How to recognize a handmade shirt

[arthurk]

Dear all,

I'm new here, working my way in dandy-ism. I see you guys talking always about handmade vs machine sewn shirts. How do you tell one from the other? What are the details that give away that a shirt is handmade?

It would be great if someone could go into specifics, with closeup pictures of the details that you can tell are handmade.

Side-question: what parts of a handmade shirt are in fact handmade? I expect that even something claimed as to be handmade is partly machine made: the cut for example, the collar, etc... dunno, you tell me ;-)

Thanks

 

[Rada]

I'm rather curious about this myself...

 

[P-K-L]

Look inside the shirt - if the seams look neat - it is machine made. if sloppy....

 

[apropos]

Here is a comprehensive list: - sloppily stitched seams, - (neat) machine stitching under the (messy) hand-stitched bits because handstitching is inherently less durable, - falls apart with repeated launderings, - buttons fall off, - redonkulously high price tag, - placket does not pattern match with front panels, - faint smell of soy sauce from the Chinese immigrant handsewer working in an Italian sweatshop, - owner of shirt mumbles some illogical nonsense about romance, the superior fit, the unique experience and the incredible fabric quality when asked why shirt is better than a machine made one, - owner ignores posters who point out that fabric quality is distinct from sewing quality and that since the shirt is RTW it fits like well, RTW, - owner when pressed further attempts to contrast quality of handmade shirt by dissing Hong Kong shirts that cost 1/20th, and - owner of shirt finally becomes defensive and rude and accuses forum of having a 'factory mindset/mentality' when challenged on why shirt is objectively better. - in the case of sho'nuff, 3 months down the road a massive Borrelli sell-off occurs in B&S at 30% of the original price paid I think I've covered them all. Anyone have anything to add?

 

[aj_del]

^^ LOL, FWIW, I dont agree or disagree

 

[P-K-L]

Originally Posted by apropos

Here is a comprehensive list:

- sloppily stitched seams,
- (neat) machine stitching under the (messy) hand-stitched bits because handstitching is inherently less durable,
- falls apart with repeated launderings,
- buttons fall off,
- redonkulously high price tag,
- placket does not pattern match with front panels,
- faint smell of soy sauce from the Chinese immigrant handsewer working in an Italian sweatshop,
- owner of shirt mumbles some illogical nonsense about romance, the superior fit, the unique experience and the incredible fabric quality when asked why shirt is better than a machine made one,
- owner ignores posters who point out that fabric quality is distinct from sewing quality and that since the shirt is RTW it fits like well, RTW,
- owner when pressed further attempts to contrast quality of handmade shirt by dissing Hong Kong shirts that cost 1/20th, and
- owner of shirt finally becomes defensive and rude and accuses forum of having a 'factory mindset/mentality' when challenged on why shirt is objectively better.

- in the case of sho'nuff, 3 months down the road a massive Borrelli sell-off occurs in B&S at 30% of the original price paid

I think I've covered them all. Anyone have anything to add?


Thank you for writing down all the things I thought of!

 

[sho'nuff]

 

[asdf]

Originally Posted by sho'nuff

 

[foulard]

If you see someone who's build is out of the ordinary (ie very muscular like a rugby player or body builder, or very very fat, extremely tall but with otherwise average sort of build, etc) but somehow the shirt seems to fit perfectly such as the shoulder seems, length of sleeves, proper volume in sleeves, snug but not tight fit, then there's a chance...just a chance that its handmade.

PS I have interpreted handmade to mean bespoke.

 

[wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by apropos

Here is a comprehensive list:

- sloppily stitched seams,
- (neat) machine stitching under the (messy) hand-stitched bits because handstitching is inherently less durable,
- falls apart with repeated launderings,
- buttons fall off,
- redonkulously high price tag,
- placket does not pattern match with front panels,
- faint smell of soy sauce from the Chinese immigrant handsewer working in an Italian sweatshop,
- owner of shirt mumbles some illogical nonsense about romance, the superior fit, the unique experience and the incredible fabric quality when asked why shirt is better than a machine made one,
- owner ignores posters who point out that fabric quality is distinct from sewing quality and that since the shirt is RTW it fits like well, RTW,
- owner when pressed further attempts to contrast quality of handmade shirt by dissing Hong Kong shirts that cost 1/20th, and
- owner of shirt finally becomes defensive and rude and accuses forum of having a 'factory mindset/mentality' when challenged on why shirt is objectively better.

- in the case of sho'nuff, 3 months down the road a massive Borrelli sell-off occurs in B&S at 30% of the original price paid

I think I've covered them all. Anyone have anything to add?

Oh snap.

 

[mimile]

I don't see why one should have bespoke shirts unless if really nothing else fits well or if you don't like what you find. I think one should be a little bit less obsessive with shirt fit than with suits fit for example.
I use bespoke shirts because it is very hard for me to find shirts with good fit. Another advantage: I choose the fabris I really want.

 

[epa]

My shirt maker offers the options "machine made" and "hand made". One is a little bit (but not very much, maybe EUR 20 or so) more expensive than the other. I actually prefer the hand made one because of the seem where the arm sleeve meats the rest of the shirt. It is not the typical double seem that I see on most shirts. It is more like a hidden seam.
So I always order the hand-made one. It has some irregular seams that actually seem to be hand made. But I choose it because I like the estheticss.

 

[Ataturk]

It really depends on what you mean by hand-made.

Do you mean:

A shirt with hand-stitched detailing over machine sewing (this seems to be the most popular definition).

A shirt that was cut by hand (i.e., the pattern was drawn by hand and cut out by a shirtmaker)

A shirt that was sewn by hand (i.e., one that has some seams actually sewn by hand...this is very uncommon and probably pointless); or maybe

A shirt that was machine sewn by hand (i.e., without a lot of the automation larger makers use).

I'm sure there's other variations, too.

 

[OttoSkadelig]

Originally Posted by apropos

Here is a comprehensive list:

excellent.

so are you coming out of the closet as an unabashed consumer of machine-made drivel? the horror.

 

[Mata_Leao]

Originally Posted by Ataturk

It really depends on what you mean by hand-made.

Do you mean:

A shirt with hand-stitched detailing over machine sewing (this seems to be the most popular definition).

I suppose this can be nice. It's rather pointless. I derive more pleasure from details like pattern matching. Then again, I enjoy having hand-stitched detailing on my suits, and I can't articulate an objective reason that shirts should be different.

Originally Posted by Ataturk

A shirt that was cut by hand (i.e., the pattern was drawn by hand and cut out by a shirtmaker)

Finally having my shirts made from a custom pattern for me made a world of difference. Then again, I have an unreasonable drop and uneven shoulders. Your mileage may vary.

Originally Posted by Ataturk

A shirt that was sewn by hand (i.e., one that has some seams actually sewn by hand...this is very uncommon and probably pointless)

Not just pointless - it would be expensive, but particularly fragile.

Originally Posted by Ataturk

A shirt that was machine sewn by hand (i.e., without a lot of the automation larger makers use).

Whether this is a virtue depends entirely on the skill of the person at the machine. I think that my shirtmaker, Freddy Vandecasteele, is undoubtedly worth the modest premium for his services.