I usually have a very light lunch, but for some reason the kids wanted pizza today, so I gave in and ordered, and it was really good. And then I decided that I should take note of what I had enjoyed so much. I was about to tear a piece of paper out of my notebook when I noticed that the box clearly told me that this pizza had been made especially for me. And that made me think of bathrobes and nightgowns and pajamas and clothes, and how they had once been the same.
For most of history, aside from the last 100 years, if you had new clothes, they had been made just for you. Custom clothing was the norm. Most of the women knew how to sew and could make their own clothes, for others they had the services of a dressmaker, but in all cases the clothes were made for the client.
1. Clothes used to fit.
2. There were no standard sizes.
Of course, there have always been standard patterns, but all dressmakers were taught, as part of their art, how to measure clients and adjust patterns accordingly. The back ties common to clothing from other centuries provide much more room for variation in size than modern clasps. So what happened?
Before the mid-19th century, there was no real concept of fashion like the one that exists today. The concept of wasting a garment because it was no longer ‘in style’ would never have occurred to the many generations who painstakingly removed lace, ribbon, buttons and ruffles from everything so they could be reused. One man changed all that. An Englishman named Charles Frederick Worth.
Worth became one of the first fashion designers because he attracted the highest-profile clients of his day, from the Empress of France to major celebrities like Sarah Bernhardt. His style was relatable: he steered women away from heavy clothing to a simpler design. The simpler outlines were easier and cheaper to make. Worth had excellent taste and an eye for what was good for his clients, with the result that they came to trust his judgment more than their own. Instead of making what customers wanted, Worth held frequent model clothing shows. Customers could choose a garment and make it with the fabric of their choice.
It is worth changing the world of fashion forever. Somehow he created it. After Worth, the designer was more important than the client. Women did not want to look beautiful, they wanted to wear Worth or Chanel or Dior and they wanted in such quantity that a new idea was born, that of creating clothes that did not fit any person in particular, but were made for the general. sizes
For nearly another 100 years, clothing stores sold mass-produced garments that were then altered by the store’s dressmaker to fit the customer, so while the customer had no control over color and style (the stores only sold the current trend), at least the right fit was mostly available as long as the customer’s size fell within certain limits. These days it is important that the label says the correct size and that the logo says the correct one. Flattering the customer seems to be secondary, and since items are made in standard colors or sizes, the opportunity to really individual The style and flare are very rare.
So what can the fashion world learn from pizza? Clothes ought be made in a color that suits and a size that suits. Clothes ought be made to make us look good, not to advance the mark of some designers. If you’re more important than your pizza, I’m pretty sure you’re more important than your bathrobe, jeans, or T-shirt. Make your bathrobe like your pizza; technology is here, many companies can and will custom. You just have to ask.
