoned decisions about what to keep, what to dispose and what to add.

Lets talk in a year's time,
Braised


Thanks - but any Butler/Valet will know perfectly well how to do this job, thats not the subject of the thread!

Originally Posted by Holdfast

This is being approached from the wrong end of the equation.

Bespoke clothes after this point are simply another discretionary luxury purchase. The act of wearing them or dressing well has much less to do with it. Buy them if you enjoy the process of buying and owning them. It's not rocket science. For some people it's stamps, others coins, others watches, others clothes. If people enjoy the process and the ownership, good for them and more power to them.

Yes but there is a difference as I remarked earlier: "Additional thought: If you have a hobby like collecting art or cars, at least you can look at it and use them - and other people can enjoy it as well - you don't take friends or guests for a tour of a gentleman's wardrobe - so Bespoke overload perhaps!"

Foo, I think over-collecting bespoke is distinct from over-collecting cheaper clothes precisely because of its exalted status and price.
QUOTE]

Exactly!

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

Butler- what about seasonality?

Unless one lives in an area with ostensibly one season, even 100 bespoke garments would normally mean some sizeable portion are limited to a particular season.

So the question is about rotating a much smaller seasonal number, yes?

True

I'm not going to say that I'll never again get a new suit or odd coat. Replaceing favorites as they wear out is a strong possibility.
QUOTE]

Partly proves my point!

Originally Posted by sellahi22

No, the bespoke part of the question is relevant. With bespoke, you can get exactly what you want. If you only buy RTW, you will rarely get exactly what you want and need to keep acquiring stuff to fill in the gaps. Kind of like when you're starving and pig out on junk food, when a moderate amount of nutritious food would sate your hunger.

I don't think you need to restrict bespoke purchases to items that are part of your core rotation. Once you have established a solid foundation of basics, it's ok to indulge a little. For example iammatt posted a cream dupioni suit once. I know I would hardly ever wear it but it's so cool that it remains on my shopping list (albeit not very close to the top).

+1

Originally Posted by S. Magnozzi

Perhaps you should read the thread before posting...

Just sayin'

Thank you very much!!

Originally Posted by academe

Butler seems like an honest and forthright chap, based on my experience with him on this forum.

...And I personally know of at least one person who posts here who has commissioned >300 bespoke (coats, suits) garments in their lifetime, so >100 doesn't seem so far-fetched, especially given age and wealth.

Might be worthwhile reading some of the OPs posts to understand what he's really getting at, rather than just posting some thing reactionary. Just sayin'...

Thank you very much!!