Drape tutorial?

[FlyingHorker]

I've been off StyleForm for about a week because I think I need a break from this site. But wanted to log in to thank you for resurrecting this thread. I really enjoyed reading through all of it. The posts from Vox, Manton, Tuttee, JefferyD, Sator, and many others really strike a contrast to what StyleForum has become today. I know I've beaten this drum too many times and many people are sick of hearing it. But I really feel there's a stark contrast between old threads and current threads.

Good idea, my social media breaks are always relaxing and enjoyable. Alerts and my cravings for arguments are not great for mental health.

No problem, it's a fun rabbit hole I'm still trying to digest and dissect for a possible future suit. I understand now that these older threads contain a breadth and depth of knowledge and experience that's completely gone in today's SF. I'm glad they're archived though.

I had no idea that drape had so many iterations and interpretations, and can even be considered a vague term.

Even just at Steed, I've learned I like BespokeWrinkles' cut much more than Slewfoot's. JefferyD's experiment with cutting a drape coat looked too long to me.

 

[FlyingHorker]

Was also fun to see articles on drape still preserved on Jeffery's blog.

Made by Hand- the great Sartorial Debate

tuttofattoamano.blogspot.com

I was wondering what he's up to these days and found this website.

Robert Jeffery – Designer clothing, American Manufacturing, Technical Patterns, & 3D Designs

robertjeffery.us

Then this

All Products

Stores only sell clothes made to fit the average guy so bodybuilders are stuck wearing only hoodies & sweats. Buffery® Flex Uniforms™ (blazers, shirts, slacks, suits, & tuxedos) are engineered to fit, function, & flatter top bodybuilders, so with any dress code you will look like the biggest &...

buffery.us

Not what I expected when I learned he was going to be making suits for bodybuilders.

I was expecting a pattern that looked closer to what The Rock wears.

Edit: Oops, top bodybuilders is what I missed. That would change things for chest-waist-leg ratio.

@jefferyd What else are you up to these days? Did you ever warm to the drape cut or make any more drape suits for yourself?

 

[jefferyd]

I'm not sure I want to go back and read stuff I wrote 13 years ago, so thanks for the necro-bump lol.

I'm up to a lot of stuff these days, mostly involving technology I have been playing with, come to think of it, since around the time that this thread was originally posted. Body scanning, automated pattern generation, virtual fitting, AR. Stuff like that. Just before the pandemic I had started flirting with women's stuff and that accidentally became a side hustle which the pandemic shut down. Then we got shut down completely and I was furloughed for a short time but during that time I had a series of conversations with my husband (a former NPC district chairman) about what our future would look like. One of the elements of that future was a brand that he wanted to create, and that became Buffery-Flex Uniforms.

He will tell you that he is larger than life and a bit of a caricature and he wanted to create a brand that reflected that. We had been trying to buy him clothes from overseas brands that were "designed by athletes, for athletes" which is a cute tagline but the reality was that these athletes clearly had no idea about fit. He thought we could do better. It's heavily inspired by comic books and action movies, and the clothes had to fit in to the existing wardrobe of guys who wear nothing but hoodies and sweats and high tops. Also it had to be functional in a way that what I make in my day job is not. His thighs rub together so a Loro Piana Super 150s would last all of ten minutes on him. So the fabrics in Buffery are lab-tested to be resistant to stains, shrinkage, wrinkles, and most importantly, pilling. Our typical customer has a 14 inch drop. Can I make something like the Rock is wearing? Absolutely- I already do that in Samuelsohn and Hickey Freeman. No need for a new vehicle to sell something like that, though I may eventually do that under the Robert Jeffery label (Robert is my first name, though I am known by my middle name) which would be classic tailoring with good old bulletproof English cloth.

It's funny you mention the length of my drape jacket since I just debuted (internally) a new model that is deliberately much longer than what we currently offer, for the same reasons that the original drape cut was longer- shorter jackets can look boxier than longer ones which tend to look leaner. I'm over the current short, skinny suits so I developed something with a wider shoulder which makes the nipped waist look smaller by comparison, and a large sleeve at the top which tapers to the wrist. It borrows very heavily from the original conception of the drape cut, except that I prefer a more sculpted chest so the haircloth in the canvas is different from what you would find in a more traditional drape cut. I had made myself a jacket and when I finally got to wear it out in public, everyone at work loved it so I created a version of it for Samuelsohn, with the obligatory double forward pleat, high-waisted trouser. It's very directional and most of our customers only come to us for the very gentlemanly stuff, so we probably won't sell any of it.

 

[FlyingHorker]

I'm not sure I want to go back and read stuff I wrote 13 years ago, so thanks for the necro-bump lol.

I'm up to a lot of stuff these days, mostly involving technology I have been playing with, come to think of it, since around the time that this thread was originally posted. Body scanning, automated pattern generation, virtual fitting, AR. Stuff like that. Just before the pandemic I had started flirting with women's stuff and that accidentally became a side hustle which the pandemic shut down. Then we got shut down completely and I was furloughed for a short time but during that time I had a series of conversations with my husband (a former NPC district chairman) about what our future would look like. One of the elements of that future was a brand that he wanted to create, and that became Buffery-Flex Uniforms.

