Suggestion for a new vintage repro/inspired Clothing Line?

[pdxvintagette]

The Stop Staring! dresses, with all their polyester nastiness, are up to double that already!

My opinion on this is NOT that Stop Staring! costs that much to produce. It can't. Made in China polyester whatnot? Their market might be small but not THAT small. I think it honestly has to do with rockabilly community. The emphasis there is more on IMAGE than quality, and so the gals will pay outragegous sums to be the bombshells of their local scene, and the sweethearts of VLV. I mean, I love me some vintage hawaiian, but I won't pay $300-$500 for it. But some of the gals shell that out without thinking, each year on ebay during the months leading up to Viva. And that's who Stop Staring is really made for - rockabilly gals with more money than knowledge. So basically, you're getting ripped off.

 

[pigeon toe]

Not all rockabilly girls don't know what's up though! But I think there are a ton of newbies to the scene who are more into it to look cute at shows for their boyfriends than who are into it for the music, fashion, history, whatever. At least that's the way it is in LA. I swear, I go to shows in jeans and a t-shirt to enjoy the music and I see girls in skin tight dresses and sky high heels and it leaves me going :eusa_doh:

Anyway, I'm getting a little off topic.

As for a cotton dress, I'd probably pay max $60 if there's a lot of great details going on or an interesting print. And if it fits me! I have the hardest time finding modern clothes that fit me in all the right areas because I'm an XS on top and a M on the bottom. I've had good luck with repros though, so if they get the fit down, I'm there!

 

[Snookie]

My opinion on this is NOT that Stop Staring! costs that much to produce. It can't. Made in China polyester whatnot? Their market might be small but not THAT small. I think it honestly has to do with rockabilly community. The emphasis there is more on IMAGE than quality, and so the gals will pay outragegous sums to be the bombshells of their local scene, and the sweethearts of VLV. I mean, I love me some vintage hawaiian, but I won't pay $300-$500 for it. But some of the gals shell that out without thinking, each year on ebay during the months leading up to Viva. And that's who Stop Staring is really made for - rockabilly gals with more money than knowledge. So basically, you're getting ripped off.

Stop Staring is not made in China. See here: http://www.latimes.com/business/smallbusiness/la-fi-bizchina23oct23,1,7855458.story?coll=la-headlines-smallbusiness

Unless you're talking about where the fabric is actually milled, which may or may not be China.

Honestly, I say more power to her, finding a niche market and being successful. The masses don't have taste, we all know that, and that fact wouldn't change if Stop Staring dress were made in silk, rayon, and cotton instead of polyester.

May this new company find it's own niche and be as successful!

 

[pdxvintagette]

Not all rockabilly girls don't know what's up though! QUOTE]

No darling, you're quite right, and I spend a lot of time in the RAB scene of Portland. Which is, I suppose, why I take the liberty to criticize! As for Stop Staring! not being made in China ... I admit, that's simply an assumption I made. Interesting to find that it is not the case! Glad to hear it, actually.

 

[Ada Veen]

Is it just me, or is that a little unreasonable? I mean, of course you can find vintage things in that price range, but even average quality high street dresses with huge production runs come in at there or even a little more. For someone to be making small runs of good-quality niche items, charging so little for a dress seems impossible...

The Stop Staring! dresses, with all their polyester nastiness, are up to double that already!

I agree with Volatile - I think the sweat-shop prices of most high street stores has given us an unrealistic expectation of low prices. Considering what Lauren said about paying the seamstresses, and on top of that there's rental on wherever the stuff is made, distribution, a website etc. etc. Dresses in Topshop cost more than that, and they are made in China/Indonesia!

The minimum wage in the UK is about £5.50 - if a dress takes four hours, thats over £20 before materials cost, property rental etc. I think we just have to accept that the stuff will be expensive, and out of some of our price ranges.

