PRICE OF SUITS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 73, 20 December 1920, Page 9

PRICE OF SUITS

CONTRAST WITH PRE-WAR COST EXPENSE OF PRODUCTION MUCH GREATER The price of clothing is discussed In an article recently published in the "Sartorial Gazette." It states"Tweeds, which are not all wool, can be bought at a cost which makes them relatively cheaper than tlhey were in pre-war days when compared with the inflated prices of botany cloths. . But though tho material is serviceable enough, and not without smartness, it is, nowadays, not in demand. The law of supply and: demand, however, is not iihe wiole of the story. From start to finish a suit' of clothes is beset by costs of production that swell in volume like a river with many tributaries. ■ Tho tailor will tell you that, besides higher wagea nnd increased establishment charges—rent, rates, taxes, coal, gas, and so forth—ho has to pay three and four tinies over for oloth and materials what he did in pre-war days. The manufacturer can offer much the same explanation, with the variant that it is the ray material which adds so hugely to the price of the oloth. And so you come to what is regarded l as the bedrock of the (situation —the cost of the wool, tho shortage of output! in the wool-oombing industry, and tse enormous prices of yarns. Wool is now about five times the price it was in 1914, and bought in the form of tops it is seven times as much. Attempt to apportion the various increases of cofl't at successive stages is almost impossible without reference to records in every branch of work. An amount of data by way of comparison with pre-war times is fair, and from this also some estimates of the several contributory causes may be gathered. Take, for example, the following tabulated statement relating to the production of n pieco of fine botany 6erge, known's as 70's qualityCost in Cost in 1914.1920. £8. d. £s. d. Spun yarn for yards of cloth 14 7 G 93 0 0 Weaving, oto 0 15 1 2 14 Dyeing , ill o S6 0 Finishing 015 0 113 6 17 8 7 100 010 Cost per yard ......... 05 10 113 4 Add manufacturers' per cent profit ... 0 0 7 0 3 4 0 G 5" 11G 8 Add merchant's profit 0 3 0 0 4 4 Cost to tailor • per yard 0 9 5 2 1 0 A little calculation will show that while the cost of yam to produce one yard of cloth has increased from 4s. 9d. t(t> 315.. the weaving cost is B}d. as compared with 3d.; tho dyeing is about Is. 2d., as compared with just under 7d.j ! and the finishing is lljd. compared with 3d. In other words:— • __Cost of yarn increased nearly seven time's. of wearing increased nearly three time?. Cost of dyeing increased at least ffouble. Cost of finishing increased nearly four times. After the manufacturer's profit has been added and the merchant has charged his percentage, the tailor's turn comes. It takes about 3J yards of cloth to mako a suit, and besides the cost of making un there are the tailor's profit and establishment charges to be reckoned. Hore 'we are on less certain ground, for much depends on the class of tailor emploved. Some indication of the position, however, mny.be obtained from the following approximate comparison:— • 1914. 1920. £b. d. • • s. <1. Cost, of suit loi-jth ... 13 0 7 3 6 Making nnd establishment charges 211 0 5 8 6 4 4 0 12 12 0 The charges in the second column may bo higher or lower, according to tho reputation, or skill of the firm—a JCIO 10s. suit would be of a less expensive cloth— but they are probably ngt far out as an illustration of the increased price which one has to pay for a pood suit of blue serge. Tho cloth in this case, it will be noted, costs about .£2 a yard, but, even at 30s. a yard, one high-class tailor states, his charge would not bo less than 12 guineas. The cloths for which ho now pays 30s. to 40s. a yard cost him formerly from 9s. to 15s. In addition, sleeve linings have advanced from 6d. to 3s. a ynrd, sewing silk from 265. to 965. per lb., and canvas, formerly 5d.,,is now 3s. 2d. a yard. Again, wages are n particularly Berious' item,, and establishment expenses are heavier. Thus it happens that from..£3 10s. to .£4 is about the average charge simply for. making tho suit, whatever may bo the quality of material. "Tailors never know when they are finished," says one of them. "Charges often have to be regulated by a customer's fads, as well as in consideration of the cut and fit." Hence, in dealing with a fine worsted priced at 525. a yard—that is to 6av, a cost of i£9 2s. for the cloth alone— ono firm stato that they would have to fix the price of the suit «it ilB 18s., the difference being represented by .£4 for making tin, nnd .£5 16s. for a 33 1-3' per cent, profit and establishment charges.