BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2017
- Messages
- 5,585
- Reaction score
- 28,996
This runs counter to everything I've seen from big tailoring houses, to be honest. And really the same from bespoke shoemakers. The field is too small and diverse to generalize, but if I had to generalize, I think the best work is being done by very small independent companies. Big firms often do shoddy work.
I talked to one maker about this and he said he thinks it's about the scale and lack of good labor. Big firms have to churn out a much higher quantity of orders. They have a harder time finding skilled labor to adequately complete those orders, and they have a harder time doing quality control.
I would also agree with you, but on this occasion I would disagree based on whose suit it was. If it were your suit or SC, you guys have a much more of an influential presence. It should behoove A&S to make your suit as perfectly as possible.
Me? I would expect my suit to be outsourced to someone within the London network due to the fact I had only commissioned a few pieces.
Back to the comment you made regarding small houses. I tend to employ the expatriates of big houses or just independent tailors or cordwainers. Due in large part, to the attention to detail they place on all their pieces. Their livelihood is predicated in the work they produce. You are literally wearing their passions, and are a representation of what they produce.
A&S probably would not pay as much attention as say a Steed, but for goodness sakes a balance issue should be elementary.