My personal issue is that if I'm going to spend a lot on it it MUST be of good enough quality to last me a long, long time, and it must be machine washable so it doesn't spend 80% its life waiting for me to get around to taking it to the dry-cleaners.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

I'd pay £50/$100+ for a good quality cotton repro dress as I would consider it as a real investment. However, I personally do not mind Stop Staring dresses at all. I dislike the fabric and as such won't wear them every day, but they're really not all that common, especially here, and I always garner a ton of compliments every time I wear one on a night out. I was absolutely gutted to get a top recently from Mode Merr though, and discovered the black stretch part (of the gypsy style top) was the same icky bengaline! What a swizz!

 

[Laura Chase]

I would give up to $300 for a repro dress in delicious wool or cotton with cute buttons and details. I'd avoid flimsy, clingy, synthetic fabrics such as those Stop Staring use. I like the designs, but the fabric is just unbearable, it is not comfortable for everyday use. I'm craving for someone to make a nice fall/winter yummy wool dress...

 

[The Shirt]

As for what I would pay - $200 for a nice suit. Perhaps up to $75 for a day dress. I think in general I would pay the same for my modern workwear options. I have once in my life shelled out $150 for a pair of jeans. I love them - but it is a rare occasion that I would pay that much. I would look at investment pieces such as a suit as that - an investment. But for everyday wear - I would expect that it would be more reasonable in price point.

 

[Miss Brill]

There is nothing better than a wide-leg pant, and there aren't enough in the world. (In all kinds of fabrics--including a soft denim.) Sailor pants too (in different colors). And cute little 40s-style blouses. Non-wiggle dresses (love simple button-front cotton or rayon day dresses in pretty prints--with long or 3/4 sleeves). Blouses & dresses with fabric bags to match. I also love swing jackets, and anything that is velvet.

 

[Miss Munch]

I would be all over some cute blouses, especially in a silk crepe or some knit tops, I have a 40 inch bust :eusa_clap and have a real problem getting my girls into vintage things. I have a hard time getting vintage sewing patterns that size too and when I do I have to alter the heck out of them so I'm a bit lazy when it comes to making my own.

On the stop staring/bengaline debate: I dont mind it, its washable,no ironing, the frocks come in my size and they as rare as hens teeth here in New Zealand. I dont mind the price too much but would prefer if they came in natural fibres as I wear vingate repro frocks most days (and a lady can only wear so much polyester before she gets a bad reputation). Stop staring have very few tops in their range so your friend should definitely try and whip some up and make them available for worlwide delivery (and in black)

 

[Fancy Mouse]

Living in Australia, natural fabrics are my preference - cottons, linens, wools. However, it's so difficult to get a hold of them for decent prices here.

As another Queenslander, I agree with all of the above!

Simple, practical and comfortable everyday clothing would be great. Clothing that is appropriate to wear to the office or out shopping.

 

[Miss 1929]

China?

Hmm... apparently you can have a dress for $20, or a suit for $50, hand made, fitted to you, in 24 hours, in Shanghai. And you can give them your own material (or pick frome their real silks and wools etc) and pattern or item to copy exactly. And that's in Shanghai, which is probably the most expensive city to live in. I do wonder what the conditions are like, but there weren't any jobless people that I could see. Maybe our definition of sweat-shop is their definition of job.
Anyway, I wish I had known that before my trip! And next time, you bet I am bringing patterns.

 

[Last_Chael]

hmmm I'm really loving this discussion!

I was also thinking about the whole price thing (though sometimes it's hard because I can kinda guess the US-Aus dollar thing but Pound-AUS is a bit harder!!), and thinking about the difficulty in making a day dress. It seems that pretty much everyone wants nice day dresses, especially cotton. Maybe I'm underselling myself here (and please other sewing gals, correct me if I'm wrong) but in my mind it wouldn't be too difficult to make a collection of cotton day dresses for between the $50 to $100 mark, with maybe some up to $150 is they're really detailed and made from expensive fabrics.

