The Utterly Intense and Time Consuming Cropped Layered Rectangle Jacket

Hand made knit fabric, felted and cut into rectangles of 11 different sizes, all layered on top of each other from small to large, then stitched down to a hessian base that is lined in broderie anglaise. Jacket is cropped. Detachable handmade knit fringe collar can be worn separately as a scarf.

Dry Clean only.
One size.

Ingredients:
Approx 2 kilograms of 100% Lambswool
5 metres of interfacing
black broderie anglaise
hessian
2 boxes of black dye for the hessian
1 knitter
2 weeks of hand machine knitting
3 weeks of hand stitching and jacket assembly
2 weeks of cutting fringe
4 washing machine loads of felting
proverbial blood
sweat
tears

This jacket is a one of a kind piece, when you purchase it you will be the only person in the world to own one! So once it's gone, it's gone! I won't even own one!

**********************************************************************

That was a listing from Etsy for a spectacular knitted and felted couture jacket and scarf by Glasgow's Isobel and Cleo. I included it verbatim as an example of how to demonstrate why your superior garment is in fact a superior garment (read more on that here). I love her listing title, I've used it as the title of this post. There is absolutely no reason to be modest when you have put what I count as seven accumulative weeks of intense handwork, in addition to a heaping pile of materials and sundries, into creating something exquisite that can't be found anywhere else. The price tag of $1,250 seems a bargain now, doesn't it? Regardless of whether we can actually afford it is beside the point; the value has proven to be inherent.

I recently saw a listing, also on Etsy, for an $8,000 dress that told me virtually nothing about it in the description. Let's say it was the most gorgeous dress I had ever seen, and $8,000 was pocket money to me. I wouldn't buy it because, well, it was missing the love. The designer didn't care to tell me why it was special and it made the whole thing seem a bit sterile and one-dimensional. I had no doubt that the price reflected an obscene number of hours, specialised techniques and premium fabrics, because it not only looked that way but the other items in her shop were priced in the $150 and under range - it wasn't as if she was just throwing the $8,000 figure out there to see what happened. Shame, isn't it?

Update: A reader (see comments) thought I was saying that $8,000 IS pocket money to me and was greatly offended. It's a hypothetical I used to illustrate how I would approach this situation should money be no object. Let me just clarify that me having $8,000 burning a hole in my pocket is laughable to me as I can't see that ever happening! Fiction, friends. Fiction.

Comments

[Lauren]

I am not curious about this expensive dress that you found on etsy.

[Lauren]

oops I meant to type now curious instead of not curious. My fingers misrepresent me.

[Denise @ Swelle]

Phew! I'm really glad that was a typo, I was gobsmacked when I read the first comment! ♥

[Denise @ Swelle]

Oops on me now. At first I thought you meant the jacket, which I adore, but remembered my little rant on the dress with no justification for the price tag. I can't even recall now who it was, though if I did I'd hate to single out someone who worked very hard but for whatever reason didn't feel it necessary to explain the cost. I can't help but think that maybe they didn't really want to sell it! (Still bragging rights are due, I would think?) I do know that it wasn't a seller from a non-English speaking country - sometimes this is the reason for very brief descriptions, but not in this case.

Denise ♥

[S]

"and $8,000 was pocket money to me". That comment just made me delete my fan status on Facebook.
As someone who used to make 6 figures and has now been laid off for over a year, I now see life in an entirely different fashion. It sort of makes me sick when I see people flaunting and bragging. I guess you have to be in a position of "have" and then "have not" to have respect for the "have" times.

[Denise @ Swelle]

There was an unfortunate misunderstanding of what I said in the 2nd paragraph of this post and I emailed 'S' to explain that the way she read my words wasn't at all what I meant. With times being so tough I think there's a heightened sensitivity, so no hard feelings. But I think the way I expressed my analogy - and it was most definitely an analogy! - is clear so I've left it as is but with a clarifying statement. Just in case!

Denise ♥

[WendyB]

S = reading comprehension FAIL.

[Jennifer]

This jacket is truly spectacular. Thanks so much for sharing just how handmade garments are priced, especially what isn't always given a true value - all the blood sweat and tears. I think at $1250 you are truly getting something special, made with utter love and care. I am a knitter and know how expensive good yarns can be, let alone her original design and her hard work. Plus you get two things out of it. Totally worth it. Jen

[Anka Papuli]

Excellent Advice! Will be sure to take it to heart in our shop. Thanks!

ankapapuli.blogspot.com