What Does It Really Cost To Make Those Clothes?

[Lena]

^ I've also noticed that it's getting harder and harder to find fabrics and other stuff in stores, they are closing one after the other as the years go by...

much more.. high quality fabrics, true pure wool is becoming really rare..
my sister wants to 'copy' a jersey wool mix jumpsuit that i've made for her eight years ago.. impossible, since nobody makes this kind of luxury wool blend jerseys anymore

gosh, guys we sound like grandmothers..

btw, i think that we could start a new thread on the topic we are just discussing (machinists, fabrics etc) but i cant get a title.. ideas please?

 

[droogist]

btw, i think that we could start a new thread on the topic we are just discussing (machinists, fabrics etc) but i cant get a title.. ideas please?

How about "Production and Manufacturing Standards" (or something to that effect)?

 

[tott]

^^ Funny you should mention jersey... I haven't found a replacement for my favourite thick, firm wool jersey since the fabric store I shopped at closed some 15 years ago.

It's still pretty easy to find good wools, silks and such here, but the selection is much more limited.

And if I sound like an old whiny grandmother, so be it...

No smarter suggestions for a title coming from me...

 

[fab_fifties_fille]

I like droogists title..but basically we're talking about availability of this all in the modern world...so perhaps put a word to that effect in with it too...

Availability, Production and Manufacturing of garments....?
Gah I dunno...does that make sense?

 

[alwaysacitygirl]

Wow guys, this thread taught me a lot!

 

[MarryMeTomFord]

Bespoke means the shoe, shirt, suit, etc. is made-to-measure for the customer.

hows that different from couture (speaking strictly by definition)?

 

[ninjamans]

This is madness

How can anyone justify paying £80 for a t-shirt which is simply white with a designer's logo printed on it (note printed not even sewn). The shallowness and outright audacity of people who try and justify this sort of consumer r*pe is sickening. It is well known that the manufacture of these t-shirts and other designer clothing is outsourced to the poorest of countries where labour is cheap and children under 10 are allowed to work. You then parade around wearing these names that make you feel rich and important. There is nothing good about the fashion industry. It does nothing for society other than make people feel bad about themselves and exploit the stupidity and bank balances of socialite miscreants whilst simultaneously slavedriving the developing world into making their sh*t clothes for idiotic westerners who feel their lives are somehow enhanced by wearing something made by versace.

Instead of buying something designer, try giving that extra $50-60 dollars to a charity or homeless person? Did that thought ever cross your tiny brains? The fashion industry's shallowness and ignorance of what actually matters is destroying the very value of humanity and this planet...

 

[JJohnson]

Wow I never knew all this b4...but about the tags i was in economics class and the teacher said that a product needs to only be like 30% made in that country to bear the tag. So i guess sewing a collar on and adding the buttons would be that. Since that is a small and quick job i guess they dont have to pay many ppl for that work in Italy or France...etc

 

[Guessgirl96]

hows that different from couture (speaking strictly by definition)?

I know bespoke is more customized. I think with couture they take a few measurements and have it made, while with bespoke they take more measurements and do more adjustments when it comes in.

 

[gius]

Hear hear, Lena! I'm amazed to find that my sewing skills are in demand... I never thought that I would be making my money sewing samples for designers who can't sew (not to mention illustrating for designers who can't draw)... it's incredibly sad how these skills are dying... I never thought my customers would be "designers".
Tailoring especially is suffering because so many of the older tailors have refused to share their art with young women... despite the fact that no young men are interested in tailoring anymore... so many people don't understand the values of acquiring physical skills and they don't comprehend the value and effort that go into the clothes on their backs...

so... this is a very educational, appropriate thread

Then hopefully also, that the schools which are offering these programs teach the subjects very well? Especially in Canada, where fashion education isn't so big. Otherwise, the whole art will be lost

 

[gius]

Do you think there might even be a revival, when more and more designers will band together to form their own ateliers, doing all of their own production, without looking overseas to do their work for them?

Because it has happened already with food: Organic or "biologically-grown" (locally grown and without chemicals) food is starting to become wide-spread in many countries.
The environmentalists, particularly, refuse to buy those imported food products, even if they are cheaper. It anyway promotes and keeps alive the national/local businesses.

 

[Missoni~Heiress]

off topic... but who sells the material for haute couture

 

[Missoni~Heiress]

How can anyone justify paying £80 for a t-shirt which is simply white with a designer's logo printed on it (note printed not even sewn). The shallowness and outright audacity of people who try and justify this sort of consumer r*pe is sickening. It is well known that the manufacture of these t-shirts and other designer clothing is outsourced to the poorest of countries where labour is cheap and children under 10 are allowed to work. You then parade around wearing these names that make you feel rich and important. There is nothing good about the fashion industry. It does nothing for society other than make people feel bad about themselves and exploit the stupidity and bank balances of socialite miscreants whilst simultaneously slavedriving the developing world into making their sh*t clothes for idiotic westerners who feel their lives are somehow enhanced by wearing something made by versace.

