Tailoring for Women

We are thrilled this year to be able to link with this auspicious event and further promote and acknowledge the part women play in business.  This will be the 6th year of the Awards and they include a number of categories ranging from financial to legal services.  I believe from the creator of the event, Gwen Rhys, that it is complete sell out this year and has been promised the attention of BBC TV, so it should be quite an event.

I am, myself, a member of the City Women’s Network (CWN) which has a membership that extends right across these business sectors and it is always a stimulating experience to attend their meetings and learn from such a broad spectrum of expertise. It seems that there are now many such networks at local, national, and even international level.  My friend, the concert pianist Diana Baker, was a speaker at the Women’s International Network conference a couple of years ago and I had hoped to attend their conference in September this year.  Maybe I will have better luck in 2009.

More recently the Everywoman took place in London with the indomitable Ruby Wax as one of the key speakers.  What an inspiration!

So, well done in advance to all the recipients of the Awards.  A great achievement.

With the current financial turmoil that surrounds us it seems appropriate to talk about price of goods, but on this occasion I intend to do it from the ‘makers’ standpoint.  The reason is that I have been more than slightly surprised recently by some of the prices claimed for ‘high quality, custom, hand made’ suits.

Here in the City  you are either accosted en-route across London Bridge during the morning rush hour by ‘banker look-alikes’ handing out vouchers for commodity-priced bespoke items,  or by low price deals for hand-made suits in the evening papers.  I find this intriguing.  Now that the true definition of the term bespoke has become clouded by a recent Advertising Standards Authority ruling, perhaps there is a lingering hope for clarity in the term ‘hand-made’.  It seems like a good premise until you start to look at the price breakdown.

Let’s take for example an offer for a ‘custom hand-made’ suit I saw the other day.  £179 was the asking price.  leaving to one side the acutal ‘fit’ of the garment let’s look at the maths.

First get rid of the VAT; about £15 in round figures.  That leaves us with £164.