[shivekkhurana]

I started designing my own clothes. The insight was that I spend 80% money on suits that I wear 2 times a year, and the rest was low quality clothing I actually wore.

I flipped it, and made suits and pants that I could wear everyday.

The fast fashion stores were crap quality, my body is not a template size and I care about fabric and comfort.

The process was to learn how to sketch, to determine fabrics, colors and fit. I made pants that stay comfortable even after I eat food, I made suits that I can wear casually.

I don’t stitch myself, for that I worked with multiple workshops, until I found one that works for me.

Took me about 3 years to reach a point where all my wardrobe is designed by and for me.

There were multiple side effects on my confidence, my life, and the opportunities coming my way.

[trollbridge]

That's pretty neat, and we should talk. In my household we are currently producing about 75% of our clothing, mostly out of a desire to avoid using fabrics that generate a lot of microplastic waste + observing that newer clothes/fabrics wear out quickly.

[shivekkhurana]

Would love to talk. My goals are not anchored around sustainability, but I optimise against synthetic fibres.

My website is shivekkhurana.com. My email is on my github.

[MezzoDelCammin]

OK, fairly specific question - how did You get to that pants silouhete? It seems from the pics You went for something like a straight leg plus some extra room and fairly fitted waist / butt. Is that a response to a trend (oversized work clothes seem to be the thing these past few years), or is there some practical reason too (mainly for the extra room in the leg shape)?

[shivekkhurana]

Two reasons: 1. My thighs are bigger than usual for my waist size, so I adapted. 2. Indians (Bharat) have a culture of wearing lose clothes, and I also like lose clothes. They are more comfortable.

The waist is fitted, but with elastic bands on the side for added comfort (my belly gets bigger during evening, when I sit down and after I eat).

[rmnull]

This is super cool. I also find it hard to the right fit for me so I usually end up at a tailor or wear baggy clothes(which are in trend) however the comfort of having the clothes fit you right and you feeling really good about is missing and fast fashion sucks too lot of poorly designed clothes and cheap materials that becomes generic quite fast.

Kudos for living this lifestyle, those pants look really sick..

[e-topy]

hell yeah, I have tailed my T-shirts before but nothing else, making my own sound like a nice challenge.

How do you source materials? I'm usually very picky about the material, especially if it touches my skin, and usually the heavier the better. The best T-shirts I ever owned was a military surplus made from organic cotton, and was more than twice the weight of my other T-shirts, but I couldn't find anything like it anywhere.

[shivekkhurana]

My home country of Bharat is a major textile producer and exporter. I can find anything here.

[ribs]

I want to hear more

[shivekkhurana]

Fast fashion forces you to dress for the masses. Loose shirts, baggy pants and shallow pockets is not fashion, its cost optimisation for brands.

I didn't want to dress up like a boy. Me and my friend were in Paris when we got inspired by the floor(fashion_sense). I was already working on my clothing, but that day we promised each other that we will not be underdressed anymore.

He opted for off-the-shelf formal clothing: high quality shirts, and pants. I went all in.

First I found markets that sell cheap fabrics, so I can experiment. I travel a lot, so my clothing had to be designed for all weathers. I'm Indian (Bharat), but look racially ambiguous, so I also wanted my clothing to reflect my roots and culture, yet be modern enough for any room in the world.

I run a company, and write code, so comfort was paramount. But I also had meetings or presentations so I wanted to be presentable.

Started with pants, because I thought pants are easy to optimise, and I just need a black, gray and dark blue one. Over 5 iterations, I reached a design with elastic straps on the side (because when I eat food, my tummy bloats a little and its uncomfortable to sit down), and loose on the thighs. Imagine pyjamas, that look like pants.

Then next step was to experiment with jackets and shirts. I played with fabric, patterns, and finish (zippers, titch buttons, different cuff lengths and styles, different collars).

My friends started noticing, and I also consulted some clients. Then I gave a talk about it. This is one of my skills that I discovered by first principles. The best part is that I met my girlfriend because she noticed my aesthetics, and she told me that she makes her own clothes too.

[knerz]

Alternatively, one can create bespoke patterns. There is a lovely little open source community of pattern designers at https://seamly.io I got myself a pattern drafting book and started working on shirts and pants. The neat thing is one can design the draft pieces to be completely parametric, so adapting the pattern to different persons is as simple as entering new measurements.

[mastermedo]

Was the talk recorded? I'd love to see it. No pressure if it isn't public.

[shivekkhurana]

No. I expected 5 people to show up, but there were almost 50.

I took care of the stage but couldn’t manage operations.

[testycool]

+1 also very interested

[KellyCriterion]

Put it on Etsy and see what others are willing to pay! :))

[shivekkhurana]

I do make clothes for close friends and family, but I don’t intend to make money of it. Playing this game for the game sake.

[AussieWog93]

As someone who has monetized hobbies before, I think it's smart to keep doing things the way you are currently.

When you have to start optimising things for efficiency, it generally stops being relaxing and fun.

[AuthAuth]

they are customized for his body. if he started catering to a mass audience he'd be creating the exact thing he is avoiding

[csallen]

Have you shared any photos online? Id love to see

[shivekkhurana]

https://shivekkhurana.com/about. 3/4 photos are my custom made clothes.

[csallen]

Incredible, thanks for sharing!

[nojs]

this is super cool, well done

[moralestapia]

Hey, I looked you up online and ... you dress real well! Congratulations!

[PotassiumHacker]

How did you start out? Was it through local classes?

[shivekkhurana]

No classes. I was probably hyper aware of how my body reacts to clothing.

For example, the waist of almost every pant became uncomfortable when I sat down after eating food.

The area below arm pits and close to thighs was always tight. The length of pants was always long for the waist.

- To determine my taste, I looked at various styles of women clothing (on Pinterest).

Then for the models I found most attractive, I imagined what would the clothes they have put on look like if they were men. That led me to the realisation that I like formal aesthetic, reserved and subtle colors.

Everything else was experimental

[Folcon]

I would love to talk to you if you're willing, email in my profile, I'm in SL right now and was thinking of trying something like this but it sounds like you've gone through this journey and are a lot more experienced than me

Would love to get your perspective

[shivekkhurana]

Hello fellow Clojurist, I sent you an email.

[Folcon]

Pinged!