Ask HN: Minus price, would you buy custom tailored or mass produced clothes? - munchieboy
======
J-dawg
I'd love to be able to simply buy clothes with sizing that is 100% consistent
and doesn't vary from year to year.

Several times I've ordered what I thought was an identical product to
something I already own, only to find the fit is slightly different. I'm not
sure whether this is due to manufacturing inconsistencies or the style being
updated, but it's so frustrating.

I would like to be able to know that I am (say) t-shirt size L and style 'xyz'
and body length '3' (or whatever information is needed) and know that I could
keep on ordering different products with that same spec forever, and they'd
all fit the same. No more wondering whether 'slim fit' means the same thing as
it did last year or whatever.

Same with shoes. I've bought running shoes in the same size from the same
manufacturer and they've been a totally different fit.

If a company did this and the clothes were actually nice as well, I'd probably
be a customer for life.

------
rocannon
I'd buy custom tailored clothing if price were not an issue.

I'm not a standard size, and it's hard to find clothing that fits well. I hate
to go shopping, so I usually wear clothing thin until I'm finally forced to go
buy something. And then it's a huge hassle going into shops, trying stuff on,
nothing fits... So yeah, given that I already have to waste time to buy
clothes, I'd rather waste time getting measured once in a blue moon, and then
get well-fitting clothes (presumably with a reasonable choice of colors and
styles) based on those measurements.

------
zhte415
This depends on the level of tailoring. There is a vast amount on the internet
about this, but as you asked 'you'...

I do buy tailored suits. They're made-to-measure. That's good enough. Somewhat
between true bespoke, the baste is adjusted to fit in-person during second
fitting. Good fit for baste is key to a good fit for a blazer. The feel/effect
is essentially that I'm wearing the most comfortable T-shirt I have, but it is
not a t-shirt, but a suit jacket. Trousers don't really need a second fitting.

For fabric, I really like to first feel and see. Super 100s are usually fine;
there's a lot of inflation in higher thread counts.

Mass-produced can do production of good quality clothes without issue, they've
done so for decades; for example Armani charge a huge amount for what's a nice
fabric but adjusting on final fitting really reduces the point of paying more.
Good cloth is worth it, but doesn't need to break the bank. Brands usually
don't make the cloth themselves, it is a commodity, if fiddly to get exactly
what you want.

One big advantage mass-produced has on custom is quality of stitching. Mass-
produced means the stitching quality can be really tight/close and of
excellent consistency (take a look at your shirt, how consistent is the
stitching? how loose is it? Distance between stitches, quality of thread?).
For mass-produced, stitching is certainly not done manually. It is fully
automated.

Tailored for wool often works better if the workmanship is top-notch (heavier
fabrics) but for cotton mass or semi-mass produced shirts mass-produced often
brings a much better stitched that can be adjusted to fit, compared to purely
tailored/manually machined/bespoke.

Clarification: I live somewhere where there's a great tradition in tailoring,
and prices are not high.

------
twobyfour
If price were no option, I would buy custom tailored -- but assuming we're
talking about online mail-order here, the tailoring has to take into account
all the relevant measurements, not just the ones used for mass-produced
sizing.

For instance, women's tops are usually sized with measurements for bust,
waist, and sometimes hip. However, a whole lot of them don't fit me because I
have unusual arm proportions. And it's impossible to know which will because
there are no measurements provided for shoulder/yoke, neck, length, or sleeve
length.

Without being able to customize _all_ those measurements, a garment doesn't
count as "custom-tailored" in my book.

------
thesmileyone
Mass. I like to buy cheap clothes. I don't ever want to stand out as "rich
person" to anyone... and in some cases it is preferable to just buy a
completely new set of clothes rather than having to wash the current set (time
management).

------
warrenm
Yes, I would buy custom tailored or mass produced clothes.

~~~
davelnewton
Pedant!!!1!

------
thecupisblue
Yes, and I'd say about 50% of us will in the next 3 years via Amazon. Echo
measures you, Amazon's latest machines make the item tailored to measurements,
it's delivered to your door. Not joking.

~~~
JeffreyKaine
Check out MTailor to see this vision in action!
[https://www.mtailor.com/](https://www.mtailor.com/)

------
danisth
I would probably buy custom tailored everything if price weren't a factor. I
have annoying proportions so most mass produced clothes seem to fit me poorly.

I don't think it would be that much of a hassle, simply have all your
measurements taken and keep that on file somewhere. Whenever you go to buy new
clothes submit that info and get your nicely fitted t-shirts.

------
Jack000
I buy casual clothes (shirts, jeans) one size larger and have them tailored at
a local place.

Costs about $10 an item but they fit much better.

~~~
kleer001
Hunh, brilliant. Seems like some wisdom passed down from the late 1800's when
industrialization was just getting going.

------
davelnewton
E.g., if I had a device that could take fairly-accurate measurements and
custom-make/-order clothes based on those measurements?

Sure, I'd do that in a heartbeat. It'd be great.

If I have to go somewhere and get all measured up, meh: I can usually guess
between M/L/XL based on the manufacturer and reviews and for a lot of clothes,
that's enough.

------
mcgrath_sh
For jeans and dress clothes, I would absolutely prefer custom tailored.
T-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, etc aren't worth the hassle. I would also stick
with my Nikes/Jordans that are mass produced (I know exactly what size to
get). I am unsure about other shoes, but could see where a custom shoe would
be great.

------
codegeek
It depends. for everyday regular stuff, I don't mind mass produced because I
am too lazy to spend time on letting someone measure me. But for things like
Suits etc that are more formal and for an occasion, I wouldn't mind custom
tailored.

------
pavel_lishin
I hated getting fitted for a suit, so it follows that I'd hate getting fitted
for everything else. I'll take mass-produced, all else being equal.

------
coreyp_1
Could you expound on your question?

~~~
munchieboy
@corep_1: I'm trying to understand if presented with an option to buy tailored
clothing vs mass produced what you would prefer. Apart from the convenience of
going into a store to pick up something is there another reason why someone
would prefer a mass produced clothing item (if price was equal)?

