Sorry, but I can’t share my sources for some very good reasons

The Suez Canal issue exacerbates it.

The last several months, I’ve gotten more inquiries than ever about where I get my fabrics and trims since they’ve gotten so much harder to find, especially good quality, much less high quality.  I’ve gotten questions about that for years, but more so since last summer.  Prior to the lockdowns, and for a while into the lockdowns, my answers were the same: Some of my suppliers aren’t available to the public and are through connection-only, and some are shops that don’t sell online, hence having to go to Paris and London in person.  But when it comes to what I can order and that the public can also order from, I’ve spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars over the years researching my sources, ordering swatches to verify quality or even that a fabric is what they say it is (very often, it’s not, and even Joann Fabrics is VERY GUILTY of this), reordering on occasion to ensure reliability and consistency, and when a fabric is discontinued, starting the process over to try to find new suppliers of that fabric, and really, that’s a large investment to just give away.*

And now?  I don’t know.  I’ve got nothing.  A lot of my best suppliers, the ones I’ve gotten the best silks and softest, airiest cottons and such from, have gone out of business altogether, and of the ones available to the public, they’ve merged and offerings have shrunk.  The ones I sourced in person, who I sought out in person in Europe, tracking some to literal underground shops literally underground where you have to know which unmarked door to go to and buzz and who to ask for…I can’t know which of them are even around now until I go back and check, which could mean trips that are fruitless.  Yes, it’s always fun to go to Paris and London anyway, but a huge disappointment when shops you rely on are gone, and it’ll be heartbreaking since a lot of those are small shops owned by families.  None, NONE, are chains.  I’m expecting to be sad a lot when I go back.  I developed the business relationships needed to get suppliers to go to their back rooms to look for silks for me.  The red duchess silk I got the last time took one shopkeeper a couple weeks to personally find for me.  We talked about our same-age kids a lot when I went there in trips before that, and he finally met my daughter the last time I went.  Who knows if his shop is still there.

I’m scrambling myself to find new reliable suppliers, and so far, have found none that are up to par, and so I’ve been relying on my stash, the stash that a lot of people in my life thought I was “crazy” for amassing, which I did with the mindset of “what happens if this stuff can’t be obtained one day”…which…well…and having to put out feelers to people I know to see who may have what I need and be willing to part with it.  There is one fabric I’m still hunting for for another seamstress I know, but otherwise, I’ve been lucky finding just enough of what I need, but this isn’t enough to call a source.  It’s scrambling.  I’m spending more time scrambling now than sewing, and it’s frustrating.

So when I DO happen to find a source, I’ll be holding that close to the chest for a while, not only because of the substantial time I’m putting into it (labor has value), but because even I can’t know now if a source I may have this moment could unexpectedly be gone next week, and so this is the one area I kind of feel the need to be selfish on.  I haven’t felt this lost in the fabric world since 2006.  That’s how many of my suppliers are gone.  Thank goodness for my stash.

When it comes to my stash, getting me to sell any of it would be very, very hard since I don’t know when, or if, I’ll be able to get more of what I have.  I’m honestly sick with worry that some of it won’t be obtainable again.  I’ve fought against the urge to mark up the costs of the gowns I can create out of my stash, which I would justifiably do due to scarcity of supplies, but just can’t make myself do that.  It feels like profiteering.  Instead, I’ve nixed my pricing structure (and have corset commissions for months, and nope, I won’t be making a penny off of labor, but it’ll help keep me on a schedule and is good for my mental health).  There are only two people who would have access to it besides myself, Carol and Nora, and that’s really it.

So we’ve got suppliers going under, suppliers collapsing into fewer suppliers…most of the big online shops are owned by two companies now, though you wouldn’t know it since they keep all the old websites up, and no, those aren’t the ones I go through because their quality isn’t up to my expectations…an inability to even access some of my suppliers to see if they’re even around anymore, global supply chain issues that started a year ago for obvious issues I can’t mention without my entire website getting knocked down in search engines (yup…it’s not just YouTubers being demonetized and excluded from searches if they dare even breath that C-word once)…

And now we’ve got that issue with the Suez Canal.  Though most of my supplies come from Europe not only for quality, but because I really try to find manufacturers that are ethical since quality and ethical manufacturing mean more to me than cheap pricing (keep in mind I’m not making crucial necessities), and it’s a small fortune flying stuff in, the canal is expected to cause flight issues as a lot of manufacturers of non-household goods are starting to compromise and fly half their goods and boat the other half.  Uh, yeah, that may mean higher shelf prices.  But it also means that the reliability of stuff that needs to be flown in could be dicey.  There aren’t magically more cargo planes to meet the demand.  Experts are saying it can be several weeks to months to get shipping back on track.

So…yeah.  That’s why I couldn’t share my sources before, and why I can’t share them now. I’m scrambling too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*I kinda think I’ve already given away a lot, what with the costume-studies I do, between cost of traveling, buying equipment to take the best pictures (this is one of the lenses I bought, and I upgraded to this camera, which was more since it was newer at the time, specifically to get the Sarah ball gown photos so detailed, and no, I wouldn’t have upgraded otherwise since the T6i I was using was perfectly fine for my needs otherwise), the time of it all (8 hours of driving for each the three time I went for those photos alone, plus the time there, then going through the photos, making posts…), and then sharing it for free, without even affiliate ads of any sort to offset the bandwidth bills we still get every month from the traffic to my costume study posts, instead of keeping it to myself so that only I could know the details to make the most accurate ones out there.  Right now, I’m waiting for clearance for another photo op, which, when it comes, will likely be short notice, and my husband knows to expect me to bolt with a night’s notice when I’ve got the go-ahead.  Cameras (got to have backup) and everything are ready for me to hightail it several hours (unlike most people, I still get weekly Covid tests, so don’t panic, am actually the at-risk one with a severe autoimmune disease).  So I’m still planning to plunk down more money and time for studies I will be giving away, and doing this is exciting.  But it is a financial investment that I will never see a return of even a penny on.  If anything, I lose potential commissions since my photos have encouraged at least a few people I know of to take a stab at it themselves when they were initially looking into commissioning from me, and I’ve encouraged them.  So this is what I mean.

One thought on “Sorry, but I can’t share my sources for some very good reasons

  1. Marie-Elena Baker

    That was an amazingly beautiful sharing of things you hold dear. Thank you . I certainly understand, and so should everyone else! So sad how many of the family businesses that I use in England are gone now, too.
    Best of luck and thank goodness you have your precious stash !
    Cheers!

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