The Fine Art of Jacket Wear
Once upon a time, fashion in the world of jackets was limited to the men’s navy-blue double-breasted blazer and a formal black or grey piece which a woman would only wear in male dominant corporate settings and stuffy affairs. Then fashion exploded and an amazing, if bewildering, array of women’s jacket wear - in a rainbow of colors, designs, cuts and prints as well as patterns and materials - paraded the runway to earn a place in every woman’s heart. They now take on any form and work effortlessly for every occasion from acting as a sleek evening wear option in place of a cocktail dress to acting as the centerpiece of what a woman might wear at her country club to elevating an everyday pair of jeans. In short, the jacket has become an essential, precious asset in any woman’s wardrobe. And a piece of a woman’s heart is in her wardrobe because what she wears matters. That’s why we thought you might enjoy this bespoke newsletter.
At the outset, we’d like to declare our intentions. We’ve called our exclusive newsletter bespoke, because we champion the art of bespoke couture. Colloquially, bespoke is defined as tailormade clothing. But the term tailormade rather understates true bespoke in the proud tradition of the haute couture masters of the mid-nineteenth century. We, and other bespoke couturiers of note, stand on the shoulders of these giants. Their works of art are however largely centered on dressmaking. Our work has gone beyond that to truly master the craft of the bespoke jacket to the point where, we think, that they are nothing short of fine art wear.
The vast majority of jackets and blazers are ready-to-wear: that is, they are bought off the rack, or online with the help of sizing charts. It’s almost impossible to stay abreast with the number of ready to wear brands out there. These are mostly found in department stores like Saks 5th Avenue or Neiman-Marcus. Indeed, boutiques can’t offer the range, so their marquee pieces play center stage. As we are all more than aware, online buying continues to rise, while conversely the more traditional brick and mortar stores are dying no matter how renowned they may be. Online, it seems that every woman’s ready-to-wear jacket brand is on display. Some of the high fashion, true quality names might include an Armani, Carolina Herrera or Oscar de la Renta.
These and the many other high-end brands justify their very high prices by their so-called “out of the world” designs, fabrics and materials as well as their “amazing” craftsmanship. But make no mistake, you are also paying for the name and the image that it evokes and bestows on the wearer as in the old, now rather outdated: “what are you wearing my dear?” The creation of this image is inevitably the result of very significant marketing and advertising investments. Further, given that these pieces are perceived as being of impeccable quality, women of means tend to think that they are “good investments.” But at the end of the day, good investment talk is a mere rationalization. The decision is emotional. For, as with almost everything, we buy clothing with our hearts not our heads – because again, we feel that what we wear matters.
So, finding and then taking the leap to buy these brands, however tempting, is easier said than done and for a variety of reasons. Take a woman from the baby boomer generation who appreciates the finer things in life. She’s not likely to have much faith in the advice and help of a 30 something, minimally trained and paid person at a Bloomingdale’s or Saks. And as far as the panacea of the wonderful online world is concerned, purchasing ready-to-wear is problematic too for all but the most self-assured and confident woman. One can’t really see, never mind touch [a key but often overlooked factor] the product. Huge shortcoming. Then there are the limitations of online sizing charts and the like. Again, hard to take the leap…
Beyond this, there is an increasingly important psychological factor at play. Because what you wear matters, selecting the right jacket is inevitably a high involvement decision – the exact opposite of an impulse one. Not only is this the driving factor behind the limitations of buying ready to wear – it taps into our innate inner desires as to whether to “buy” or “make”. Buying is much more passive. On the surface it seems more convenient although often it isn’t. Making something for oneself or partaking in the experience in the making of it, every step of the way, is inevitably more deeply satisfying in this age of self-fulfillment.
In short, true luxury, many say today, is not ready to wear. It is not one size fits all. It is the revelation that your left leg is an inch shorter than your right, that your one shoulder is a half an inch higher than the other, that your hips are slightly askew and that your posture might be a fraction concave. This can be a tiny bit disconcerting perhaps, but there’s luxury in making clothes that fix quirks or fit like a glove. But, as noted, bespoke goes way beyond “made to measure.” It means engaging and working with a client every step of the way from the conceptualization of her very own jacket, to the selection of the fabric to all those special touches: the buttons, the piping, the lining and the rest that make it one of a kind.
As the practices of bespoke couturiers are, let’s just say, not exactly widely published much of what follows are our own philosophies and ways. A behind the scenes look into the art, if you will. Not that all is shrouded in mystery. As mentioned, a bespoke couturier will go way beyond taking perfect measurements, to transforming a woman’s dream or ideal jacket into reality. Our difference might be thought of as being motivated by the realization that there are dreams and then there are those special dreams that linger in the mind long after we’ve awoken. You’ll notice as we go on, a repeated use of the notion of an “ideal” jacket. We use this term fully recognizing that an ideal is something that exists in the imagination and is hard to turn into reality.
The creation of fine art jacket wear begins by being ever mindful that art is in the process itself. It’s one thing to know what steps should be taken to co-create an ideal jacket: this is the what. It’s another thing to know how those steps should be taken: this is the way. The way is, of course, way more important than the what. The difference lies in the couturier’s experience, intuition and sheer talent. In this regard, the fine art of creating bespoke women’s jackets came later than the creation of men’s bespoke in the tradition of Savile Row.
For us at Gramercy Atelier, the process begins by simply asking our clients where and on what occasions the jacket would be used for. Formal. Evening. Office. Country Club. Or just something that would add style and flair to their everyday wear. Then, we show them appropriate jackets from our wide and carefully curated collections. We do this together with other stimuli including fabric swatches, tear sheets and the like. Now comes the art of applying these learnings. In this regard, fit is of upmost importance. Here God is in the detail. What parts of a woman’s body shape should perhaps be accentuated or hidden? What particular fabric pattern to do this might be ideal? What buttons, piping and lining is ideal? And so on. And so forth. Each step of the way, we make our clients feel part of the process. We make them feel like they are “co – creating” their jacket – that they are making not buying it. And they are.
Now that our client has placed her ideal “made to order” jacket, we insist that one of our highly experienced master tailors make the jacket from beginning to end. The “other” method centers on “tailors” specialized on just one aspect - for example mindlessly stitching one piece of a garment, over and over again as it journeys through the line. Yes, there’s handmade…and then there’s handmade. In stark contrast, our master tailors are ever mindful and “heartful” in the creation and craftsmanship of the jacket from the made to order moment until the very, very end. Because we know that true luxury is in the detail.
Finally, a word or two on the intrinsic materials that we use. The difference between a very nice jacket and one that is ideal, first and foremost rests in the fabrics used. We have a carefully curated collection of no less than 500 fine fabrics sourced from Europe. Even more proudly we’d like to add, Fortuny has especially accredited our Atelier in New York. And Loro Piana, the greatest fabric wool maker in the world has given us even more exclusive use. Buttons then, make the difference between a good and a great jacket. Ours are very carefully sourced or dyed in our Atelier. The same excellence applies to our materials like piping and lining. In short, the pursuit of excellence is the north star of the true bespoke couturier.
So much to say. But we’ve taken up enough of your precious time. We hope that you’ve enjoyed these few insights on jackets and blazers. They play one of the most essential roles in what women wear today. And for us, only fine art jacket wear is good enough. Because our intent is to make our clients feel like they are wearing something very special.
Click below to see New Creations from our New York Atelier this June.
[Remember please that we’d love to receive any feedback from you in order to help us improve our Bespoke Newsletters. Thank you.]