Generally I see really nice cotton fabrics at our major fabric store over here (Spotlight) from between $4 and $8 normally. Sometimes cheaper if they're on a real big sale. Now lets take a day dress with a circle skirt and a simple bodice. The skirt would take about 2m, and you could probably get the bodice out of the leftovers from the skirt, or you'd need about another .5m. So lets say 2.5m all up. Say that's $5m, there's $12.50. I use the example of a circle skirt as they're really easy, and I can generally get one cut out and sewn up in a couple of hours. Add on a bodice and finishing, and I'd estimate about 5 hours, if it's a simple dress with either a machine rolled hem or binding (Though that would be split over several days as you should always hang your circle skirts for at least 24 hours to let the bias relax).

I guess this is where I get stuffed up because I never know what to charge for my time. I had read in a magazine that you should take the cost of your materials and times it by 3. If you take the cost of the fabric, add in the cost of notions (another $10), that makes it $67.50, which seems reasonable enough to me. Of course, if you can get the fabric cheaper, it's even better. Though I would probably go for a standard price of around the $50-60 mark (depending on the fabric cost) and then add extra for details or more complicated designs.

So I'm thinking maybe $30-$40 for a circle skirt, $40-$60 for other skirts (pencil, a-line), $40-$80 for blouses (depending on the difficulty), $50-$100 for a day dress, maybe $75-$150 for pants or jackets.

Would people agree?

 

[Lola Getz]

Oh Miss 1929!
Can you imagine the bags of things you could have had made for you? That makes me want to buy an empty set of luggage and a plane ticket.

I was thinking of this thread and our emphasis on "quality, please!" when I opened the package of an outfit I'd ordered online. I took it out of the bag and the buttons-every last one of them!-popped off the blouse and rolled across the floor. I was so mad!

 

[MissHannah]

I wholeheartedly endorse nearly all of the replies above!
My own requests would be:

BLOUSES BLOUSES BLOUSES! Finding original ones that aren't falling apart or just too fragile to wear is almost impossible. Properly tailored to nip in at the waist and long enough to stay tucked in too! Oh and I would REALLY love shirt waister day dresses with pencil skirts, not just full skirts.

Pencil skirts that come BELOW THE KNEE please! I am a taller woman to be fair but still... 2 inches above the knee is so not authentic. Trousers and jeans in varying lengths would be fabulous too.

Smaller waist sizes. Vivien of Holloway goes down to a 22, which is marvellous, but hardly any of the US repro peeps go below a 26. This wouldn't just be for skinny girls though - think of the waist cinchers among us. Obviously a wider range of sizes for all would be the ideal although this may not be viable for a small business doing small runs.



As so many others have already said on this thread, fabric and details are the key. If those are right a lot else will be forgivable!

 

[Lauren]

hmmm I'm really loving this discussion!

I was also thinking about the whole price thing (though sometimes it's hard because I can kinda guess the US-Aus dollar thing but Pound-AUS is a bit harder!!), and thinking about the difficulty in making a day dress. It seems that pretty much everyone wants nice day dresses, especially cotton. Maybe I'm underselling myself here (and please other sewing gals, correct me if I'm wrong) but in my mind it wouldn't be too difficult to make a collection of cotton day dresses for between the $50 to $100 mark, with maybe some up to $150 is they're really detailed and made from expensive fabrics.

Generally I see really nice cotton fabrics at our major fabric store over here (Spotlight) from between $4 and $8 normally. Sometimes cheaper if they're on a real big sale. Now lets take a day dress with a circle skirt and a simple bodice. The skirt would take about 2m, and you could probably get the bodice out of the leftovers from the skirt, or you'd need about another .5m. So lets say 2.5m all up. Say that's $5m, there's $12.50. I use the example of a circle skirt as they're really easy, and I can generally get one cut out and sewn up in a couple of hours. Add on a bodice and finishing, and I'd estimate about 5 hours, if it's a simple dress with either a machine rolled hem or binding (Though that would be split over several days as you should always hang your circle skirts for at least 24 hours to let the bias relax).

I guess this is where I get stuffed up because I never know what to charge for my time. I had read in a magazine that you should take the cost of your materials and times it by 3. If you take the cost of the fabric, add in the cost of notions (another $10), that makes it $67.50, which seems reasonable enough to me. Of course, if you can get the fabric cheaper, it's even better. Though I would probably go for a standard price of around the $50-60 mark (depending on the fabric cost) and then add extra for details or more complicated designs.

