Non-disclosure agreements

This is the teaser for the post over at the new site: Fashion-Incubator. Please update your bookmarks.

For the umpteenth time, I got an email from somebody -who claims to have read my book- who wants to know how they should go about getting their contractor or pattern maker to sign a confidentiality agreement. A friend of mine, who is counseling another DE friend is similarly frustrated. Friends, if you're wondering about confidentiality agreements, I already know you're a newbie.

Blog migration complete

The new blog at Fashion-Incubator is up and running. Please update your bookmarks. Pasted in below is today's post from Fashion-Incubator.

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Process Review: MT Install
Process review is something that should be done pre-production to prevent any nasty surprises once you get there. It involves looking at the prototype analytically to determine whether the methods used to put it together are the best way to do it. A clue that a process (such as sewing in a zipper) has a problem is if the application process is not uniformly applied in identical units across runs and respective of time and place (the same pattern should sew the same regardless of where and when it is sewn). Process review in the case of this business would mean critiquing a zipper install -for example- to see how nicely or poorly it came out. I'll be using exactly the latter example once I'm acclimated to this new blogging environment.

Today's topic of process review: MT (Movable Type) Install means that the weblog system needs to be tested by users. At this time I'm not concerned about the skin of it but the operability and features available to the user. So feel free to process review this. If you navigate a bit, you'll see the comments from the first blog haven't been imported yet, all in due time. In spite of the difficulty of installing MT, I know it was a good investment of money and time. And they do say the pangs of childbirth fade with time; but I'm still dealing with after-contractions ;). Your input is appreciated.

Anonymous posting is disallowed. You'll have to sign in with your email address in order to post comments. If you prefer, once TypeKey is set up you can use that. My privacy policy has always been if I don't use the information you give me, why would I let anybody else use it? I'm not going to share it with anybody else if I don't even share it with myself. I'm kind of a privacy nut.

Fashion-Incubator.com

I still live and breathe which -were one to know- is not so readily expressed following the completion of the installation of Movable Type -and on a windows server no less. Who knew this could be so complicated? Talk about initiation by fire, an MT install job definitely doesn't pass the Sheila-Usability-Test (can any sheila do this?). Anyway, after installing MT on the windows server, it was still problematic so I acquired a new server which runs Linux (MT is optimized in a Linux/Unix environment). Long story short, the new blog will be hosted at its own domain Fashion-Incubator.com. I just have a test page up there so you can go look if you like. Once it's up and running full bore, you'll be automatically re-directed.

I thought I'd write so you'd all know I hadn't died or something. A week is a very long time for me not to post.

Blog migration

While not apparent, I've been busily working to migrate this blog into Movable Type. Provided all goes well -meaning the geek gods at mt's community support deign to provide relief for my mt idiocracy- you'll find an improved blog within the next few days.

And, I've had the flu so I'm not ignoring anyone. Well...I'm not ignoring anyone except a chick named Melissa and a guy named Randall who seem to think my purpose in life is to answer whatever questions they have even tho they haven't bothered to read the free book chapters or the faq files at designer-entrepreneurs.com or buy my book.

I'm planning to launch the new blog with a multi-part process review of zipper installation. Yes, I know, that topic just sends your heart a pitter-patter, no?

AIBI sourcing show

Speaking of fashion incubators, Chicago has a not-for-profit incubator called the Apparel Industry Board Inc (AIBI). Their mission statement reads in part:

The Apparel Industry Board, Inc. is a delegate agency of the Department of Planning and Development of the City of Chicago and our mission is to promote the sewn products industry. We assist members in developing professional skills, identifying employment opportunities, and obtaining new business. Founded in 1987, AIBI is comprised of industry leaders and professionals in Greater Chicago and Illinois whose careers and business expertise span all facets of apparel and sewn products, including design, manufacturing, sales, retail, marketing, and finance.

If you base your impression of the group based on their online presence, you're apt to be disappointed so I'd suggest you look past that. The AIBI sponsors two fabric and trim sourcing shows a year and the next show is coming up June 1st and 2nd. The mailers for the event have already gone out, I've scanned mine for your convenience if you need a sign-up sheet. Here's the inside page(778kb) and this is the outside page (812kb).

The Chicago Fabric & Trim Show allows you to order from thousands of samples in one convenient location (free) Attendees must present a business card or tax ID and photo ID to gain admittance. For the trade only. No one under the age of 18 admitted - neither with nor without supervision.

Men's drafting

Jess shares his method of drafting a basic man's pant block which goes to show you that a method doesn't need to be complicated in order to be informative and useful. His first post on the page relates to a useful tool to add seam allowances quickly and painlessly:

What I really hate doing is drawing seam allowances so I decided to try to find a way that would make it easier when I'm drawing seam allowances on curves. I found this weird looking compass thingy (it's called a Circle Master Compass and you can get one here.)It holds two pencils and it's perfect. Just gauge the points of the pencils with a ruler to the seam allowance you need and trace around your block pieces. Make sure you hold it square from the edge while your drawing or it will shorten the seam allowance and check your work with a ruler. It works great.
Thanks Jess.

