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What is the difference between fashion and tailoring?
Apr
What is the difference between fashion and tailoring? As I contemplated a career in fashion design, I found myself frequently perplexed. Uncertain of the path to pursue, I encountered numerous challenges. In Nigeria, my homeland, where anyone proficient with scissors and a sewing machine is deemed a fashion designer, distinguishing between the various roles became even more challenging.
Admittedly, I made numerous missteps along the way. Had I possessed the knowledge I have now, my journey to becoming a fashion designer would have likely been expedited. Hence, it’s crucial for you to discern the disparity between a tailor and a fashion designer.
Understanding these distinctions empowers you to make informed decisions regarding the acquisition of skills pertinent to your chosen career path.
What defines a fashion designer?
A fashion designer is an individual tasked with conceptualizing and crafting the distinctive appearance of individual garments. This encompasses shaping, selecting colors, choosing fabrics, incorporating trimmings, and attending to various other elements integral to the overall design.
What characterizes a tailor?
A tailor is an individual whose profession involves creating or modifying garments, such as suits, jackets, and dresses, often to suit the specific measurements and preferences of a particular individual.
Let’s discuss the skills necessary to pursue a career as a fashion designer
While having a fundamental understanding of sewing is beneficial for aspiring fashion designers, it’s not imperative to be a proficient seamstress. Your role as a fashion designer primarily revolves around creativity, trend forecasting, comprehension of fabrics, and the capacity to develop commercially viable clothing designs for your brand. To excel in these areas, you’ll require one or more of the following technical skills.
Skills in sketching or drawing
As a designer, the ability to sketch or draw allows you to translate the design ideas in your mind into tangible visuals that others can comprehend. It’s essential for effectively communicating your design concepts in a manner that enables others to visualize your vision.
Proficiency in draping
Following the creation of 2D or 3D sketches of your designs, having the ability to drape those designs on a mannequin allows you to assess their feasibility in a real-world context.
Skills in pattern making
You can either excel in draping or pattern drafting, or ideally, master both of these skills to become a proficient designer. Enhancing your pattern making abilities is crucial for advancing in your career. You can pursue formal education, such as obtaining a degree in pattern making, or opt for online courses that provide comprehensive knowledge in this area.
Another option is to apprentice under a seasoned designer. However, in Nigeria, apprenticeships may sometimes prioritize freehand cutting over pattern drafting, limiting your creative scope and stifling your imagination for many individuals.
Analyzing fabrics
Having an understanding of fabrics, including their drape and texture, is essential for a fashion designer. This skill enables you to make informed choices about which designs are best suited to specific fabrics and how they will interact with the wearer’s body once cut and sewn.
Readmore: What is difference between dressmaking and tailor?
Skills required for tailoring
To excel as a tailor, you don’t necessarily need to focus on understanding fashion trends or creating original designs for clients.
The key skill required is the ability to proficiently assemble, alter, and sew clothing pieces in a precise and professional manner. Achieving this demands more than just basic sewing knowledge; it necessitates comprehensive, specialized training in sewing techniques and mastery of operating a sewing machine to produce high-quality garments.
Typically, tailors receive design specifications from clients or utilize sewing patterns provided by professional designers or pattern makers. They then proceed to cut out and sew these patterns into polished, finished outfits.
Therefore, being a tailor and a fashion designer are distinct roles that require different training and skill sets.
However, they often collaborate within a team setting, with tailors supporting fashion designers in bringing their projects to fruition. Additionally, a tailor can transition into a fashion designer role with further training to acquire the necessary skills.
To facilitate this transition, additional training is essential. In my introduction to pattern drafting course, I teach tailors how to transition from freehand cutting, which may limit creativity, to pattern drafting, fostering creativity and aiding in the pursuit of becoming a professional fashion designer.