So I'm thinking maybe $30-$40 for a circle skirt, $40-$60 for other skirts (pencil, a-line), $40-$80 for blouses (depending on the difficulty), $50-$100 for a day dress, maybe $75-$150 for pants or jackets.

Would people agree?

This is a great formula for being an independent seamstress. Getting something made would most likely be cheaper than making a line if production was local.

Things to consider:
Is the pattern yours? If you purchased it are you infringing on copyright by making it or are you simply offering seamstress services for a client? You can not claim a design as your own if it is still under copyright by the original pattern owner.

If you are drafting your own pattern are you using it for that individual customer, and if so how long does it take you to draft it, grade it, and make a mock up for a fitting? Do you want to be paid for the fitting time? Does your pattern then need alterations if it is custom?

How much do you charge for your hourly wage? If fabric is bought wholesale and costs $2 a yard, would $6 be enough for your time? Here in the US seamstress services by an accomplished seamstress start at around $15 hr.

And, of course, this formula would work for an individual doing projects one by one for individual people, but if doing a business some things to consider into cost for the wholesale are:
Paying patternmakers
Paying cutters
Paying seamstresses (cutters and seamstresses are different in production. I usually work just from cut pieces if doing work for production or in theatre)
Fabric cost
Zippers, buttons, thread, trim.
Care labels and product labels, hang tags
Advertising costs
Packaging costs for both visual merchandising and shipping
Rental of a showroom or retail location, or internet expenses, or all three
Cost of credit card machines (initial cost and there is a charge every time a card is run)
And that's just an idea of breaking even. Then you need to add profit for your company to make money.

In commercial clothing it is usually made by a company who has it produced. It is then marked up double the cost (figuring in a percentage of all costs not associated with the individual garment) and sold wholesale to buyers from retail stores, who then mark it up double their cost. So the $67.50 you figured for cost turns in to a little more than $200, which seems to be around the going price for a reproduction dress.

 

[dandelion-vint]

Hi,
I just skimmed through some of the replies, so I hope I don't repeat too much of what has already been said. I'm going to give you another vote for day dresses, and a vote for them being made of cotton and silky rayons.
I like prints in pretty florals, checks, plaids, atomic etc. or novelty prints of people, cats, birds, dogs etc, but nothing too cutesey.
Dresses that either button all the way down the front or wrap dresses. I like little details like topstitching, trims on collars, cuffs and pockets and cute buttons.
On suits, I really like them shaped nicely, lots of detailing, bound button holes and a nice rayon or wool gab, and shoulder pads that aren't too thick.

 

[Last_Chael]

Thanks Lauren that's really helpful! I'm hopefully going to be studying sewing and textiles at TAFE next year, so I expect I'll be learning all these things.

Though I'm just one person, so I wouldn't have the costs of hiring all the different people. It would just be me doing everything, which is what I based my ideas of the price on. I didn't think to add in the time it takes to draft the pattern though, so thank you!

I had always wanted to make day dresses to sell, so it's nice to know that there is demand out there. Though I would more be making one off garments, possibly taking special orders. For me it's a way to use my skills to make a little bit of extra money that I can spend on my costuming/sewing habit, so at the moment it's not a huge business venture, jsut a small hobby. But my dream is to one day have my own business selling vintage inspired outfits

Thank you so much, you've given me heaps to think about!

 

[Lauren]

No problem, Last Chael, glad to help! I do something similar- I'm a seamstress and costumer as well. It's a lot of fun, and I really wish you the best of luck with your venture!

 

[Ada Veen]

fftopic: Lauren, I know I saw in another thread that you make reproductions - do you sell them, and where? I've developed a great admiration for your sewing and would love to be able to keep tabs on stuff you might be selling.

Sorry for hijacking your thread a little, Last Chael. I'll certainly keep an eye out for your stuff, too!