Renamed: Another one of my teacher’s expressions.
[EDIT: I found the original title: "Quotes from the master: A good tailor has any cutter in his pocket" a little bit too heavy, so I changed it. Small edits in the text below as well.]
Ok, I hope the title of this post causes some curiosity. As I’ve said before, my teacher mr Dahoe, used to speak at great length about all kinds of clothing-related topics. His favourite expression was always: People underestimate this work. And it’s true: in a general sense, people have no idea what it takes to make a jacket, or a shirt, or a pair of trousers.
First, you take measurements on a person. This is a three-dimensional, living and moving body. The measurements are a very rudimentary distillation of some of the aspects of this person.
Then, you draft a pattern based on those measurements. That very pattern is a two-dimensional thing, it’s just lines and curves on a piece of paper. The tricky bit is doing it in such a way, that once all the seams are closed, this becomes a well-fitting, three dimensional garment that is adapted to the client. So essentially, you translate three dimensions into two, and then translate that, back into three dimensions. The first half of the process is mostly the part of the cutter, the second, putting it together, is then the tailor’s job.
One of the things mr Dahoe used to say was: “A good tailor has any cutter in his pocket.” What he meant by that, was that a tailor, when making up the cut fabric, needs to apply many tricks and knacks. He may be less experienced than the cutter who supplied him with the cut cloth, but no matter how good the cutter is, in the end it is the tailor who applies the art when it comes to making. He is the one who actually needs to assess how much the cloth needs to be eased in, or stretched. He may decide to alter the line of a seam ever so slightly, based on his judgement. With his iron he actually makes the cut into a garment, and in many ways therefore, has the final say. And if he’s wrong, he can very easily mess up or destroy a wonderful cut. Obviously he can’t go and change the cut or the design, because these were created by the cutter, according to the clients’ wishes.
This is the fun part for me. Since I’m a cut&make tailor, I do everything myself, from cutting through fitting to stitching and pressing. It would be great to have a few tailors working for me and turn out 200 suits a year, but that’s not reality.
I guess I can say I have myself in my pocket. Makes me feel a trifle schizofrenic at times. But seriously, I often find that when making up a garment, I will want to change what I had previously designed, so mr. Dahoe’s axiom does hold true.
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Hello! It’s good to see you back. I’ve been checking every now and then, and it’s nice to see that it was worth it.
I’m very curious where you would say that the line might be drawn in the skill of a tailor for one where he has a cutter in his back pocket, versus one where the tailor falls out of his back pocket. Obviously, a truly incompetent tailor could ruin a suit designed by a good cutter, but where is the line? Could a merely decent tailor ruin a suit that was cut well? Is there anything in the reverse which is true, that a master tailor could fit a poorly cut suit?
Thanks for the kind words Chris.
The point I had in mind is that it is a matter of cooperation between cutter and tailor. They both have to do their job right, and they both can botch it up.
Any good design can be ruined by a mediocre execution, whether it’s a suit, a car, a house, a table or whatever. Similarly, any mediocre design can be improved during it’s coming into physical existence. Where is the line? It’s moving, it’s a play between two specialists, and many aspects of skill, taste and listening figure in this.
Hello I have a tailor shop in Costa Rica, I wonder what is the book you have in the image for your reference.
Here in Central America is difficult to get that type of lecture, so I was wondering where I can get one sample.
Regards
Fabrizzio
That’s a recent edition of Rundschau, a german cutting system. I like it because it’s versatile and quite failsafe. To get the style I like, I have to use a few tricks though, but in their system it is very easy to do. If you send me an email, I’ll give you some tips on how to get good cutting books.