Workmanship: Balancing Precision vs. Irregularities/Character

[nick123]

I love a handcrafted piece because it's synonymous with life: imperfect. In a garment, imperfection brings out the perceived humanity within a garment. On the flip side, I find a perfectly engineered garment (yet to find one in person, there will always be imperfections, whether or not they are really visible) to have the same end effect on me...to remind me I'm not perfect! There are some fascinating Japanese schools of thought on the value of imperfection in art, or even the simplest everyday items such as a teapot, and how it correlates to life. I see a lot of that in jackets. This article, though not related to jackets (though leather is mentioned toward the end), is precisely what we're talking about.
http://www.wholeliving.com/133628/wabi-sabi-your-life-6-strategies-embracing-imperfection

 

[Big J]

I love a handcrafted piece because it's synonymous with life: imperfect. In a garment, imperfection brings out the perceived humanity within a garment. On the flip side, I find a perfectly engineered garment (yet to find one in person, there will always be imperfections, whether or not they are really visible) to have the same end effect on me...to remind me I'm not perfect! There are some fascinating Japanese schools of thought on the value of imperfection in art, or even the simplest everyday items such as a teapot, and how it correlates to life. I see a lot of that in jackets. This article, though not related to jackets, is precisely what we're talking about.
http://www.wholeliving.com/133628/wabi-sabi-your-life-6-strategies-embracing-imperfection

You know, you're making me put my work hat on, but I think that if we adopt a different contextual framework for the issue, maybe we can get a little more insight?
Try this;
We live in an era of standardization. Computer design and computer controlled manufacturing in order to ensure that every stocked item looks like the one the customer chose in the showroom (nowadays, chose on Amazon). You get what you ordered, exactly, and can rightfully complain if the delivered cup, sofa, etc, doesn't look like the one in the picture.
In most fields (like cups and sofas), this is a testament to the sophistication of our culture; I can order a birthday gift on Amazon for my grandmother, and I know that what she receives will look exactly like the picture I clicked on. This is good.

My mother collects Coalport crockery. She has some nice matching sets. Now, many of these are from way back during the start of the industrial revolution (which facilitated economic expansion nessacery to pay for the Napoleonic wars by inventing consumer culture- hence Napoleons joke that the UK was 'a nation of shopkeepers). Anyhow, these matching sets still needed to be painted by hand, and when you put two items together you can see tiny differences. It's totally natural and expected for handmade goods, except that as a society, we now have expectations so high that only automated processes can meet.

This is fine for, say medicines and automobiles, but that tiny sign of the presence of a human hand in manufacturing is now seen as a defect rather than seen as being the state of the art in perfection that it used to actually be.

I'm sure that many WW2 jackets were knocked out as quickly as possible with visible flaws, but in the present, a hand made repro should IMHO be something like my mothers cups; it should look perfect, until you compare it with a 'twin' and notice tiny differences.

 

[bretron]

I seem to find this argument more prevalent in bootmaking, but perhaps that's simply because I have more boots to compare than jackets.

Guys itchbay to high heaven over some slightly uneven sole stitching on some handmade PAC NW footwear. By contrast, I find I enjoy the reminder that a guy/gal made the boots by hand. Gives them their own personality and voice

 

[Superfluous]

in the present, a hand made repro should IMHO be something like my mothers cups; it should look perfect, until you compare it with a 'twin' and notice tiny differences.

Well said!

 

[navetsea]

+1 on that, minor imperfection is allowed as long as it doesn't become an unwanted feature of the jacket.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Believe me, I've spent my life searching for the best of everything (up to my financial limits) so I agree with most of what you say above. If I bought something that I knew was inferior in some way, it would be off to eBay very quickly because it would bother me every time I wore it. As I highlighted above from your post, I DO greatly enjoy wearing a quality garment, even if it's not conscious at all times. I've sold many jackets that were 9.5/10 for me, but I'm always in search of that extra .5.

I've done it with jackets, wine, shoes, handguns, watches, etc... It may be conspicuous consumption to some, but to me there is just something about wearing or using a finely crafted garment or piece of equipment.

Conspicuous consumption, maybe, but I struggle to understand rating a jacket out of ten. Do you really do that or is this a figure of speech? I only have jackets that I like to wear or really like to wear. To be able to classify one as 9.5 is a level of specificity I'm unable to relate to. Everyone's different.

Handmade jackets should be free of obvious mistakes or bad stitching in my view. Having said that I really enjoy owning and wearing almost any kind of jacket - I'm not hung up on brand or quality. My favourite one is a Brooks mass produced 1970's cafe racer. Way prefer it to the more artisan jackets I have or had.

 

[A-1]

Well little irregularities you van just spot on a closer look are fine. But I've held some Alden shoes in my hands in a shop in sf that looked just goofy because of the Norwegian stitching was messed up. Of course it's an optical thing but I'd be sending those back if I've paid so much money for them.
I quite like the Japanese approach where workmanship and quality are spot on. US Americans do not seem to bother that much. Which I also like. But when you get your first pair of 'real'boots, paid a lot of cash, I can understand the disappointment when you see something's messed up. Even when it's only optical.

