A Tailoring Blog Recommendation

I work as a costume technician as well as a designer, and most of my jobs in costume shops have involved working on menswear of some kind--usually building a period looking suit or formalwear that can't be acquired somewhere else for the right price.

Most of the work that I've done on these menswear projects involves either sewing it together or cutting the  pattern pieces out of the fabric--rarely have I had to be responsible for drafting up a pattern for the garments themselves.  It takes a long time to accrue enough experience to feel confident about the process as a whole--there are so many ways of doing things and so many methodologies that conflict with each other--each of the cutter/drapers that I have worked with has had their own tailoring preferences and processes.

Sometimes it can be tough to work under one tailor using her particular philosophies toward assembling menswear, and then shift to another person who has contradictory feelings about how things should be done--it can get confusing if you don't know the "whys" behind their prejudices, and can lead (in some cases) to frustration.  Knowing how to work well with others is a highly underrated skill for a costume technician--it's just as important as how well you know your hand stitches, but it's just not acknowledged as much...

I ran into this blog a couple months ago, and my ability to spend time on it actually reading the content has been sporadic (what with everything else I'd like to do as well... hehe...).  But I can tell from what I have read that it's a great primer on how to determine the quality of menswear.  The photographs are invaluable, the topics golden, the text simply dripping with juicy revelations.  For those that like tailoring, anyway.  : )

It's my pleasure to point you to this great blog.  I hope "Fatto a Mano", the blog's author, continues to post as he's done--it's a pleasure to read:

Made by Hand--The Great Sartorial Debate


Until next time, Live Life with Relish!