He will tell you that he is larger than life and a bit of a caricature and he wanted to create a brand that reflected that. We had been trying to buy him clothes from overseas brands that were "designed by athletes, for athletes" which is a cute tagline but the reality was that these athletes clearly had no idea about fit. He thought we could do better. It's heavily inspired by comic books and action movies, and the clothes had to fit in to the existing wardrobe of guys who wear nothing but hoodies and sweats and high tops. Also it had to be functional in a way that what I make in my day job is not. His thighs rub together so a Loro Piana Super 150s would last all of ten minutes on him. So the fabrics in Buffery are lab-tested to be resistant to stains, shrinkage, wrinkles, and most importantly, pilling. Our typical customer has a 14 inch drop. Can I make something like the Rock is wearing? Absolutely- I already do that in Samuelsohn and Hickey Freeman. No need for a new vehicle to sell something like that, though I may eventually do that under the Robert Jeffery label (Robert is my first name, though I am known by my middle name) which would be classic tailoring with good old bulletproof English cloth.

It's funny you mention the length of my drape jacket since I just debuted (internally) a new model that is deliberately much longer than what we currently offer, for the same reasons that the original drape cut was longer- shorter jackets can look boxier than longer ones which tend to look leaner. I'm over the current short, skinny suits so I developed something with a wider shoulder which makes the nipped waist look smaller by comparison, and a large sleeve at the top which tapers to the wrist. It borrows very heavily from the original conception of the drape cut, except that I prefer a more sculpted chest so the haircloth in the canvas is different from what you would find in a more traditional drape cut. I had made myself a jacket and when I finally got to wear it out in public, everyone at work loved it so I created a version of it for Samuelsohn, with the obligatory double forward pleat, high-waisted trouser. It's very directional and most of our customers only come to us for the very gentlemanly stuff, so we probably won't sell any of it.

Any chance that body scanning technology would be viable for online MTM men's clothing in the next 5 years?

Not familiar with what NPC district chairman means.

I though the pro bodybuilder stuff looked really goofy, but it sounds like that's part of the appeal with the comic book and action movie inspiration.

I was pretty impressed by this video too.



Interesting on opening something under your own label. Any details on what that might entail? Will it be a new suit brand that focuses on classic tailoring?

That directional jacket looks really appealing to me. The gorge and lapel width looks perfect. I'd love to see this on an actual person and not just on a mannequin.

 

[jefferyd]

Any chance that body scanning technology would be viable for online MTM men's clothing in the next 5 years?

We are aggressively testing it now, hoping to officially unveil our app at a conference in Stockholm in September. I've already delivered a few custom suits for which I never actually measured or fit the person IRL.

Not familiar with what NPC district chairman means.

Basically the state governor over the National Physique Committee, the body that governs certain bodybuilding competitions.

I though the pro bodybuilder stuff looked really goofy, but it sounds like that's part of the appeal with the comic book and action movie inspiration.

I was pretty impressed by this video too.

That was unplanned- this guy was jumping rope with a battle rope near our booth at the Arnold (a big sports fest) so I told our guys to go get a jacket on him and get a video. Which they did. Then the dude said "I'm a pro powerlifter- wanna do something fun?" so we grabbed some clothes out of our booth, dressed him up, and shot that video.

Interesting on opening something under your own label. Any details on what that might entail? Will it be a new suit brand that focuses on classic tailoring?

I have to design things to appeal to buyers and to the masses in my day job. If I did something under my own label it would be stuff I would make for me. Very sartorial. You either love it or you hate it.

That directional jacket looks really appealing to me. The gorge and lapel width looks perfect. I'd love to see this on an actual person and not just on a mannequin.

I'll get a pic of it and the suit it inspired next time I wear them.

 

[FlyingHorker]

We are aggressively testing it now, hoping to officially unveil our app at a conference in Stockholm in September. I've already delivered a few custom suits for which I never actually measured or fit the person IRL.

Basically the state governor over the National Physique Committee, the body that governs certain bodybuilding competitions.



That was unplanned- this guy was jumping rope with a battle rope near our booth at the Arnold (a big sports fest) so I told our guys to go get a jacket on him and get a video. Which they did. Then the dude said "I'm a pro powerlifter- wanna do something fun?" so we grabbed some clothes out of our booth, dressed him up, and shot that video.

I have to design things to appeal to buyers and to the masses in my day job. If I did something under my own label it would be stuff I would make for me. Very sartorial. You either love it or you hate it.



I'll get a pic of it and the suit it inspired next time I wear them.

Would the scanned custom suits appeal to the SF crowd? I vaguely recall seeing shorter jackets some years ago, but my memory is unreliable.

Sounds good on the rest, I'm hype for the potential developments. Definitely keep us updated if you can.

 

[jefferyd]

Would the scanned custom suits appeal to the SF crowd? I vaguely recall seeing shorter jackets some years ago, but my memory is unreliable.

It's whatever length the customer wants. At this point we can show the customer what the garment looks like on an anonymized avatar of himself to make final decisions, and AR visualization is in the pipeline.

 

[breakaway01]

Would the scanned custom suits appeal to the SF crowd? I vaguely recall seeing shorter jackets some years ago, but my memory is unreliable.

Sounds good on the rest, I'm hype for the potential developments. Definitely keep us updated if you can.

This was the thread:

A new approach to bespoke patterns- seeking beta testers

I'm working on a project and need some help. For those who don't know who I am, I have worked in the RTW and MTM tailored clothing industry for about 25 years, running pattern design, quality and manufacturing at a number of companies in Canada, the US and Mexico. I also do bespoke tailoring...

www.styleforum.net

 

[FlyingHorker]

This was the thread:

A new approach to bespoke patterns- seeking beta testers

I'm working on a project and need some help. For those who don't know who I am, I have worked in the RTW and MTM tailored clothing industry for about 25 years, running pattern design, quality and manufacturing at a number of companies in Canada, the US and Mexico. I also do bespoke tailoring...

www.styleforum.net

Thanks, good to know my memory isn't as poor as I thought.

If/when it comes to fruition, it'd be great if there were drastically different cuts to choose from as well.

I wonder if that would be too many complex factors and if it'd break the algorithm.