Instead of buying something designer, try giving that extra $50-60 dollars to a charity or homeless person? Did that thought ever cross your tiny brains? The fashion industry's shallowness and ignorance of what actually matters is destroying the very value of humanity and this planet...

This is a little harsh...

 

[Tourni]

How can anyone justify paying £80 for a t-shirt which is simply white with a designer's logo printed on it (note printed not even sewn). The shallowness and outright audacity of people who try and justify this sort of consumer r*pe is sickening. It is well known that the manufacture of these t-shirts and other designer clothing is outsourced to the poorest of countries where labour is cheap and children under 10 are allowed to work. You then parade around wearing these names that make you feel rich and important. There is nothing good about the fashion industry. It does nothing for society other than make people feel bad about themselves and exploit the stupidity and bank balances of socialite miscreants whilst simultaneously slavedriving the developing world into making their sh*t clothes for idiotic westerners who feel their lives are somehow enhanced by wearing something made by versace.

Instead of buying something designer, try giving that extra $50-60 dollars to a charity or homeless person? Did that thought ever cross your tiny brains? The fashion industry's shallowness and ignorance of what actually matters is destroying the very value of humanity and this planet...

So why did you join tFS again?

 

[MUXU]

Do you think there might even be a revival, when more and more designers will band together to form their own ateliers, doing all of their own production, without looking overseas to do their work for them?

very cool idea indeed
but impossible in this darn age

one big atelier with dozens of designs just seems trouble to me..too many ideas and opinions

yea..the good ol' days when you buy a high end piece..you really do buy it from the house..not mass produced..but those days are dying (or dead already) where most of time it's to sell..and most people dont have the money to afford exclusives

 

[starz1]

If I were to have my line retailing in high end boutiques and high end department stores, what would the store's markup be? I'm trying to take all of this in.

So if I get X piece of jewelry from my manufacturer for 1500, and I add my own markup (for my own profit) of 1500, would retail stores like Saks, Neiman, Kitson, etc. sell it for 6000? (because my wholesale cost would be 3000?)

 

[bunnypoo]

When you buy a luxury vehicle...you expect a higher level of service and exclusivity. It's the same principle with high end clothing. While many times the quality may actually exceed the norm, most times you're paying for exclusivity of design and a higher level of service.

The highest operating profit (according to Fortune) from a car company is 13% from Porsche. The second highest is 8% from Bmw autos. Most of the money that you spend purchasing a car actually goes into the development of the product. I find it ridiculous that a clothing company can mark up logo t-shirts at a few hundred percent.

 

[tott]

hows that different from couture (speaking strictly by definition)?

You have made-to-measure, which is basically sown after your measurements, without fittings; more or less off-the-rack but adapted to your measurements.

Bespoke is tailormade (obviously after your measurements) and requires fittings. Basically couture for men, but the techniques and methods used aren't exactly the same for menswear and womenswear.

And above couture, we of course have haute couture...

 

[cric-croc]

Wow I never knew all this b4...but about the tags i was in economics class and the teacher said that a product needs to only be like 30% made in that country to bear the tag. So i guess sewing a collar on and adding the buttons would be that. Since that is a small and quick job i guess they dont have to pay many ppl for that work in Italy or France...etc

totally true! now, the law is different from country to country, but i know of several high end designers that have their clothes,bags,shoes.. made in india/china and only because the lebel or something mere like that is done in the uk, they can bear the tag saying 'made in the uk'.
this is why i do not beleive in the designer=quality ratio as most items, designers and no, are made in third world countries!
my philosophy is: i buy a deisigner item because it is peculiar, and i like the style, but not becaseu of quality, fairness in factories, reasons.
only my 2 cent anyway

 

[smartarse]

Let me be straight to the point... materials , however you abtain them , and in most cases designers big and small get them in bulk/wholesale/yard etc. is MEGA CHEAPO! For instance, one of my designer friends, got his material in one of the textile co. in Manhattan. A Couture quality... he's by the way, a designer in haute couture...showed me a material, top of the line, high grade. Cost him a bulk of $200. Guess how much he sold a finish couture for that $200? $10,000! and that people, was just one couture dress! so even if he had to minus, the labor, pattern makers, sewers, button sewers etc... he still made over $5,000. so that's just one of the scenarios. B)