I realize there's a lot of legitimacy to men's arguments that there are few pattern drafting books regarding men's wear. In that vein I'd recommend Metric Pattern Cutting for Menswear by Winifred Aldrich or Fundamentals of Men's Fashion Design by Masaaka Kawashima. Another favorite is Tailoring Suits the Professional Way by Clarence Poulin (out of print).

Dallas Fashion Incubator

I am very pleased to announce the Dallas Fashion Incubator. While that may not mean much to people who don't live in Dallas, it is a sign of a general trend towards recognizing the value of reclaiming market segments in apparel and sewn products. Although the Dallas Fashion Incubator is a young group, they already have a store-front where client designers sell their products. Their venue is good; directly across the street from Neiman Marcus (the flagship store). The organization provides training, classes and seminars. I'm really excited about the incubator and I'll probably fly in to do a seminar or two myself.

Their website has some useful DE links such as buttons, display products, mannequins, suppliers, -lots of cutting services- some pattern makers and sewing contractors. They'll add to their link list, be patient. By the way, please do register on their site. As a not-for-profit, they need to justify their spending. Building an online presence can only help everybody. If they get a lot of traffic, maybe they can get funding to expand online services thus expanding their client service base.

By the way, I'm originally from Dallas. I went to El Centro College in downtown Dallas which is -in my opinion- the most under-rated apparel school in the country. Lance Blankenship (the Executive Director of DFI) told me that El Centro would be happy to welcome me back for a vist but I told him he should check on that first. I wasn't very popular when I was there either. One of my teachers hated me. A lot. I was such a disappointment to her (at the time and maybe I still am). Then later, once she knew it was me who wrote the book, she was pissed! The chapter I wrote on production pattern making really burned her biscuits. Oh well, I liked her even though she didn't like me, she taught me a lot and I have no regrets. And she had the most beautiful hair (she was pretty too) and I normally don't notice things like that.

Passion

This is an email someone sent me. This guy gets it.
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Having looked into some of your professional interests, ...you have passion for things...I like that in a person. I was reminded of another woman I once knew who held certain things very close to her heart and would reveal her passion for them in an inspiring manner. I was reminded of a story and felt like passing it on to you.

There was fire in the woman's eyes the instant she was told by a neighbor that there was indeed a Husqvarna sewing machine manufacturing plant in Germany. You see, the woman had used a cryptic and almost historic Singer to sew the clothes her children wore for many years. She had only dreams of actually working with a machine that could make her clothes so much better and easier to make. The cost of such a machine in her homeland of America was something that she knew she could only fantasize about owning.

The conversation with her neighbor was somewhat lacking in actual content as the women only spoke English and her neighbor only spoke German, with the broken dialect of the small village known as Wallau, which was located discriminately close to the autobahn linking Frankfurt with Wiesbaden. The abstraction of information did not in any way detour the woman from the basic consideration that there was a factory building Husqvarna sewing machines at that very moment, at a location somewhere within the borders of Germany.

The woman had come to understand that the entire German country was no larger than her home state back in America...which meant that the factory where these magical machines were being put into boxes for shipping...and SALES...was within a distance that she could drive to and return from in one day. Almost in a frantic panic the woman spent the remainder of the day searching through phone directories trying to contact or locate the factory. Her focus on finding the factory was so intense that she neglected to prepare any mid-day meal for her three young children. The prepared evening meal that always awaited the woman's husband upon his return from a days work in Frankfurt was simply not prepared.

There was only one conversation at the dinner table that evening. The husbands inquiry about the cheese, crackers, and popcorn for dinner, was instantly dismissed. The children's complaints of hunger were also dismissed. The conversation was very short and very direct.
"I will be driving you to work in the morning so that I will be able to use the car for the entire day tomorrow. We will need to drop you off early, as we will have a long way to travel. So everyone is to go straight to bed, and there will be no whining in the morning - we will be leaving very early and traveling all day."

By the fire in the woman's eyes, the children knew they were not to question their directions. The husband once again started to question the meal...and he also saw the fire...he simply got up from the table and went to bed.

The entire morning drive was very quiet. The children were not sure what the reason for the trip was, but they were very understanding of its importance to their mother. When they arrived at the factory the children were rather dismayed at what - by appearance - their mother had gone into such a state about. The eldest made an attempt to express this feeling and was met with a stern reminder that their mother had no interest in the children's concerns for this one day.

The woman entered the factory and asked how she might, and for how much, purchase a new Husqvarna sewing machine. Well, it did take almost half an hour for someone who could speak or understand English to come from inside the factory to speak with the woman. Unfortunately the man informed the woman that the factory could not sell her a machine because they were a wholesale business. This poor individual then had to listen to the effort that was spent in traveling to the factory and for how long the woman had been dreaming of using a machine having such superiority.

The man from the factory listened to all of this very intently and finally, and very politely, told the woman again that sales of the machines was actually performed elsewhere and that no one in the entire factory really would know what needed to be done to sell one of the machines...As he then made eye contact with the woman, and he saw the fire in her eyes, he immediately looked away in search of something to detour her persistence. The first thing he saw were her three children and so he went over to speak with them, while the woman never left her position at the front counter.

