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Custom Gets a Bad Rap
NEWSLETTER
6/18/20264 min read
Custom clothing gets a bad rap. A really bad rap.
There are a lot of misconceptions about what it is, who it's for, and how it works. That it's bougie. That it's unnecessarily expensive. That if you're investing in custom clothing, you must be vain, shallow, self-absorbed.
But I see the need for it pop up regularly. I see people dissatisfied with their clothing experiences and not knowing how it can be different.
I get comments on social media constantly from people saying they're teaching themselves to sew because they want something specific from a garment — something that fits their body, reflects their personality, or simply does what they need it to do. People willing to invest hundreds of hours learning a craft from scratch because their current clothing options don't work for them.
I hear friends rant about dreading shopping. About how every single trip is either overwhelming or fruitless — pieces don't match the image in their head and figuring out whether something is even well made feels impossible.
I hear family members stress about finding the right thing for an event, spending buckets of time searching for something that often doesn't appear.
These are all situations where custom clothing is a solution, but we've been socialized to see it as a "not for us" commodity. Price is just one part of this "not for me" view.
This past weekend I made a tool organizer for my husband's birthday. For me — someone who has been sewing for 25 years — it took at least five hours. At just $20 an hour, before materials, that's $100. A garment — a piece that needs measurements taken, that should fit to the body, and includes more finishing details like a zipper — is going to take longer than that. And yet most people see $100 as a price that should get them a pretty nicely made dress.
There's a big gap between what we've been taught to expect and the reality of what it takes to make clothing. Much of the clothing industry is built on unethical production and it has clouded what feels "reasonable" to spend on clothing. I don't think we can place much blame on the consumer for that — it's what we've been conditioned to.
On top of that, there's a separate layer of expectation placed on women when it come to clothing: don't spend too much on yourself, don't think about yourself too much, don't appear too concerned with how you look. Spending too much money on our appearance risks makes us feel self-absorbed. So custom clothing becomes even more "not for me".
There is a lot of re-learning to do. Custom clothing is often cast as a more expensive alternative to off the rack clothing, but in reality that's like a comparing a peach to a peach cobbler served to you in a upscale restaurant. You're paying more because you're getting more. Here are 3 things to think about:
You're paying for an experience. Custom clothing is collaborative. You're involved in every step — voicing what you want, making decisions, working together to bring your vision to life. Think about going to a hairdresser. You don't sit down and say "do whatever you want." You're part of the process, and while you're in it, you feel a little pampered, a little special. At the end you walk out feeling taken care of because of both the experience and because you're walking out with something pretty. Custom clothing works the same way.
You're paying for durability. So much off the rack clothing is made to fall apart. The average piece of clothing in the US is worn seven times. I have handmade pieces in my wardrobe I've been wearing for nearly 20 years that I still wear — because they're made with good materials, strong finishes, and features that actually work for my life. Pockets. Good zippers. Easy to care for fabrics. Pieces that are size adjustable. If you're doing custom right, your over time price per wear should actually come out better than off the rack because you've gotten a piece that you grab for over and over for years and years.
You're paying for fit — and not just physical. A custom piece should fit your body in ever direction. It should be made just for you utilizing mock ups and fittings, but it should also fit who you are as an individual. When you design a piece from the ground up the end result is often a piece of clothing that makes you feel the most at home in your own skin. It's the piece you grab when you need the confidence boost because it automatically realigns you with your sense of self.
I'm not here to tell anyone they must have custom clothing. If off the rack is working for you, more power to you. But I am here to challenge some of the misconceptions — that custom is vain, that it's categorically more expensive, that it's only for a certain kind of person. Those things aren't true and they keep women stuck in poor clothing experiences.
This conversation gets me fired up because of what it means for women and their wardrobe. Do you disagree with anything I've said? Email me, message me. Tell me what you think.
