Why we have narrowed our size range


I pride myself on the level of precision in my work but a recent series of returns and remakes has prompted me to look a bit closer at what I'm doing and who I can best serve.

My foremost aim is that everyone receives the highest level of attention, precision and perfectly fitting leather. 

I make great patterns, they are precise, and produce beautifully tailored pieces.

So why the returns? It was very easy to answer - virtually all the returns were for large and plus sized items. 

My precise designs only scale up to a certain point, past that point it quickly becomes impossible to get everything in the right place and we have no means to calibrate in the studio. 

The result is hit and miss - could be perfect, could just as easily be an ill fitting monstrosity that gets returned and not only makes my client feel really bad, but we will have also burnt through the leather, the time it took, the postage. 

There's no way to tell, and no one wins. 

It's an unsustainable and utterly depressing business model.



So, moving forward, I'll concentrate on the things I do best, keep within my specialist field of sizes and stop trying to serve everyone. 

And in return you will continue to get the highest level of service and a perfectly fitting garment. No one will receive items that look like ill fitting tents, because we take so much time to get things fitting perfectly.

All of us here really care  about our finished work.

In practice, we only go women's waist 34" and hip 42", menswear now goes to trousers 38", chest 42"

Sizes outside of this range, would be guesswork, plain and simple - if you look at these side torso shots you can see how different people carry their weight,



As you can see, it's possible for people to be the same measurement but completely different shapes.

Here's another illustration of how our bodies differ even when the numbers stay the same:

All these ladies weigh 11 stone:154lbs:70kg. We all carry weight differently, and this really illustrates why it's so difficult to make a precise tailored leather pattern as the sizes go up.