He spoke very nicely with the children and he noticed that none of their clothing appeared to have any of the typical store bought labels and that each garment had none of the normal signs of having been cut from a normal pattern...he realized that their clothing, from head to toe, including their winter coats were home made. His demeanor changed abruptly and he stood up, almost like an ironing board, went over to the woman and told her that she must go now and that there was no way that she could purchase one of the machines at the factory. He did not wait for a response and quickly went back into the factory.

The woman did not move from her stand at the counter for the next several hours. Workers began to file out of the factory to go home. She was told by many of the workers that she must leave. But she stayed at the counter and insisted that she would not leave without a Husqvarna sewing machine. One employee finally approached the woman and threatened to call the manager of the factory to remove her from the factory. The woman finally smiled and said "I wish you would". The employee left and returned with an older man who was dressed in a noticeably different suit than the other men. He came up to the woman and asked the woman if she would please leave as they needed to close the factory. The woman's reply was simply that she would be glad to but that she wasn't going to until she paid for and was given a new Husqvarna sewing machine, and he had to listen to the same song and dance that each person before him had to hear.

When the woman finally quit telling him all the reasons why she wasn't leaving without the machine, the man stood there and looked into her eyes, without saying a word. He stepped closer and looked deeper into the woman's eyes...he suddenly turned and marched back into the factory.

He was gone for quite some time, but when he returned he had a man following him. The man was carrying a fresh new box that said Husqvarna on it. Neither man stopped to talk with the woman, they went straight to her son and asked where his mother would like the box to be loaded. After the three returned from putting the box in the car, the manager went to the woman and asked her how much she intended to pay for the sewing machine. He did not even listen to how much she offered but simply asked her to leave the payment with the lady she had first spoken with. As he turned to go back into the factory, he looked back to the woman and said that he had not seen that fire in a woman's eye since his mother had died. He asked the woman if she would have indeed stayed at the factory all night ...the woman's son answered from behind the counter,
"Mom packed blankets and lots of food and told us there would be no whining if we had to sleep at the factory... "

I still have the Husqvarna sewing machine

Sorry about the long story, but I do like a woman with passion.
Jay G. Miller, P.E. Las Cruces, NM

Vintage pattern post #5

This refers to previous postings, select: post #1, post #2, post #3 and post #4 as needed.
Re: 24001. I've sewn my first dummy out of this green rayon I forgot I had. Here you can see it on the mannequin.

And here's a picture of me wearing it and vainly trying to get a decent photo. I must get a tripod.

Fit-wise I'd say it works okay (it's based on a known block 21702). Style interpretation seems pretty close with two exceptions: I think the hem edge style line of the longer side could be shortened a bit and I want to move that flange over a hair, moving towards the center of the chest. Engineering-wise, I'm very dissatisfied with the finish of the top (neckline) of the flange and I'm dissatisfied with the look/body of the flange itself. I don't know how to describe what I mean. I want the flange to have more form and definition; the word corpulence comes to mind. In real life, it looks like it's sagging and sad. I've fixed all these things in the corrected pattern. You recall the first pattern (from a draft) looked like this:

Well now that I have a prototype (the green thing above), I can make corrections to this first draft, rendering my second pattern shown here:

Since this picture is too small to see any marking details (to make production ready, conforming to all conventions patterns) I've uploaded the full size file of this photo. It's 831 kb and you can get it here. As a matter of fact, I've uploaded full size photo files of the block front (806kb), the block back (836 kb) if you're trying to learn about industrial pattern conventions. If you have any questions about the color coding, schematics or markings that is not explained below, please leave a comment.

Now I'm not very happy with the flange, I do like the side panel gusset detail that feeds the flange as shown here. This should be soft looking rather than abrupt.

Regarding the flange that I'm unhappy with. Obviously a stay is needed but the one in the proto isn't good enough. I've decided to cut it out of horsehair canvas on grain -canvas should nearly always be cut bias if you can afford it, like the whole fronts of jackets and suits. Now that's a couture secret none of those experts seem to know to mention. It's so much lovelier. Things roll in a gentle way that lacks definition. Back to cutting the canvas on grain and why. I need the greatest amount of rigid understructure I can get, with the lightest load possible. Here you can see that the new stay pattern is smaller than its inset area.
Here you can get the full size file (812kb).

The pattern piece I've made to show you here isn't the one I'll actually use myself -although this is most definitely text-book correct- but I'm not going to bother with an explanation of why mine'll be different if nobody's gotten at least this far. It's rather complex and if you haven't gone to the bother of working up the sample, why should I? People are always saying nobody will give them "industry secrets" but they fail to realize they have to prepare themselves in steps preceding, otherwise they won't understand the whats, whys and hows of the "secret". It's only a secret if you don't commit to the investment of getting to the point to appreciate it.

Now, considering the collapsing of the flange itself -as a design effect- this just looks a little too limp for my taste. I'm going to fuse or otherwise stabilize the flange area of the shell piece itself. Tomorrow I'll be cutting my second prototye out of the new pattern I've shown here.

