190 people from around the world attended the four day IACDE event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston. Simultaneous translation was a must. We had factory tours of the Jospeh Abboud plant (shown) and the brand-new Southwick/ Brooks Brothers plant. The president of the IACDE, Joachim Hensch of Hugo Boss opened a series of excellent presentations and discussions on e-retailing and digitizing fit. Jessica Murphy, co-founder of True Fit Corporation, explained how their analysis toolsRead More
Just got back from my Boston trip. It was a really great time and I’ll be posting in more detail soon but I thought I’d put up a few pics for now. Lodovico Zandegu from Boglioli, Karen Alberg-Grossman from MR Magazine and me.And before anyone yells at me for wearing a notch lapel tuxedo, my old one doesn’t fit anymore so I had to take one out of stock and we didn’t have any peaksRead More
The explosion of e-commerce sites has created a dilemma of how to address fit in a virtual environment. The focus of next week’s convention of the International Association of Clothing Designers and Executives will be on this subject and I am sure I will have lots to report when I get back. One thing I will bring to readers now is that the methods of measuring garments used by sites like e-bay are driven byRead More
Shoulder padding is a fairly controversial subject, but the consensus in the US seems to be “less is more”. There is also a misconception that all RTW makes use way too much padding; this is occasionally true- this is a pad from a well-known and loved brand I prefer something softer and lighter. This is the thickest of the pads that I use in my RTW clothing. You don’t have to go all the wayRead More
One of the most frequent questions I get is “where can I find the threads you use for buttonholes?” My go-to gimp is Agreman and the silk twist I usually use is R753, both products by Gutermann. It has sometimes been challenging to find it at retail, especially in the U.S., but there is now a new source over here. I haven’t used them- the National Sales Manager at Gutermann is a friend and sheRead More
The International Association of Clothing Designers and Executives will hold its annual world convention in Boston on May 9 to May 12 at the Intercontinental Hotel. We will be examining e-retailing and pattern design; there will be two factory tours- one of the JA Apparel factory which produces the Joseph Abboud tailored clothing, as well as the Southwick factory which produces for Brooks Brothers. Also featured will be presentations and workshops by representatives from HugoRead More
I’ve been busy lately. You may have noticed. I work for the company that makes Hickey Freeman and Hart Schaffner Marx, two venerable old clothing companies in the U.S. Hart Schaffner Marx was founded in 1887 and Hickey Freeman in 1899- there’s an enormous amount of history in the two companies but like many old companies things needed to be freshened up a little. So over the last few years we have been hard atRead More
A follow-up to my last post, but this time aimed at the SW&D crowd. I have trouble finding jeans that fit. If your seat-to-waist ratio is greater than the six or seven inches that is industry standard or you have muscular legs, then you probably have similar issues. When I find a pair that fits in the seat and thighs, the waist is usually two inches too big. The last post was about adding dartsRead More
Gaping pockets are a common affliction on plain-front trousers, and are almost always caused by tightness in the hips- the tightness causes the pocket to pull open and form what some say look like dog’s ears on the side of your hips. Never an attractive feature. When selecting a coat size, we advise to fit the shoulders first, then worry about the rest; when fitting trousers, it is best to find a size that fitsRead More
Several people have asked for an update on my hand, and I thank you for your concern. Back in September I had a cooking accident with a knife that severed a number of things in my left hand, requiring surgery to correct. The one question mark was whether the nerve repair would work or not. Five months later I have regained most of my mobility but lost about 1 1/2″ in my hand span (badRead More
