I have already made a few standard sizes of each design, and have enough fabric to make custom sizes as well. Please be in touch if you'd like to place an order. If you'd like to see them in person or have measurements taken, you are welcome to make an appointment to visit my studio in Baltimore, or visit my booth at these upcoming fairs in Brooklyn, NY:
Renegade craft fair Holiday Market on November 17-18, 11AM-6PM
I am also happy to mail swatches of fabric if there's something you want to see in person but aren't able to meet me in Baltimore or Brooklyn. Keep warm!
“The only way to make money in the
perfectionist craftsperson industry, it seems, is to stop being a
perfectionist craftsperson.” -ADAM
DAVIDSON, in the New York Times article, “What's a $4000 suit worth?”
The New York times printed an article
earlier this month about bespoke suit-making. The article praised the
skill of the featured bespoke tailor, but questioned the economics of
the business. This tailor has all the business he can handle, but
his salary is limited to how quickly he can make each suit. He has no
employees and each suit takes about 2 weeks to make. Because there
are few ways to speed up his process—-making a suit is skill
dependent and each takes about the same amount of time—-his income
will remain well below the income that a person buying one of his
$4000 suits would probably make. Because he works in the way an
artisan would have worked a hundred years ago, he is not making money
in the way that much of the clothing industry does today.
These critiques are valid if making money is the main concern, but there are many benefits to the artisan, the customer and society at large that are important but can't be as easily measured as is profit. These are issues that I think about often as I build my business. Although I don't make bespoke suits, the work that I do also “has no economy of scale”--it is human-scale!
First and foremost, the artisan who
spends his or her time perfecting skills and making beautiful,
functional items out of the resources from this planet, finds
fulfillment in the work, in the creating and problem solving
she uses her energy and mind for every day. It's also worth
mentioning the obvious—-that someone who feels fulfilled functions
as a happy person in the world. I know that through my work I have
found a happiness that has allowed me to give more to others, and in
turn, others have reciprocated in a way that I didn't notice before.
Secondly, the consumer of the product
buys something that has been well-made, well designed, that fits
well, and that may last longer or bring more joy than another less
carefully-made item. The buyer also has a way to get in touch with
the maker—to have adjustments/corrections made, or to add to
his/her collection.
Also, by making clothing or other
artisanal products on a human scale, there is less waste involved in
the process. One person can only make a finite amount of products
with her time, which limits the amount of products that are made.
Bespoke suits are made to order, which reduces waste even further,
because a suit is not being made to hang on a rack, but made with the
wearer in mind.
Another benefit to society is the
continuation of human skills. In clothing, the art of creating a
garment that fits around a specific body is an age-old study, one
that continues to develop through apprenticeship and experimentation.
Because of the immense value of all of
the above, the issue of making more money is minimized in my mind.
Yes, I think that quality of life is very important and that if
certain tools will speed up the process and allow for more free time
while still maintaining the benefits described above, that's value
added. But to sacrifice so many of the above benefits just to
increase profits seems to me a waste of humanity—a waste of skill,
a waste of materials, a waste of time.
I would like to fade out with a song,
and there are so many to choose from. Jack Rhodes' “A Satisfied
Mind” was sung by many people and here's Porter Wagoner's take:
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My grandfather died last week, and I traveled to his Iowa farm, where I got to know him and the family a little bit better.
Although I have been there many times and had my share of experiences as the grandchild-farmhand for the day, this trip had more gravity as I traced the family history and connected it to myself. This time as we revisited the buildings on the farm, my Dad told stories about the tools, machines, and the buildings that housed them, all designed and built by my Grandpa. One thing that my Dad emphasized was that he often didn't even draft a plan for the machines (many of them tractors that performed specific, unique functions for the farm) or tools, but had the entire plan in his head. That little piece about the way he worked really stood out to me, because I also work this way, so it seemed like a small part of him that I was lucky enough to inherit. Like him, I have a strong visual image of my designs that I keep in my mind, but (perhaps unlike him) my drawing skills are so poor that my sketches usually fail to capture the image I have in mind, so I often skip the drawing and go straight to drafting and draping the pattern. I sculpt the image that is in my mind, rather than drawing it first.
His workshop was especially attractive to me. Each tool in it's place, ready to be used. The time spent with tools, to me, is the best part of creating. This is the time for learning, inventing, perfecting, problem-solving, and finding the most elegant way of fitting pieces together. The product is nice too, but the process of creating is what's important to me.
I would be flattering myself to suggest that my skills live up to the skills of my Grandpa, but as I continue to develop as a designer and maker, the way I go about my work will remind me of my Grandpa and my connection to my family. One thing that I'm certain I inherited is the open-hearted love passed between family members, and for that I have so much gratitude.
Tools and workshop
Farm
And one more thing to admire---for work and for dress, he always had great personal style.
Here's a peak at a few of the fabrics that will be in the fall/winter line, which I'm currently designing. Fall is the season I most look forward to each year, and I have been planning this line enthusiastically. I'm even hoping to expand a bit beyond shirts. The line will debut and be available soon!
One of my good friends lives in Brooklyn, so we had a chance to hang out quite a bit during RCF. He is one of the only people in the world who will talk with me about the fashion details in a men's shirt for hours on end! He has a unique personal style, which I am often inspired by when designing. He really liked the original Pencil Shirt fabric, but had the idea that it would be a great addition to his wardrobe as a short-sleeved shirt. He also is one of the few people alive today who really loves long shirt-tails, and always tucks his shirt in! The result was a simple short-sleeved shirt with one pocket. I have enough fabric to make one more, so let me know if you are interested!
Pencil Stub shirt
Exaggerated (by today's standards) shirt-tails
The five8ths logo inside the shirt, alongside my customer's initials
Folding the shirt-tails in preparation for mailing
At the Renegade craft fair last month, I had the pleasure of meeting a man who said he had retired so didn't need to wear a shirt to work anymore, but he "just loves shirts". His wife said he "needed a shirt like a hole in the head", but he was enamored with the Keyboard shirt, and raved about Ben's Wagon shirt and its banded collar. He suggested the idea of ordering the Keyboard shirt with a banded collar, and so to visualize how this might look, I hid the collar inside the shirt and realized that his idea was actually a more striking design than the original! I'm really happy with the results, and hope he enjoys wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it.