Me and my blog

There's a problem if some people think they can tell me what to write or what not to write in my blog. Such people are gravely mistaken because this is my blog. The primary purpose of my blog is not to collect trophy comments, trophy links or even trophy revenues. Popularity, acclaim and adoration of others is not a goal of my blog either -it's to educate. To educate, you have to tell the truth even if it hurts somebody's feelings.

Although I'd prefer you agreed with me, I don't care if you don't. I don't care if you don't like me, my politics or my lifestyle. Speaking of, let's just go ahead and get that out of the way, shall we? For the record, I'm an environmentalist, a social and political activist, a vegetarian and I resent the expenditure of finite natural resources used to make crap. I do not watch TV, not since 1981. The only radio station I listen to is NPR. I'm even a weird parent having planned a home birth with two midwives in attendance. I used cloth diapers, and still use real linen napkins everyday. I have never bought my child a plastic toy. Lastly, as social activism is the defining paradigm of my life, I'm insulted that some people think that because I wrote a book about manufacturing, that means I promote management issues over labor and that I'm less likely to worry about sweat-shop abuses. A lot of home sewers seem to take the attitude that I'm the progenitor of Satan's sweat-shops. Just why do you think I wrote a book? It's because if you do things the right way, you don't need to run a sweat-shop. I wrote a book about manufacturing to prevent sweat shops, not start them. It doesn't matter if you like me or my life choices but I will never attempt to persuade others to make the same choices I have. In a nutshell, you make not like this messenger but heed the message all the same.

I tell the truth because I resent the mindset that it's "okay" and "acceptable" to make crap and pimp it using lies justified by the fact that you're turning a profit -that's illegal in many industries but not in this one. Just because it's not illegal doesn't mean it's "good"; you still have to weather the approval of your associates and customers to stay in the game for the long haul. Your talk must match your walk and if you're over the top in pushing your crap, you've made yourself a target for anyone! In that statement, I'm including everybody from home-sewing expert-crap to manufacturer-crap because I don't care where it lies in the spectrum. In other words, I will write about DE-crap, contractor-crap, retailer-crap, sales-rep crap, sewing-expert crap, fabric and fabric-supplier crap, pattern-makers crap, manufacturing-management crap, fitting and sizing crap, research and academic crap, equipment crap... no crap is sacred! If something is crap, I'm going to tell you about it because our problems are complex. We can't solve complex problems without understanding all of the details of how things feed into each other. I don't know how anyone thinks we can solve these problems if nobody's talking to each other. And somebody needs to stir this nest. If you agree with everything except that which affects you directly, one could surmise your defensiveness is dishonest or self-serving.

This blog isn't about making t-shirts because anybody can do that. If you want to do that, great, go wild but this isn't the place for you and I resent any implications that I should make this "safe" for you just so your feelings don't get hurt. This blog is not about how to do things that anyone can do because you can get that anywhere else so go there instead please. This is about reclaiming what we used to do and do well. These days, if a friend tells me she went shopping, my first thought is "what color t-shirt did you buy" because that's all there is. If we wait much longer to make this a priority, we're going to be in a great deal of trouble. What consumers probably don't know is that it is almost impossible to make certain things in the US anymore because we've lost the labor pool that knows how to do it. Most of the people who once made nice products are retired and dying. There are critical shortages of given skills in the apparel industry and if we wait much longer, we'll never regain the skills we need to make nice things again. I believe the US industry will never be of it's former size but I still believe there's a place for it here. I envision that we'll have a lot more smaller companies making specialized products and the industry infrastructure (suppliers, retail venues etc) needs to come to terms with that. I don't believe apparel companies need to be large to be profitable and it's a known fact that small businesses employ more people than large businesses do, so this is a win-win situation for everybody. If you haven't figured it out yet, my driving passion is job creation. Not everybody can work at Mc Donald’s and support a family.

Manufacturing does support families. I don't know why people think factories are so awful, have you ever worked in one? They can be kind of cool, fun places. I have literally spent the best years of my life in factories. For that matter, I live in one (an old brewery)! Some people like the noise of the machines. In the heart of every fork-lift driver or large equipment operator is a little 5 year old kid who can barely see under an over-sized hard hat and who sometimes can't believe he gets paid to do this. Factories aren't what you think. Only 3% of US manufacturers are sweat-shops so very few factories are boring, dangerous, dank and dirty. People who work or have worked in factories may resent your sweat-shop comments because they wouldn't work at a place like that anymore than you would and if you intimate that they have, that's an underhanded way of saying you're better than they are. Some of us deeply admire and respect our previous factory employers so a sweatshop comment can be offensive. DEs call me up and that's the first thing they'll say, "I need your advice but I don't run a sweat-shop". It makes me want to say, "are you suggesting that I do run a sweatshop or that I advise people on how to set them up? Or if I suggest a cost-effective way to do something, it means you have to have run one yourself?"

If you're one of those people who think that everybody else is the problem -not you- you won't find your apologist here so go somewhere else. If I follow my principles, I guarantee everybody will be offended at some point. My message has always been: other people are not always the problem. You are too. That's what my blog is about.

