Bespoke umbrella’s
Don’t let appearances decieve you: Though you see parasols in these pics, the main focus is on real, serious, gentleman’s umbrella’s.
Right, so here is another thing that has nothing to do with bespoke clothing, or does it? When I was in Dresden a few days ago, there happened to be an anniversary of the city’s 800 years of existence, and the germans like to celebrate such things out on the street, with food, drinks, theater performances and all kinds of artisans paddling their wares. So I ran into this man, who was sittting there making umbrellas. By hand.
I’m not joking, just sitting there in a little booth with a bunch of sticks and metal rods. At first, I thought: well now that would be a lovely present for a certain special friend of mine. But the longer I thought about it, the more it became clear to me that it is perfect, just absolutely marvelous! I’m not sure about prices and terms yet, because the idea is fresh and still needs to be worked out, but I would like to have it all cleared in a few weeks or so, and then I hope I will be able to offer bespoke umbrellas. It means that you will be able to select from a whole pile of 100 % cotton or polyester fabrics in several plain, check, or ‘fantasy’ colours. There will be automatics, or manually operated ones, with thick or thin rods, and handles made of chestnut, oak, or bamboo. (As you can see, there are parasols for ladies as well, although these won’t be a standard in my assortment.)
I think it is a marvelous idea, don’t you? What better item to complement your suit than a high-quality, handmade umbrella that matches your favourite suit? The colours, handle, and weight you want: bespoke umbrellas.
I should know more about it in a few weeks, so keep an eye out for it if you need an umbrella this fall.
[UPDATE:] Well, negotiations have taken a long time to yield nothing, in this case. After meeting the artisan in the photo, I discovered that he is not, as I thought, an independent artisan, but works backed by rather a large firm. Nothing wrong with that, I thought, as long as he makes umbrella’s by hand. And I still believe that. What is wrong is that in the end, a lot of promises were made of sending me swatches of cloth and sample umbrella’s. But nothing ever happened. I called them again, and again, and nothing continued to happen. So I’ve decided to let go of these people, I don’t want to do business with any sort of company, if they don’t keep their promise. Quite a pity, because I thought the idea was quite nice and the umbrella’s were quite good. Perhaps I’ll run into another supplier in the future, and when I do I will let you know.
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