Heads up! (Sorry I'll never tire of that lame pun..)
Old size chart
New size chart
Up until now the caps have been available in 7 sizes XS-XL & bespoke sizes have been available to request. But from now on there will be also be XXL, 3XL AND 4XL as well.
All the cap styles, basics, trappers, fishers and cloches will be available to order in up to 10 different sizes in total.
Caps being available in multiple sizes has always been a big goal for me, as a milliner S, M & L just isn't very realistic. I've measured lots of different head sizes and just learnt how much of a difference a quarter of an inch makes in terms of head size and a cap fitting well. So 3 sizes doesn't really cut it.
Also from feedback I got last year at events, as well as some custom requests for larger sizes it's definitely become apparent that there's people out there that would like to order them in more sizes.
From a making point of view though and as the pattern-cutter it's not as simple as just having them all available straight away. As for each of the new sizes (& per style too) I will need to draft and measure and test each new flat pattern of the cap, which is a time consuming task to get 100% accurate. Don't get me wrong, that's not a complaint, but I still have to be realistic about the time it takes. Especially in terms of making each cap well & promising something I can't do quickly.
That's the main reason why I haven't made them available so far. As there's only so many hours in the day and for someone who has learnt A LOT about my boundaries and particularly self care over the last couple of years, I have learnt the hard way to not promise everything all at once.
So what's changed this week? WELL instagram is a fucking scary world. I follow quite a few other sustainable and slow fashion brands and advocates, as a lot of us do and this last weekend there were a few accounts talking about something that had happened with another independent brand and their inclusivity towards sizing.
We all know not to argue with strangers on the internet, or at least proceed with caution. It can get super heated and with written word, tone is always always misunderstood, especially when the other person or in this case hundreds of people (& thousands of comments) don't know you or each other. Especially if you care about real human feelings and remember that each comment is a human, on BOTH sides of the argument.
It was genuinely hard to try to piece all the info together at first, from all the comments and from the posts. To try to work out what the original issue was & when it started, as there were a lot of comments without context, from both sides, also a lot of long videos. Mainly because that's just how much both sides cared about the issue. But there was definitely a lot of anger too, mainly from other people not directly involved.. It was scary how out of hand, some of the comments got. You could see how upset both of these parties were by it and I know a lot of that had been heightened by so many other people getting involved and tagging both parties.
But it was also eye-opening how important it is. I'm still not 100% sure on some of the details but it seemed to be that this clothing brand stopping making sizes at size 18-22 (depending on when the issue started) and had also consulted someone about this and not paid her for her professional advice (still unsure on the specifics of this). Personally I've been asked to work for free or been underpaid multiple times as a milliner & costume maker. That shit is fucking important. And disrespectful. Also more importantly sizing and including everyone is important. Definitely to me anyway.
Now I definitely agree with fighting for change and speaking up, and I love feedback and finding out what customers want and don't want. LOVE that info. I geekily want to know. As a human I would also much rather argue with someone and find out their real opinions than have lots of passive aggressive vague comments, in real life anyway. But the way this whole issue escalated thanks to the ability of thousands of people being able to comment straight away was frankly a little scary. That is something we need to be aware of with social media. Also as a small brand I could totally see reasons why this particular brand hasn't released extra sizes yet. They've said they want to, just haven't prioritised it yet. For whatever reason (which is their business) they've focused on other things. That's their right. It's their brand. Not ours.
This has apparently also been challenged for a couple of years. Personally for me, two years isn't very long. Trust me the months fly by and the want to do list is annoyingly long. Doesn't mean I don't want to. You also have to make frustrating choices sometimes, about what you prioritise in order to remain sustainable.
However from the customers point of view, from these instagram posts, I have more than gotten the message from everyone's comments that it is very important to SHOW, not just say that you genuinely care about changing something & making it available. Otherwise it does start to seem forgotten. Also as a curvy gal who is "clinically obese" according to that one lovely doctor and size 24 on h&m's size chart and 16-18 at boden I CARE ABOUT SIZING & have experienced this situation as customer too. I have totally understood how shit it can make you feel when you can't buy something to fit & how it does make you feel excluded.
Caps might not be on anyone's radar re size exclusions, but it is one thing I can do right away to do my wee part.
So fuck it. I'll pattern them as I go along and figure it out. All caps are now available to order in sizes XS-4XL. And if anyone wants any more specific sizes, colours or styles, I would love to know, drop me an email, I will be glad to know. Just don't argue with me on the internet.