Line Launch: e/o

I'm pleased to announce the line launch of e/o by Russell Songco of Seattle WA.


e/o price points range from $110-$165 depending on style and location.
e/o is sold in Seattle at Olivine Atelier (206.706.4188) and La Femme (206.285.2443). In San Francisco, visit OOMA (415.627.6963). In Chicago, available at Only She (312.335.1353). For more information, direct inquiries to Russell Songco here.

Congratulations Russell. I know you've worked hard for this.

Webinar: Supply & Demand

RIS (Retail Info Systems News) of Edgell Communications (who recently acquired Apparel Magazine) is presenting a webinar with event sponsorship by IBM and Manugistics.

Event: Synchronizing Supply & Demand
Date and Time: Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Program: RIS News webCONNECTIONseries
Panelist(s) Info: Moderator: Andrew Gaffney, Group Publisher, RIS News Roger Tyler, Vice President, Supply Chain Management, Fred's Inc. Anant Ahluwalia, Director of Replenishment Systems, IT, Hannaford Scott Langdoc, Vice President, Research, AMR

This event sponsored by Manugistics and IBM
Duration: 1 hour
Description: This web seminar will provide insights into improving store level in stocks through the creation of a synchronized retail supply chain. Specific topics will include:

* Increasing Visibility & Improving Decisions Before and After Inventory Reaches the Dock
* Minimizing Out of Stocks, Especially On Seasonal Items
* Creating a Consumer Driven Demand Network
* Optimizing Supplier Relationship Management

Sign up here to enroll (free). While I realize it may be more than most of us need, there's got to be useful information too.

PR firm sues DE

From Fashion Wire: April 7, 2005
Mao PR Sues Heatherette Designers
As everyone in fashion knows, sometimes young designers bite the hand that feeds them. Last month, Heatherette unceremoniously decided to cut ties with Mao Public Relations, their publicity firm since the label's inception in 2001. In a meeting with Heatherette company president Elissa Bromer, Mao PR was told "their services were no longer needed," said Mauricio Padilha, president of Mao PR.

"We created Mao to help young designers," said Padilha of their New York-based PR firm, well known in the fashion community for their support and representation of emerging fashion designers like Richie Rich and Traver Rains, the design team behind Heatherette.

"We had a contract with Heatherette from day one to do their PR for a fee - when they first started being late with their payments we made an agreement that as soon as they got their funding that they would pay us in full," said Padilha. "The Weisfeld/Heatherette deal has been in the works for a very long time," he added. "We continued doing the press because we were promised we would be paid in full....We invoiced them every step of the way and everytime we would speak to Richie he kept telling us we would be getting paid as soon as the deal went through."

Continued Padilha, "Clients come and go - but for somebody to have been helped all along and are up with a $6 million contract and don't want to pay us a penny?"

Read the full article here via yahoo. News like this never helps others trying to break in the business; it's a sad state of affairs. Evidently others are coming out of the woodwork with their own past due invoices. Thanks for the tip Josh.

Vintage pattern post #4

Okay, I sewed up my first dummy of style #24001. I'm refering to my first post of March 21 and the second post of March 30th and the third post of April 5th. It didn't come out too badly but the flange intersecting the neckline is going to be a bit trickier than I imagined. I had cut the flange-stay to match pre-splitting for the tuck but I think a little overcompensation is in order (fabric does that sometimes; that's why I like leather!). The width of the stay will need to be narrower than it would be before the tuck split. I'll let you know once I calculate that and you can use it as a starting point but I'm guessing at least 1/2" and I'm thinking that stay should be fused as well. I'll shoot photos of what I mean tomorrow or Saturday.

By the way, keyboards make really crappy coffee filters. Don't ask how I know that.

Imports and returns

The Bush administration made a decision on Monday to investigate whether recent increases in imports are hurting the US apparel producers. Industry lobbyists are pushing for "safeguard quotas" over several product categories due to the sharp increase of Chinese imports since quotas were abolished January 1, 2005. Read more at _US takes first step to curb Chinese textiles_ from Just-style.com

Eric sends 2 links regarding the costs of returns (thank you). Apparently, the costs associated with returns has created a complex recyling system amounting to some odd $3-$6 billion dollars a year. It's another reminder that "pull driven" manufacturing (manufacturing to order) is a better strategy to prevent returns. For an overview of the problem, See _Stores rethink policies on returns_. For details on management solutions and returns, see _Manufacturers' Dilemma:Managing A Growing Volume of Returned Merchandise_

I close with a tip sent by a friend who probably prefers to remain nameless (thanks!). Claire Schaeffer will be reprinting her book Couture Sewing Techniques this summer and requests that people send her notice of any errors. Frankly, I wouldn't know where to start

A "product line" review

This posting has been amended (following the original below):
Heads up on this outfit "Neighborhoodies". This company is a perfect example of people we love to hate -the prototypical DE company nobody wants to work with. If we do any work for a company like this, payment will be in advance and we'll wait for the check to clear first. The biggest problem with a company like this is that they truly believe their own hype! In case you don't know what is so offensive about them, here's sample web site copy:

"The most brilliant yet simple fashion idea of this decade" -Fader Magazine
It seems there's a whole generation of DEs who think fashion design means slapping words or an image on a t-shirt; it's ludicrous. Worse, they expect people to applaud their "vision" and "artistic integrity". I just can't believe the press is similarly stupid; Fader's editorial integrity is obviously compromised by free t-shirts. I suppose they could be useful if one needed a vanity-blurb.

