I get that, but when you are spending thousands you want to make sure it’s going to come out right.
As Matt says up up thread, a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing…
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Totally. I’m sure their input is a hindrance rather than a help. But, you can understand them bring unable to resist.
Nope, you hire / pay the highest quality Tailor, you accept their advice, you don’t wantonly twat up their craftsmanship with your hipster pretensions.
Just sayin’, as is said.
I agree. But, have you met the general public?
Unfortunately, I have, far too often 
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One aspect of the above is this thing about ‘Experts’
There is a vast gap between knowing something and understanding it. Understanding requires lived experience. These days knowledge often renders down as ‘Google’.
I have the pleasure of speaking with Garrard experts daily, they may have owned one or two but have spent years reading everything under the sun on the internetz. When I say I’m still learning about them they seem to not grasp what I’m saying at all. I can’t liken this to the skills and expertise of Tailoring (Or taste which is something that can’t be simply digested from a screen) but I do tend to think this kind of arrogance spreads into every arena. I guess it’s like reading a book on Fly Fishing Vs standing in your waders in the morning mist and casting.
Expert suit man has read everything (whilst understanding very little) then goes to an actual experienced expert and questions his expertise. He can’t see the logical conclusion - If you’re an expert why don’t you fuck off and make your own suit then?
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You OK Matt ? You seem to be making an awful lot of sense this evening; bit worrying tbh.
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I have a cold. I’m hoping to shake it off promptly, it’s tiresome.
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Phew, thanks for the clarification.
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I always weigh someone up very carefully if they self proclaim they are an expert, for the reasons you illustrate.
Different case I realise as Doctors have expertise, but I have met many many docs who declare themselves as expert in something, whilst consultants within earshot roll their eyes.
If someone needs to tell you they’re an expert: they’re not.
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I was at a 2 day conference many years ago when a new technical standard was issued.
A professor of something or another was one of the speakers. He was introduced with a big list of his achievements and as an acknowledged expert in his field.
He thanked the facilitator for his kind introduction then corrected him.
“Ladies and Gentleman I am not an expert.
X is the unknown quantity
A “spurt” is a drip under pressure.
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This type of humility is the opposite of ‘I’ve read it so I’m an expert’ arrogance. Understanding / wisdom comes from lived experience (This brings simplicity, look at a master of any craft, they make it look effortless, it often isn’t) Of the small number of people I’ve met who perhaps genuinely excelled in their field, all of them suggested in one way or another they were still learning or just coming to understand. These people seem to strive for perfection whist knowing and accepting it is unobtainable - They realize they have just come to understand the tip of the iceberg…
Expert suit man’s ego would go potato over this.
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Wisdom 
Right, I’ve paid you a compliment, that means I can talk about Me now:
Thousands of years ago, I worked in a science field.
Fairly early on I realised there was a kind of food pyramid of science and we were very near the bottom of it - close enough to wave to the artists, writers, sociologists, economists, &c.
With more time and wider experience, I realised that even the best of us were colouring-in a pre-determined picture: shut-in by both what little it would ever be possible to know (you could practically write an algorithm to describe the bits we didn’t yet have evidence for), but also by the very framework of reference employed.
The really clever people manage to ignore these facts and crack-on with a long an successful career. It depressed and demotivated me, and I just trod water for a few years knowing I was a fraud.
Makes me think that the real art of Expertise isn’t convincing others, it’s convincing yourself.
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Yep. I’m working on a white cotton thing at the moment, I dislike pretty much everything I’ve done. There isn’t really anything wrong with it, it just doesnt please me. It’s white and it’s cotton, it’s a bastard guaranteed but I still cant stop myself thinking it should be better. After all, 30 years ago, I had similar difficulties with mohair or lightweight woollens. I’d not have got better at those if I’d just accepted that, said “thats what they look like” and shrugged my shoulders. Making white cotton I maybe feel like a drummer who plays for years in a 30 pce big band and then gets himself a gig with a pianist and bass player in a trio. Everything he does sticks out and shows. Tailoring, like any other craft I suspect is a very humbling excercise, it can be absolutely crushing, the learning never ends, I’ll go to my grave not having mastered it.
Now, internet blogger man with his expert eye can compare “master” and “maestro” and decide that pocket flap a is better than pocket flap b and will then tell his legion of followers that on a jacket that is 31 5/8" long, that the flaps should be 1 7/8" deep and that the check should match horizontally and vertically etc, etc. 
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Don’t they say that stupid people are happier because they genuinely believe they are really good… you are patently not stupid
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Excellent point. The two ways to have a successful career are (1) be genuine smart, as you suggest, and (2) be distinctly average, so you have no clue of the banality of what you are doing. If you’re in between the two you’re smart enough to be full of doubt, but not smart enough to do anything about it.
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Most people don’t have careers
If they are lucky they have a job
No miner, production line factory worker, admin clerk or shop worker ever had a career.
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I had a loosely related discussion with a friend about understanding & knowledge a while ago. As a psychotherapist and philosopher he was always interesting to chat to.(Even if I didn’t agree or understand some of the things he considered deeply) The more I think about this conversation the more I realize how limited I am.
The crux of it was, draw a circle that represents the complete potential of human understanding in it’s totality.
Then draw within it a section of pie that represents the sum total of all human knowledge and understanding up to this point - today. (Baring in mind little things we don’t know like what consciousness ‘is’ or until comparatively recently in terms of human evolution we thought the earth was flat.) I think I drew an optimistic quarter (For the more scientific I appreciate this is completely un-quantifiable) Regardless of the section drawn there is perhaps likely to be a section of ‘unknown’. It seems to me it’s this section that keeps people humble and striving. (In many cases we haven’t even asked the question yet let alone found an answer) Every generation see’s themselves as the most enlightened, in terms of time / evolution they probably are but there will always be more to learn (The circle can grow as with many questions answered or skills mastered further unknowns are posed).
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