No need to think…just copy lah!

I don’t want to get stressed out any longer by inconsiderate people who show up during meetings wearing gunny sacks and clown suits. Dowan lah! Life is too short. So from today onwards just copy out the pic above and show it to the tailor and say this is what I want…can or cannot….money no object…if can, proceed…if cannot go and find another tailor who can fulfill the above stated criteria. No need to think any longer. Using your brain is now strictly optional.

Just tell the tailor. I just want to look like him.

End of story!

Bye bye…as some of you already know…I have taken a solemn vow never to regress to my evil ways again. But it seems some people are inclined to bring out the worst in me. I don’t mind sharing this with some of you. There was a time not too long ago when I used to harbor the mistaken belief dictators like Stalin and Hitler were absolutely horrible people for setting up concentration camps and gulags….upon quiet reflection based on the humiliation I have to constantly endure. I think they are just highly misunderstood people.

So this is the new order….it is the law from today onwards!

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‘You know when you’re are wearing a magnificently tailored suit. Because the very moment you step into a room…if there are two people..it’s bang, bang…if there’s three….it’s bang, bang and bang – and if there is four and a penguin…it’s bang, bang, bang, bang and that’s when the penguin quips…thank you!

Don’t get it…never mind that’s because the penguin is born with a suit and this leads me to my main point – you don’t tailor a magnificent suit as much as you come into it and to accomplish this. One needs to first be sensitive and respectful to the craft of tailoring.

By this I mean a tailor is really not so different from any other category of craftsman – tailors are incredibly observant folk. They have as many eyes as a pineapple. The moment you walk into a shop, it’s no different from stepping into the lobby of the CIA wearing a I love Osama T shirt – everyone in the shop from the master cutter to the fitter is already taking in the details – without you even realizing it, they’ve already summarized your physique right down to how one shoulder is higher than the other or how your right hand differs slightly in length to the left, to the hidden detailings of the darting to accomplish the waist suppression, to how the fabric sits on your shoulders, the canvassing etc etc. They can see things which you’re completely obviously of nuances…details…the minutae fractional – so a form of non verbal communication has begun in earnest the moment you step into a tailoring establishment. One where you as the client – you must be mindful to remain informed, polite and respectful if you genuinely want the tailor to perform at his best.

This one rule is often flouted. Not because the client is malicious or harbors ill will – rather it’s due to ignorance of the craft of tailoring and when one does not know what one should know it’s easy to be disrespectful to the craftsman and his trade.

So never into a tailor establishment and shoot your mouth off like you would if you’re in a car accessory shop deciding whether you should opt for camel brown or dark grey window tinting – that’s OK if you’re dealing with technicians who are learning on the go, but it’s highly disrespectful and even condescending to a craftsman….should you do that, I can almost guarantee you 100% – you’re unlikely to get a good suit.

Instead adopt a very congenial attitude. The word to describe this attitude is ‘simpatico’ – go with the flow and let the man do what he’s dedicated his entire life to be passionate about – you are not passionate about bespoke suits, you may be about what rims to fit on your car, but certainly not about pleats, darts and canvassing, but he is – so by just adopting this attitude – you have created the very conditions to bring out the best in your tailor and so he can really only delight you.

That’s the way to play the game…of course not every tailor has the métier to play that sort of game. But all things considered every tailor even the half past six variety in my experience takes his cue from Emerson’s quip,

‘Even a brick aspires to be something great.’

It’s like me. If you come to see me for the very first time to dress your shoes and start off asking to see colorful pics – sure I will oblige you by showing you loads of photoshopped pics of shoes I previously worked on. But you have to be mindful pics only tell maybe 5% of the story. As they can be manipulated to highlight…but that’s also the break point when one part of my mind has already convince the remainder – since this customer knows absolutely nothing about my craft! Worst of all he’s not even interested in whatever opinions I may harbor about what works or not…so sure the work eventually gets done, but since UNAWARE to you – a whole entire field of possibilities remains unexplored due to the low quality of communication between client and craftsman, whatever results can really only leave a gap between yearning and fulfillment of that desire….notice I am not only referring to the client but also the craftsman as well.

But if the client empowers me by giving me free rein in such a way where he is respectful of my craft and knows it to be an apprenticed craft – then I can do so many things and even if I cannot fulfill his desires I will know when to bow out gracefully by recommending him to someone who can offer that service…either way he will leave very satisfied and delighted.

That I feel may be the reason why so many people continue to go around wearing lousy suits and shoes that inflict pain on others….it’s very painful as it’s high unnecessary.’