"It's not what you know, it's who knew you first"
While it's obviously true in their case, since when does marketing and slick self-promotion count more than knowledge? This is the mindset that revolves around product marketing as opposed to product integrity. Production in companies with this mindset are a nightmare defying description.

"... because there really aren't any other companies doing what we do..."
These people must be living under rocks. All this company does is put whatever words you want on a t-shirt. I swear. Just what do they think Cafe Press has been up to all this time? There's a jizillion companies doing this.

" We care about each millimeter of your custom-crafted garment"
I wish it were possible to show you one of these priceless "custom-crafted garment"s. One image shows the model picking her nose in a particularly offensive and disgusting way. It is no doubt "custom" but "crafted" and "garment" are still open to debate. Vionnet must be spinning in her grave.

"a quality line that involves seven people handling each order along the way"
In production management, there's a concept known as muda which is Japanese for waste, meaning an unnecessary process that is not adding any value to the product. If you have seven people in the quality control process, you don't have the first clue what you're doing. The seven are pure muda. What's most frightening is that they apparently need seven people in quality control which is scary since they only have a total of 30 employees.

"...a small company run by kids who have no business running a business"
boy, no kidding (hey, they said it first)

In spite of their pantomime of effort, the FAQ is not cute. It's a trite construct typical of 20-somethings who pretend to be disaffected when they're really just spoiled from camping out on mom's couch. Example:
Q: What did Oscar Wilde have to say about Neighborhoodies?
A: “One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.”
While it's interesting they use that quote to intimate their products are "works of art", a more appropriate quote from Oscar Wilde could have been "Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."

The only good thing I can say about them is they're obviously providing jobs for themselves and others but there's no word on where they get their shirt blanks. One can only hope they're using shirts from a company with a lot of integrity -like American Apparel- but again, one should not make such brash assumptions.

Mike and Jess, you'll both revel in the fact that their graphics are 50% off. And Josh, feel free to tear these guys a new one.

Corrections:
In a message date 4.08.05, I received a very charming letter from Danny de Zayas, Marketing Director of Neighborhoodies which reads in part:

"As you know, we are a young company constantly striving to improve everything facet of our operations, so we appreciate any feedback--complimentary or critical--that comes our way. I'd like to thank you for taking the time to review our product line and allowing others to participate in the process."

"While I disagree with a lot of what you had to say, I feel that many of your opinions and impressions logically stem from the fact that you are peering in from outside our core demographic. However, I would like to correct a few of the more glaring inaccuracies in your post."

"For the record, we did not prove Fader magazine with any free items; this is not a practice of ours--it's not our style. It's the same reason we don't run "advertorials" in magazines; it's deceptive, and quite frankly, it isn't something we need to do. Fader contacted us because they wanted to feature us in their publication, and we sent them a sample product which they photographed and then returned. If you're curious, you can view this piece and similar press pieces that have appeared in publications as varied as The New York Times and Teen People in the Press section of our site."

"To assert that having seven people handle one product is somehow inherently inefficient is, in my opinion, also a misguided statement, as the past century of production-line manufacturing can attest. Having people perform specific parts of order fulfillment has proven to be a very efficient use of our manpower, and I'm proud to say that by this time next week we will have realized an internal goal of one week turnaround for all orders--any impressive feat considering that every single order is hand-made and unique... And you can rest easy: all of our t-shirts and most of our sweatshirts are indeed from American Apparel and our in-house production is about the furthest thing from a sweatshop you can imagine."

So you have it there. My assumption that Fader's glowing editorial was due to free t-shirts was wrong. Similarly, I'm gratified to know Neighborhoodies is using the products from _American Apparel_, a US based innovative humanitarian manufacturer who is well known and respected. Lastly, my assertion that 7 quality control people is wasteful, is misguided because Neighborhoodies has set new goals to complete the processing of a shirt in just one week...one week. One Week. So, I was wrong about that too.

Re-inventing Vionnet & 24001 draft

I’ve been working on my pattern for the vintage pattern contest. Here you’ll see my first draft. If you look closely, you’ll see a “stay”. That’s a hint, you’re going to need one too.


The block I’m using is modified from a style I pulled out of _Madeleine Vionnet_ by Betty Kirke. Specifically I used pattern #19 on pg 142 –here’s the front and here’s the back. And yes, I certainly did stomp all over Ms Kirke’s copyright but I’m hoping that increased demand -which I’m attempting to stimulate- will nudge the book back into publication as it’s out of print. A quarter-scale pattern of my modified version of Vionnet’s style is shown here. Here’s a photo of the completed dress on my “dress form”. You can barely see the navy silk waist insets.

(I so detest standard dress forms because they’re not shaped like people). If you’d like to see the bias-cut dress block on me, go here. Whenever I work with this pattern, it reminds me of things I rarely get the chance to discuss because it doesn’t fit in neatly anywhere and that’s really what this post is about.

