This is a slight misconception and I'll avoid going into sizing issues. But
while there are industrial sized dress forms, the industry standard size is
a medium. The actual measurements of your line's medium is based on your
target market and your fit model. A fit model is the actual model you will
fit everything to - this is where the training on how to custom fit models
comes in handy.
Yes, I know. I did go through more than one RTW class.
But, the average human body does not have identical proportions to
either a standard industry dress form or an industry fit model. That's
why ready-to-wear does not fit the average person well. Everyone is
unique in terms of the combination of the shape of their shoulders,
bust, hips, abdomen, behind, the length of their arms, and many other
things. And that's not even counting people who are considered to be
overweight or to have physical deformities/medical issues.
Again, for many students, making something they cannot wear and that
they are not currently in a position to sell is throwing away time and
money. Students are typically short on both. And again, to a lot of
them it sounds fancy to enter an RTW course but that's not really what
they will do when they graduate. Colleges look at the numbers and if
there are not enough students to justify a class, it's not given.
I think it's a very good thing that all those teenagers are watching
Project Runway and thinking, "Cool! I want to learn to sew and design
clothes!" Because, if people want clothes with a custom fit, fine
construction, and/or unique styling, they're typically going to be
either spending more than a middle-class person can easily afford to get
clothes made for them, or making their own clothes. Most ready-to-wear
is pretty drecky.
Fran
Lavolta Press
Books on making historic clothing
www.lavoltapress.com
Where the industry process differs from the home-sewing mindset is that
after the sample (muslin in home-sewing world) is fit to the fit model, the
pattern is then corrected to the new changes. The home-sewer takes the fit
sample and finishes it off because the alterations were done on the almost
finished garment.
Lastly, that is extremely unforunate regarding your male classmate but I
completely sympathize with him. As a male myself, most of the drafting books
and courses out there are geared towards women's clothing - not men.
Tailoring courses are for the male clothing yet unless you apprentice under
a tailor, very few courses come close to covering the basics of drafting
men's patterns.
Michael Deibert
OAS AAS LLS
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