Luxury clothes of the past

[clee1982]

and which store is that?

I have been bother with physical store for a long time I suppose (at least for store), it used to be Bergdorf Goodman, Paul Stuart, Ralph Lauren would give you advice, no idea about these days (even back in 2007 Brooks Brothers doesn't)

 

[Keyser_Söze]

I’ve been harping on the point that the lack of taste and knowledge is the real thing that’s been lost

I 100% agree.

 

[jonathanS]

My problem with most of these guys is that aside from the dishonesty in the marketing and claiming they’re bespoke, they largely aren’t putting out good product.

for me, it’s the dishonesty. I have seen some of the products that are good.

Dishonesty, though, really bothers me. There’s a tailor who makes really good (albeit not my taste) stuff that claims they were trained in Italy. Their Italian training is a 3 month pattern drafting class. How do I know? Because I have a friend who was in the class with them!! My friend proceeded to become a jacket maker at one of the caracenis before returning home. They were trained at a big tailoring house in their home country and do good work.

Another tailor apprenticed in Napoli for 90 days (he makes good stuff, but, again, not my taste - which is different from saying his tailoring is bad). But says he was trained in Napoli.

I’d just rather tailors be honest about their training.

 

[DapperDan15]

Really, I don't think that satisfaction with cut or the quality of work has much to do with the "definition of luxury." Luxury simply means an excess over what's needed. Mediocre tailoring results from an expensive tailor is still a luxury, I'd say, because it likely isn't actually needed by the customer and because it's something far out of reach for most people (today, anyway).

 

[JohnMRobie]

Luxury simply means an excess over what's needed.

 

[WhyUEarly]

Yea...that's not a very useful definition of luxury. A very slippery slope. It's impossible to baseline what's necessary. If you ask my grandparents generation, they'll say everything in my life is luxury and that I live like a prince.

There's a slightly technical/business definition of luxury I like. Most businesses price based on input price, say 3x wholesale price or landed price. But luxury pricing is more like, we'll price whatever it takes (5x or 10x)because that's what it takes to maintain the quality and customer service level.

It's like Loro Piana investing large sums in vicuna conservation. Or Hermes having their own silks. Or dior maintaining their own gardens for perfume materials. None of that is purely necessary...

Growing up, I would avoid wool sweaters because they're scratchy. Today I'm wearing merino wool, which you can find for $20 in Uniqlo. Merino used to be exclusive to the Spanish royalty centuries ago. So yea, that's a very slippery definition of luxury...

 

[DapperDan15]

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Says the guy who buys Tom Ford suits... I'm sure you really needed them, of course.

The actual definition of the word "luxury" means something that is extra, or excessive. What you choose to associate "luxury" with is up to you.

 

[JohnMRobie]

Says the guy who buys Tom Ford suits... I'm sure you really needed them, of course.

I gave my Tom Ford suits away to a couple friends. Didn’t love the fit on me. I think the only RTW suit in my closet currently is a Sartoria Formosa.

 

[Keyser_Söze]

This back and forth I think shows that it's hard to define luxury of the past when luxury of the present isn't even clearly defined or agreed upon.