Dove portate il difetto?
A loro spettava prendere la seconda e l’ultima misura. Quando misuravano mettevano il gesso e poi strappavano le maniche o allargavano le spalle e inginocchiati chiedevano al cliente : “dove portate il difetto?” Abbiamo capito cos’era il difetto appena giovanotti al nostro ingresso in produzione come garzoni di bottega, non dicevano che la giacca andava bene di misura ma che “scendeva” o “vestiva” bene. I pantaloni non erano né corti (a zompa fuossi), né lunghi, dovevano appoggiare sui lacci della scarpa davanti e lasciare intravedere tutto il tacco da fermi. Da mattina a sera si cantavano canzoni napoletane e si raccontavano fatti accaduti, il tempo scorreva come il rumore delle macchine da cucire. Tutti i giorni, all’ora di pranzo sembrava una scampagnata, eravamo tutti felici, le donne servivano da mangiare e la sera mentre si cenava, tutti insieme, si riproponevano i fatti della giornata lavorativa, quello che era stato fatto, quello che si doveva ancora fare ricordando che per sabato e domenica si dovevano consegnare gli abiti ai clienti.
Oggi è quasi tutto cambiato
…non lavoriamo più in casa, non mangiamo più insieme: chi corre a prendere i figli a scuola, chi rimane a mangiare “‘na marenna”, manca quell’armonia della semplicità e della famiglia unita patriarcale.
Una cosa, però, è rimasta identica: l’amore che mettiamo nel nostro lavoro che ci consente di ottenere qualità eccellente lavorando con le stesse macchine di allora, utilizzando ancora i gessetti bianchi semi-lucidi rettangolari, utilizzando vecchi ditali, abbassandoci ancora a misurare i pantaloni e chiedendo al cliente “addo’ purtate ‘o difetto”, correndo sempre per consegnare nei tempi, scegliendo le migliori stoffe e i migliori colori e fantasie, nel rispetto dell’esigenza della clientela e per la loro soddisfazione nell’indossare un abito fatto artigianalmente come allora.
Un’altra cosa che non è cambiata è la signorilità dei nostri clienti che ci rendono felici quando sorridono soddisfatti portando via l’abito consegnato, mentre immaginano come indossarlo, in quale occasione e con quali calzature, pedalini, scarpe, cravatta, camicia, cintura armonizzare il capo da noi prodotto per loro.
For generations our family have made suits of the highest quality. When we were children our father would tell us his ancestors would make suits and dresses for the nobles of “Reggia di Carditello”. He recalls being told stories of the nobles being extremely elegant whilst at the same time incredibly fussy to the point of having to remake the garments that had even the slightest imperfection. Our father would tell us that the whole family lived in a block of flats and the ground floor of the building was used as the tailor shop, with the top floors being used for the were whole family to live in. The children played freely with white pieces of chalk, needles, threads, buttons and cuts of fabrics in the tailor shop. His grandfathers’ task would be to take the first measurements, then cut the fabrics. The women would then press the pieces of cloth, make the buttons holes and stitch the buttons. Father and his siblings would then assemble the garments together using old fashioned pedal machines. He would entertain the clients and suppliers.
It was also their task to take the second and final measurements. When they measured they would make a mark with the chalk, rip the sleeves or make the shoulders wider. Then on their knees they would ask: “where doesn’t it fit well?” We learnt as young apprentices what a bad fit was. Whilst working with the tailors and fitting the jacket they would simple say “it’s dropping” or “it fits well” and never that the trousers were too long or too short, but that they only had to lean on the laces of the shoes on the front and only partly see the heel when looking at the back. From morning to evening everybody was singing Napolitan songs and chat about daily life. Time would pass by like the noise of those sewing machines. Every day, at lunch time, the place would turn into a picnic with all the women bringing the food, we were all happy. Then whilst eating together we would talk about what happened that day at work, what we did, what we still had to do and remind ourselves that Saturday and Sunday we had to deliver the garments to our clients.
Today almost everything has changed. We don’t work from home any more, we don’t eat all together, we race to do the school run, we stay at work to eat “na marenna”. We miss the harmony of the simplest things and the “united patriarchal family model”. One thing, however, has stayed the same: the love and passion that we put into our job which allows us to achieve excellence of the highest standards , still working with some of those old sewing machines and using those shiny pieces of white chalk and old thimbles, then getting on our knees to measure the trousers and asking the clients: “where doesn’t it fit well?”. Always running and making the impossible to deliver on time, choosing the finest fabrics, the nicest colours and designs to meet our client’s expectations and to give them the joy of wearing a tailor made suit just like the olden times. Another thing that has not changed is the “ways of a gentleman” – when they leave with a smile they imagine how they will wear it, matching the shoes, the tie, the shirt and belt, all put together in harmony with the suit.
