As my first ten days of placement were at a marketing company I wanted to do my other ten days focusing on the practical side of fashion/business, therefore I was extremely happy to gain two weeks with Sophie & Anna Maddock's in their bespoke dressmakers shop based in Southport. Sophie and Anna's business offer not only bespoke garments made from start to finish by hand but a bridal suite in which the garments are also lovingly handmade as well as a ever growing alterations service too. The team is made up of just Anna & Sophie who graduated from a four year fashion course at Preston University, as well as hoping to employ two new members to keep up with the number of alteration's that the shop needs to cater for.
During the two weeks of my placement the business was in the process of a entire refurbishment which I believe gave me an even greater insight into the workings of a bespoke dressmakers. The shop is now set over two floors, the first being a shop front in which customers can walk in from off the street for any alteration advice/orders, and upstairs of three floors which are appointment only. Upstairs features, a pattern cutting room, manufacture room, bridal suite, made to measure room & quite a bit of storage for fabrics etc.
bridal suite & downstairs
sewing room
My role whilst on placement was mainly around the new alteration service, this included hemming, adding darts, unpicking, hand sewing etc. as well as running any errands& helping out with customer fittings. In terms of a permanent role, the business was currently looking for permanent employee's to run the alterations service, &holding interviews whilst I was there. I would need to be much more experienced within the alterations service to apply but it would be a possible permanent position.
Day One - 21st July
- Started the day by sitting on a third fitting& able to see just how perfect and precise Sophie and Anna not only create their garments but fit it to the customer to.
- I then began with any easy alteration of removing belt loops off a clients jacket.
- I then unpicked and re pinned a pair of trousers that the leg measurement needed to be changed from 31" to 34".
- I then went to pick up a range of cottons and fabrics from the local habadashery as a few things (such a sips, ribbon, buttons etc.) could be bought there to save ordering them in& waiting/paying for postage.
Day Two - 22nd July
AM
Market Research - As the shop had only just began with a alterations service I was given the job of visiting the other three alteration shops in Southport to see what prices were being charged and the quality/service of this to allow Sophie&Anna to see their competition from a first hand view& see what they could offer to gain customers/be ahead of the competition.
PM
Pattern Development, a client wanted a top re-creating from a garment she already owned. The top was handmade by the client herself and consisted of three pieces as well as a lot of draped fabric, I began by drafting a pattern from the original garment before cutting in out in two new fabrics, both of these being bold neon colours.
front&back of garment
garment lay flat
pattern construction
Day Three - 23rd July
- Cut out pattern pieces for the fish tail of a wedding dress.
- Stood in on a first fitting of the neon tops I cut out the day before, was interesting to see what worked&didn't once the item was worn by the client.
- Hand sewn final bits of lace onto a wedding dress.
- As the dressmakers was appointment only, I began to be given the responsibility of welcoming customers, I seen this as quite a compliment as clients usually judge a business by their first impressions, this being me welcoming them.
- Alterations to end the day ; two menswear trousers - hemming three pairs.
(pricing; centre back seam £10.00 | side seams £15.00 | bottom hem £12.00)
Day Four - 24th July
- Client fitting welcoming.
- Unpicked netting from a party dress.
- Ran errands for cotton&ribbon.
- Sat in on three fittings.
Day Five - 25th July
AM
Beaded dress - As a lot of sewing and alterations needed to be do to this dress& the beading was in the way, I had to tack each bead and individually remove it before sewing them back on at a later date. As there was a lot of beading and hand sewing this ended up taking the entire morning.
PM
- Unpicked & pinned the hem of four pairs of trousers.
- Last minute trouser alteration; wedding in the morning& came in with twenty minutes until the shop shut, Sophie& Anna quickly accommodated this which I thought was great customer service both effective& efficient.
- Pressed a range of samples before leaving at 5pm.
Day Six - 28th July
- Client coming in early so needed to do some quick hand sewing to secure a hook&eye aswell as a neck strap, fast pace within the work place.
- Unpicked a jacket zip ready to be replace, replacement zip; £15.00
- Greeted several clients for their fittings.
- Alterations; Asymmetric skirt took to one length of 29", cut and overlocked before being sewn on the industrial machine. The skirt was having a lace trim added to the hem.
- Hemmed a pair of jeans as well as top stitching them.
Day Seven - 29th July
- Alterations; Trouser hem.
- Introduced to the blind hem machine which was interesting as I had never used one before.
- Haberdashery run - zips and cotton supplies.
- Unpicked and re-stitched two dress hems.
- Photographed a wedding dress which was then uploaded onto the shops social media including their website&instagram.
Day Eight - 30th July
- Unpicked and re-hemmed another dress.
- Helped dress mannequin in some original designs and dresses to display to customers in the hall way/ (visual merchandising).
- Measured, cut and hemmed dress.
- Overlocked three bridesmaid dresses I had pre-cut.
- Hemmed two children's dresses.
- Stood in on a wedding dress fitting.
Day Nine - 31st July
- Sorted a range of stock&designs/garments as the shop was going through the re-brand.
- Cut/Hemmed a dress only this was slightly different as the client wished to keep the extra fabric and for it to be made into a small scarf/shawl to match her dress for a wedding.
- Unpicked and re-sewn a seam of a top that had frayed. The client had bought it in the sale& it only needed a small adjustment.
- Cut out a dress pattern for a new customer before leaving at 5pm.
Day Ten/ Final Day - 1st August
- Continued to cut out the dress pattern in two separate fabrics, one blue, one cream.
- Two children's dresses alterations; unpicked and re- sewn the straps.
