Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by david_mitchell 3493 days ago
What came to mind when I saw the list was what is might say about the founders that YC is selecting.

You could easily conclude from this list that it's rich peoples kids creating solutions to imaginary problems - "Oh, how could my poor feet possibly survive the arduous journey from my front door to the uber in an off the shelf pair of shoes? I need a tailor!".

I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt though since these companies are presumably a small subset of those they've invested in.

A more charitable explanation might be that since these companies are in SV then it makes sense for them to start out selling stuff to affluent customers who are not overly price sensitive.

2 comments

As someone who has perpetual trouble finding well fitting dress shirts off the shelf - the MTailor thing seems interesting. You do raise something valid - I suspect they're selling affluent customers, because they're easier to reach, and are willing to try something novel.
You can just buy a shirt and get it tailored by someone who can actually see you and try pinning it in different places.
If you have a sewing machine it takes less than 15 minutes to tailor a shirt down (just put it on inside-out, pin, and sew).

Made-to-measure mail-order dress shirts are an idea from the 1990s AFAIK. A while back I collected some promotional offers from in-flight magazines and online and ordered a big stockpile of white made-to-measure dress shirts. With the promotional pricing it came out to less than $20 a shirt.

As with any menswear business, the main problem is customer education. Men in the US dress like slobs, do not care that they dress like slobs, and do not want to spend money on clothes (85% of apparel revenue comes from womenswear).

The issue in my case is not the trunk. I'm a 'gentleman of size' (6'3 300 lbs) which means to find something that fits my neck, I have to buy a shirt large enough to accommodate another large person inside of it with me. I also, do not have a sewing machine, nor do I have a good place to work, or time to do it. I've had trouble finding a place locally that will do bespoke clothing.

I would rather not dress like a slob, but barring me finding a place to make me something that actually fits (for a good price).. everything I buy will fit somewhat awkwardly, and make me look as if I'm wearing several flower sacks sewn together or somewhat awkwardly in fit in other ways.

Some libraries have sewing machines. Your task sounds simple enough to DIY using GP's method on a shirt large enough to fit two.

http://www.mv-voice.com/news/2014/09/02/a-stitch-in-time-at-...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/sacbee.relaymedia.com/amp/news/...

http://sandiego.communityguides.com/content_mobile.php?pid=4...

You can get a demo shirt from ModernTailor for $20 and then as many perfectly tailored shirts for under $100 as you want. As the earlier commenter said, these companies have been around for years.
Keep in mind this list is about gifts, and so naturally the companies on it won't do run-of-the-mill stuff.