 

[Justhandguns]

With regards to wartime flight jacket repros, this is interesting.

Sure, we can find wartime contract originals that had all manner of blemishes, bad stitching and construction, etc, but at the end of the day, those jackets were all issue jackets, no wearer paid for them with their own money. When I buy a repro A-2, I expect a certain degree of quality control. Sure, I understand that leather is natural, not mass produced and there will be irregularities (hence I love my Aero Real Deal), but construction quality is important at this price point.

Very interesting to see my random use of words was quoted.

So true Big J. I would expect, say, my 1k jacket to be as perfect as possible.

Regarding the workmanship of Dave's jacket, it is certainly not RMC perfection, but it is not as bad as some might have mentioned. (Dave, are you reading this?) But for around 3/4 or 1/2 of RMC's price, depends on where you get your jacket, I have no problem with that, in addition to the top quality materials that DD used (shared from Goodwear's inventory!?).

 

[pawineguy]

Conspicuous consumption, maybe, but I struggle to understand rating a jacket out of ten. Do you really do that or is this a figure of speech? I only have jackets that I like to wear or really like to wear. To be able to classify one as 9.5 is a level of specificity I'm unable to relate to. Everyone's different.

Handmade jackets should be free of obvious mistakes or bad stitching in my view. Having said that I really enjoy owning and wearing almost any kind of jacket - I'm not hung up on brand or quality. My favourite one is a Brooks mass produced 1970's cafe racer. Way prefer it to the more artisan jackets I have or had.

Figure of speech. I don't rate my jackets or anything else like that. Just making the point that if I don't absolutely love the jacket, and there's something small that's bothering me, I will choose other jackets over that one to wear, and eventually because I'm not wearing it I'll end up selling it. (Even though I probably wrote a review on here that I was very happy with it to start.)

 

[Fanch]

+1 to what PAWG just said. If you do not love something from the onset, you will eventually hate it. Well, not literally but am sure you get my drift.

 

[nick123]

+1 to what PAWG just said. If you do not love something from the onset, you will eventually hate it. Well, not literally but am sure you get my drift.

It's funny. The jackets I've ended up really liking, have always left me with a somewhat disappointed feeling on arrival. Back to topic Nick.

 

[Big J]

+1 to what PAWG just said. If you do not love something from the onset, you will eventually hate it. Well, not literally but am sure you get my drift.

'PAWG' lollollollol

 

[pawineguy]

'PAWG' lollollollol

Apparently PAWG is some urban slang that I wasn't aware of, and I'm sure neither was Fanch!!

 

[Big J]

Apparently PAWG is some urban slang that I wasn't aware of, and I'm sure neither was Fanch!!

Oh....
My bad.

 

[IXL]

EVERYTHING is some type of urban slang we are not aware of. Everything.

 

[Dumpster Diver]

Sewing Is something one must practice like any true Art.

Crooked stitching happens, one way or the other, I dont mind imperfect workmanship, makes me remember there is a Real person who crafted my favourite items, Infact Irregularities and inconsistencies are what become more valued collectors pieces in some circumstances.

 

[Fanch]

Apparently PAWG is some urban slang that I wasn't aware of, and I'm sure neither was Fanch!!

PAWG = pawineguy
Maybe I need to look for another abbreviation for the wine connoisseur from Pennsylvania? I just looked up the slang for the abbreviation for PAWG, and pawineguy ain't that (wrong sex)! lol ound:

 

[Trenchfriend]

Sadly, here in Germany hats are not coming back to normal (mass-market) trend, but it seems, that the classic workers-flatcap has a real comeback actual. It's not really that trendy "hipster-thing" oder style, which makes the cap popular again, but it seems to be the number of younger men, which are more and more going out of modern trend and go their own way of style, which visible goes very often the old-fashion way, meaning the simple old german worker or similar styles.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

My experiences when taking a new leather jacket out of the box is somewhat different. I don't find myself so closely inspecting all the stitching. I may give it a quick once over, and, of course if there are 'glaring' issues, I would pick up on that. However, when seeing my jacket for the first time, I am more concerned with the appearance of the hide...then most importantly 'the fit'. If that comes together then I'm ready to wear the hell out of it.
I did order a couple of Schotts,at different times, and noticed loose and unraveled stitching on the quilted linings that didn't make me happy. One I kept and the other one that kept unraveling, I moved on. On the other hand a 'used' LW brown utility jacket came in with impeccable stitching and workmanship, decent fit, yet the hide finish was dyed or applied so heavy and uniformly bulletproof without depth to the brown color that I also moved it on as well. It comes down to personal preference of what is most important to you. In my case..if I am not going to wear something it is most often because of imperfect fit or a lackluster hide or maybe the rarity of severe blemishes in the finish/hide.
HD