- On the body alteration: As the shop was particularly busy I was given the chance to do a range of on the body fitting ready for alterations, these included; three dresses to have the shoulder seams altered as well as the hems& two trousers in which the centre back seam needed changing as well as hemmed.
- Finally, bridal pattern cutting; cutting out the netting for a bridal gown.
The production
chain from; Design to Market Product.
- Where do the company get their inspirations
and designs from?
As
the shop is a bespoke dressmaker’s, Anna and Sophie only create garments that
are made to order, whether this be a wedding dress to a tailored suit. Therefore
the customer is the inspiration behind a design, a client would come into the
store with their initial idea/inspirations and explain to Anna or Sophie what
they wish to have made, one of the girls then draws out a initial sketch as an
idea of shape/detail of the garment.
If
the customer is happy with this they then discuss fabrics/colours before
swatches are shared for the client to choose exactly what they want.
-
Where
do they source their fabrics? UK or internationally?
All
of Sophie& Anna’s fabrics are sourced from the UK, mainly London based
warehouses,
a
few of these being;
1)
Schwarzschila
Ochs Limited (London based)
2)
Liltmans
(London based also)
This
is so a high level of quality is achieved from their fabric choices, the garments
made are of quite a high price range which is reflected within the fabric quality
of the garments produced.
-
Do
they use printing or embellishments techniques?
Although
Sophie&Anna do not currently us any printing techniques a lot of embellishments
are used within a lot of their garments, whether this be hand sewn lace onto
bespoke weddings dresses or individually glued sequined beads on a classic prom
gown a lot of time and effort is put in to ensure the embellishments are of
just as high quality as the garment itself.
Pattern
-
How
is a pattern made within this business?
Each
pattern is handmade by either Anna or Sophie for each garment sold, although
they do create some from a series of blocks which takes less time generally.
-
Which
technology do they use/if they use CAD & CAM software?
Currently
neither CAD or CAM is used within the pattern construction stage, I believe
this is a only one of each garment is generally made meaning the need for mass production
isn’t there. Although CAD or CAM could speed up a lot of the process I think it
could be looked into further for Sophie& Anna to see if it would actually benefit
them and the business or not.
Production & Costing
-
How
does the company manufacture their product?
Once
again all garments are manufacture by hand by either Sophie or Anna within
their workshop.
-
Where
is the product being cut & manufactured?
Within
Sophie & Anna workplace based in the seaside city of Southport.
-
What machinery is used?
Industrial
overlockers, machines and one blind hemmer.
-
How
is a price decided per garment?
A
price is decided depending on the garment itself, for example a bespoke wedding
dress,
a
variety of things would have to be took into consideration including;
-
Time
taken to create the pattern and garment.
-
Fabric&
trimmings.
-
Any
specialist techniques used.
Quality
Control
-
How
is a high level of quality achieved?
Quality
assurance is a ongoing theme within the dressmakers, after each step of the
manufacture step the garment is checked and any loose threads are trimmed off,
all stitching is carefully done& ensure to be as close to perfect as
humanly possible. As the garments are made for certain clients a range of
fittings are done throughout the process, usually up to three fitting per
garment to ensure the item is perfect for the customer but also fits them
perfectly too.
-
How
is the final garment dispatched?
All
orders are made in store, therefore once a item is ready for collection an appointment
for a final fitting with the client will be made and if all is well then they
will take the item home with them that day.
-
Is
all their production based in the UK?
Yes.
Marketing &
Promotion
-
What
is the company’s target market?
As
the company offer a wide range of services including not only bespoke items,
but bridal as well as a alterations service now to I believe they could suit pretty
much any audience. Although they do not currently cater for bespoke menswear
they do suit their alterations service to men therefore that offers the chance
to expand to menswear in the future.
- How
do they target them?
-
Most
of the business is brought in through word of mouth and street advertising, a lot
of their work is walk in alterations although Sophie and Anna have being advertising
in local newspapers and magazine as well as being interview for a few bridal
magazines earlier this year. They are the only bespoke dressmakers based in Southport
currently (although there are two other
bridal shops).
-
What
is their brand identity& how do they promote this?
As
I was on my place during the re-launch of the company I got to see the new
branding for the shop, this was a whole new colourful look for the shop with a
new logo which included the girls names with a mannequin and scissor symbol,
this will also be used as labelling, letter heads and eventually the website
design for the shop. A lot of promotion is done through social media to, the
shop has a twitter, instagram and facebook page as well as a website to. I
believe this works well as they do gain quite a lot of customers from online,
mainly local but they are very successful and forever run of their feet. I
found out about the shop just from their Facebook page and would order a
garment from there for sure as I know just how high of quality the garments are.
Analysis
of my time at Sophie&Anna Maddocks Dressmakers.
Although I did not learn so much in terms of new sewing skills from my placement here I learnt a lot about creating and maintaining a business first hand which for me personally is vital as it is what I wish to do.
The majority of task I was set were very similar to what I do on a day to day basis at uni such as pattern construction and garment manufacture however by the timing of my placement it meant I got to see how a brand relaunch can gain a whole new variety of customers as well as the customer I could personally aim to in the future. Being at the dressmakers gave me a lot of inspiration and idea's as to how I do want to brand myself/business after university.
By seeing what Anna & Sophie offered to their clients in terms of customer service and satisfaction it was very inspiring as they are completely genuine which I believe is a very strong business point&talent to have.
I believe working within this environment has gave me a lot of self confidence and belief in what I want to do and that it is a possibility to have it as an actually career, something I am very much looking forward to.