Vionnet is considered to be the historical master of draping. That said, draping is inefficient. It takes a lot longer to achieve a quality result as compared to drafting. For example, first you have to drape it -which is no big deal- and once you've achieved the look you want, you have to sew up the drape. Then you try on the drape. If the fit and style lines work then you have to take the drape apart and reproduce the shapes to make a hard copy pattern. Once you cut the pattern, you have to cut out a test sample to make sure the drape was rendered accurately onto paper. Continue to make intermittent corrections as necessary. With drafting, you start with paper and then cut a sample to fit. Your iteration begins there. The drafting process is much faster, cleaner, efficient and accurate.

My intention in writing the latter paragraph was not to belittle the design process preferences of others. It's important that people understand the difference between drafting and draping. Vionnet only draped because she couldn't draft; and if she was that good with draping, I cannot conceive how brilliant she would have been with drafting. It's incalculable. You can get the same results with drafting and draping. It's just that draping takes longer as it is prone to greater error. I'm trying to explain the difference not to criticize draping but so that people understand she was producing unrivaled design and doing it with one arm tied behind her back. That's why she was a genius. So maybe you already knew she was a genius but I felt the need to prove it from a technical standpoint.

That's why my gut says that Vionnet never had any formal drafting training. She was unschooled making her genius all the more remarkable. That's why she draped everything. Over time, she saw patterns emerge from her drapes off an x-y coordinate (grain is the ultimate x-y coordinate) - yet her drapes were necessarily cartographic. Unable to resolve the difference between the minutia of these engineering details, she began to hang out with mathematicians. I don't know that she ever saw the larger pattern -the one we're all looking for- and I think it may have been one of the greatest mysteries of her intellectual life. I know it is of mine. I also think that one of the greatest tragedies is that Vionnet was not trained in pattern drafting. Vionnet learned the long way via draping, if she'd had some drafting instruction, I just can't imagine the impact of her talent on the history of fashion.

I've seen the drafts in Vionnet's book and I've tested several of them literally and most of them mentally many, many times. To get inside someone's head, you have to regenerate their work enough times to get a feel of their style and their eye, and I have some idea of what she might have been thinking and how she thought to do things. Like me, she hated being called a designer -she insisted she was a technician but even that was modest. She was an engineer but that wasn't a term affiliated with the industry at the time.

I have reworked enough of the drafts enough times to know that the patterns in the book contain 2 types of errors. One type of error was made by Vionnet and the others were made by the author, Betty Kirke. "Error" sounds like a critical, ugly thing but I don't mean it that way. Errors are like a signature. Every artist is known for their unique fingerprint, it's that very thin line separating them from god-like perfection. There is a degree of quality to errors and the ones in this book are very fine errors indeed. And each of these women -in their respective ways- are worthy of our deepest admiration, respect and emulation. I can only aspire to be at such a level that I could make such beautiful mistakes. Anyway, my favorite reinvented Vionnet bias-cut dress has a BK error -the quality of which defies description here- and once I made the correction, I could see how Vionnet also played with things as she was teaching herself drafting according to the mathematical patterns she observed. While she may have draped most everything, I can only think that once she saw this one on paper, she made extensive drafting corrections. The corrected skirt line is almost a pun, she was playing with geometry and there was a subtle sense of humor about it, almost an insistence to incorporating the feature into the design.

There aren't a lot of this copies of this book available (Amazon lists 2 used copies at around $850 each) so if you do not intend to use this book, please don't buy it. It's bad karma to be a vanity collector. Leave it for the next person who will actually use it, learn from it and hopefully pass their insights along. If you buy this book I'd urge you to use it and go to the bother of acquiring the needed materials (dotted marker paper at SouthStar Supply) and reproduce the drafts because until you do the work, you can't crawl inside Vionnet's head. Until you manage to crawl into her head, you'll never understand just how brilliant she truly was.

Beyond career and intellect, her personal life was always in the shitter. Such pattern emerges that one could almost think she was autistic. And Balenciaga too but that's another story.

The Miracle of Sales & Mktg

I spent nearly 2 1/2 hours talking on the phone with "M", a retailer who's expanding into manufacturing (she's so brilliant I almost feel I should be paying her). As is usually the case, we swing off on tangents, kvetching over DEs. As a retailer, "M" has had ample opportunity to see what problems new designers can create for themselves on the sales and marketing end of things. Here are some of her comments (so it's not just my opinion). The biggest problem are unrealistic expectations and inappropriate priorities.

