The House of Good

[helblonde]

With the job meme posts and all the friends in transition, I'm inspired to write about my dream company.

I want to start the modern equivalent of the House of Worth, which would make it the House of Good (tee hee). I want to have a sewing business where people come to me and say I need a 1860s morning dress or a 1520s German nobleman's outfit. I would ask a few questions to clarify what they're thinking and then decide whether it is interesting enough to take the job. I would want near-complete design control and to be paid what the work is actually worth.

Then, I would love to hire my friends who are tired of being wage slaves to work for me at decent wages to do interesting and fun work. (Yes, I'm thinking of you g0atface, callistotoni, and sarahbellem.)

I have had people tell me that I should sew professionally full time. That sounds great except for one detail: most (not all!) of the projects that are requested of me are boring. They have no design challenges, the materials are dull, the embellishments lacking. This is because people come to me with a vision of their own.  To do this full time, I would want to own the vision. 

The reason that this will remain a dream is that most people are not willing to pay the hundreds or thousands of dollars that it would really cost to make the interesting outfits. The grander and more interesting the clothing, the more expensive they are.

Comments

[semy-of-pearls.livejournal.com]

I could help with re-stocking the shelves and running button orders. *wink*

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

Siiiiiiiigh... If only. That's a lovely thought, though. :)

[falzalot.livejournal.com]

If I had the money, I'd sure as heck hire you!!!

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

The reason that this will remain a dream is that most people are not willing to pay the hundreds or thousands of dollars that it would really cost to make the interesting outfits. The grander and more interesting the clothing, the more expensive they are.

bonacorsi says similar things about hand-made books. People expect to pay paperback prices.

[lifeofglamour.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me too. But I'd call it House of Worth.

:)

Dream on sister...

[callistotoni.livejournal.com]

Remeber how much I got paid by my insurance company for just the *labor* on my stolen 12th Night outfit? You're right, no one is going to be willing to pay that.

[skachick-101.livejournal.com]

you just need to convince rich folks in Hollywood to buy your stuff. I'd love to see your designs on the red carpet :)

[helblonde.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Or weddings, because brides are stupid enough to pay that much for a dress to be worn once. And the exclusivity thing means I can tell the bridezillae of the word to stick a sock in it. Not that I've ever dealt with entitlement queens or anything.