I wasn't sure if Ariston was a weaver or a merchant, hence my vague description "fabric brands"; admittedly, not a pretty description. The fact that Ariston is a merchant, makes it even more difficult to say general things about their fabrics, doesn't it? I mean, how many fabrics do they offer? Do they always offer the same fabrics, or perhaps use different weavers for the same type of fabric over the years? Are all those different fabrics of the same, let's say, dubious quality? I find that hard to believe.....
1. weavers make to a price point and specs of the client
2. client 1 asks to make fabric with x type of wool for y amount of money = product a
3. client 2 asks to make fabric with x type of wool for y-1 amount of money = product a-1
4. which is the better fabric made by the weaver? brand of client 1 or client 2?
if you read my previous post
you will see i wrote:
'similar gauge fabric..'
in terms of wholesale pricing
ariston fabrics are cheaper
than say - drapers
some of the fabrics
are woven by the same mills
and if you have had the experience
to compare them
and to speak to tailors
you can understand better
do merchants like ariston
drapers,
lessers,
harrisons,
etc
change mills for the same fabric?
of course they do
that is why you will see
variences between rolls
of the same fabric number
and that is why
there are grumbles
that the new lessers fabrics
are not as good as the old
but -
you can believe what you wish
....I remember people saying the same things about Vitale Barberis fabrics (a weaver, not a merchant, if I'm not mistaken, but that's beside my point about generalizing): "They're all bad", "They're not used by SR tailors", etcetera, until Despos and Jeffryd offered their experienced and balanced opinions. Things went quiet after that. I'm not saying you're one of those people; you seem to have much more experience than many other "bespeakers" in the forums, but I don't understand the generalized statement.
and some of these tailors you quote
do not like working in handwoven fabrics
compared to many i've worked with in italy
and spoken to in london
so i do not swallow
everything they say
as for vbc a mill
and a merchant
they have fabrics of different qualities.
drapers for example
orders fabrics to their specs
from vbc
which is superior to
the similar fabric sold by vbc
why is that?
answer:
it goes back to money
who pays more for what specs
and you have to learn
what the target client is
of the mill/merchant.
vbc's major clients are rtw
factories
vs. draper's
who sell mainly to tailors
......I haven't felt the difference; I'm sure you have and prefer the non-Ariston variants. But what does that mean? What does it mean that you prefer handwoven, roughly finished B. Will donegals to machine woven (is that a word?), more smoothly finished Scabal donegals (to use an old example you might recall)? Fabrics have intrinsic qualities which might make them more durable, more authentic, easier to handle for tailors etcetera, but when, as a client, you choose a fabric for a suit or jacket, other factors might be more important.
so we get to the heart of the matter.....
let us use your donegal as an example
you have to learn to differentiate
between uses of fabric.
suiting vs sportscoat
worsted vs woolen
a sportscoat fabric is intrinsically different
from a suiting
and in the case of a donegal
a suiting fabric has to be more durable
the yarns finished differently (worsted)
to withstand the wear
especially when made into trousers
but the result is that
the 'donegal' like suiting
loses quite a bit of the
sportscoating character:
bulk, fluffiness of the yarn,
etc.
and ends up being a smoother
fabric overall.
good for a suit
lacks character of a sportscoat
basically: why don't i like
a suiting fabric as a sportscoat
it would have been better if you had asked why i prefer
a handwoven vs machine woven
w.bill donegal:
same merchant
different fabrics
same utility
/endlesson