"M" says that DEs who don't have a sales rep are more likely to rely on mail pieces to sell their products. While you do have to start somewhere, DEs don't realize that glitzy piece-mailers and catalogs are a turn-off to retailers because it's not what they need. Many promotional pieces are designed as though they were intended to appear in Vogue magazine but those are unhelpful because the retailer needs to know the particular features of a product in order to sell it. An art piece cannot convey that. Simple line sheets with feature content is your best bet. DEs have a similar problem with hang-tag design. "M" mentions that not only do most consumers read hang-tags, they read them avidly. Your hang tags should educate the consumer and retailer regarding the benefits of your product. Retailers also dislike glitz because they know they're paying for it since the cost is rolled into your pricing and they resent paying for something they didn't want or need. Similarly, they'll wonder how much of the product's price is directly related to one's failure to prioritize spending in other areas they don't know about. "M" says a DE could load the pretty stuff onto a web site -retailers are rarely motivated to visit- but that it's fine for marketing to consumers. Just remember that if you sell on web to consumers, you can't undercut your wholesale accounts. You can't sell products at a lower price than your retailers. You are allowed to put your stuff on sale but the benefit needs to extend to your buyers; the discounting must be a planned event and not because you're short on money this month.

Selling at market has changed because many retailers are not buying at market anymore. "M" says that most buyers have filled 95% of their OTB (open to buy) before they ever get to market which means they're relying on reps or the DEs to come to them first. They just go to market to validate what they've already bought and to make sure they haven't missed that one hot item. For this reason, more retailers are receptive to a first approach from designers at the store level. By the way, if you sell the stuff yourself and get a sales rep later on, make sure you keep your previous accounts as "house accounts" and have those listed in your representation contract with the rep. Otherwise, you'll end up paying your rep 10% for these clients you managed quite well on your own. Unless of course you'd like the rep to assume the duties of servicing that customer.

Eventually you'll need a rep and it'll take time to build credibility so you shouldn't expect much until after several markets because the sales rep is not going to move other products they represent out of the way and put yours up front; it's the opposite. Your stuff will be in the back until the rep meets with a buyer who'd be more inclined to take a risk on you. "M" says switching reps frequently is a red flag to buyers. You have to give the rep time to sell your products. Once you gain credibility by filling your purchase orders, the rep knows you're able to weather the vagaries of manufacturing and your product line will gravitate forward in the booth. If you fail to deliver your products as promised and on time, it makes the rep look bad to the buyer and could affect sales of other lines the rep sells. Developing credibility takes time, over time. For this reason, acquiring house accounts (before you get a rep) can lend credibility to reps and buyers.

Materials testing #17659/17801

Materials test sample #17659
The cost of textile failure accounts for more than 5 billion dollars in losses each year (2003). Accordingly, you need to process your textiles regardless of fiber labeling to ensure quality performance. Shown is a processed denim sample, the finished dimensions are 18.5" x 19.25".

The purpose the testing was to ensure the trim (bungee cord) weathered the processing well. The form was designed by the company for their typical use which appears to be gauging the quality of different types of washes that can be applied to denim. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that the weave itself was considered.

In this photo,the grain torquing is evident and once constructed, the side seams of the pant legs will twist but no mention of the fabric defect is made on the form. One could hope a torque test had been done previously but if it had been, the fabric (and this sample) wouldn't be in evidence. The best way to test for torquing is to sew the sample into a tube before it's processed. No fewer than 5 people were involved in this test sample but everybody missed this detail. Similarly, the starting dimensions of the piece (pre-processing) does not appear but the lack of that information could mean the company has a conventional size they always cut; the size being a matter of in-house standardization. I'd recommend that DEs cut a piece 20"x20" for fabric testing.

Materials Test Sample #17801
This sample measures 19.25" x 17.75". This form is a bit different as it was generated during the product development phase.

The purpose was to test whether the button and ribbon trim will withstand the rigors of stonewashing and in this case, it appears that neither will be suitable. While this isn't good news, it's better to know before one has cut 10,000 units, sewed them and then processed them. This sample doesn't appear to be torqued but this doesn't mean the piece goods pass inspection. I'd be concerned about the seam failure shown here.

Most of the time, all you have to do to test your textiles is to wash and dry them. If the final product will be labeled "dry clean only", then you need to dry clean a sample that has whatever buttons and trim you plan to use, attached to the piece. If your buttons melt into the piece goods during dry cleaning, don't you think it's better to know that before you cut/sew your product line? One can only hope so.

The legalities of labeling

I notice the Federal Trade Commission has prepared a document entitled _Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts_ regarding labeling requirements for sewn product manufacturers in cooperation with the American Apparel Manufacturer's Assoc. There's a pdf version if you prefer to print it out for offline reading.

I recommend that DEs file for an RN number; there are no fees to get one. To file an application for an RN number, you can either use the print form or use the secure online filing procedure . Similarly, if you'd like to know the manufacturer behind a given label, you can search for it here. This is a free service open to consumers and businesses alike.

One final note (pasted)
When a textile or wool product is advertised in a catalog or other mail order promotional material, either printed or disseminated on the Internet, the description must include a clear and conspicuous statement that the item was either "made in U.S.A.," "imported," or "made in U.S.A. and [or] imported." Of course, catalog information about origin must be consistent with the information on the label. (See Country of origin in mail order advertising.)

This means that those who fail to disclose the country of origin (country of manufacture) within the advertising and catalog guidelines are in violation of the FTC regulations. While it's highly unlikely that a manufacturer who fails to disclose their products are "made in the USA" are subject to sanction, failing to disclose off-shore production origin can constitute unfair trade practices.