Newsletter June 2002

June 6th, 2002

Greetings from www.ravistailor.com and welcome to our latest newsletter.

It has been some time since we last communicated with you and I hope you find this update useful and sartorially enlightening.

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WHAT´S NEW at ravistailor.com?


NEW FABRICS….we have added new chalk and pin stripes to our exclusive and deluxe collections. End-on-End patterns in suits have for the first time been introduced in our selection. New Shirting fabrics too have been introduced in all our collections, especially in the white on whites and heavier cottons. We are constantly updating our fabric selections as new materials come in and the older ones are discontinued. Please keep checking back with us on a regular basis to see what is new.

NEW STYLES..We are introducing new styles on a regular basis and in the works are over 1000 new styles across the board that are being continuously updated.

NEW PROMOTIONS..Our range of promotional offers featured in their own special category called the WARDROBE SPECIALS at http://www.ravistailor.com/packages.php offer set packages that introduce bulk buying savings into the sartorial purchase. A complete gamut of new offers has been introduced in this section to ensure even better prices for the buyer of multiple wardrobe pieces. Two suits from our exclusive collections is only USD 510 instead of the USD 600 at regular prices, for example. Visit us at http://www.ravistailor.com/packages.php to view the great deals available for this summer.

ADDED CUSTOMIZATION...In the works are added conveniences such as real-time online suggestions features that allow you to ask for suggestions and recommendations in real-time either from one of our tailors or from our vast database of knowledge and experience. You would be able to ask for suggestions for individual pieces or complete wardrobes with multiple pieces, directly from our database. This would allow you to create your own custom wardrobe tailored specifically for your needs and requirements and to suit your very own budget.

OTHER FEATURES …Recently launched, is our resellers management console that allows our resellers and dealers to access our database online, make searches, create customer profiles for their clients, place orders for new and repeat clients and check accounts etc. This feature now streamlines the order placement process used by our resellers and has resulted in respectable gains in efficiency in order processing. This is a big plus for our resellers who now enjoy an even better turn around time which in turn keeps their commitments to their clients fulfilled more easily. Resellers are now able to avail of real-time fabric availability updates, access our style checker that can be used to search for specific style criteria, edit orders placed with us, make changes to their specifications, and a lot more from the reseller´s area. Measurements profiles of the reseller´s clients can be stored, viewed and edited from here as well. This would enable our resellers to place repeat orders for their clients without having to resubmit information that has already been submitted.


SWATCHES .. We are also streamlining are ´swatches request´ procedure which is in the works and will allow potential clients to be able to request specific swatches more easily via a request form rather than via emails back and forth. This will be released in the next week or so.

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What NEW PROMOTIONS are being offered at ravistailor.com?

Apart from our regular promotions, we hope to be able to provide even more
value for money with these custom designed promotional offers.
Our latest promotional offers include the ´SILKY HANDFUL´ of ten silk shirts from our classics as well as the ´DUPLEX´ of two of our exclusive two piece suits. ´THE WAREHOUSE´ is a special consisting on three suits and six to ten shirts. These specials are being offered at a sizeable discount and can be ordered at http://www.ravistailor.com/packages.php .

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What are other e-shoppers ordering this month?

Stripes are In! And so is the Nehru look in White. Linens are on their wane, cotton is back into vogue.
Whites, creams and off-white leisure suits are becoming more popular for casual wear and stern stripes are back for business suits. Darker and more daring colours are in for shirts. Our recently introduced pure THAI SILK for shirts has proven extremely popular for evening wear for men and for women.

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DID YOU KNOW?..in 1500BC a Shaved head was considered the ultimate in feminine beauty. Egyptian women carefully removed every hair on their heads with special gold tweezers, and polished their scalps with a buffing cloth ! And In 18th Century England women´s wigs were sometimes 4 feet high. They were dusted with flour, and decorated with stuffed birds, garden ornaments, model ships and plates of fruit. They were covered with fat to make them waterproof, which meant mice and insects often infested them!

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What´s new on the FASHION GRAPEVINE ?
Flip-flops are like dirty gym shoes, says footwear designer Donald J. Pliner.
"They´re not the nicest-looking things, but they´re so easy to wear, so comfortable. You don´t have to think about it. You just slip your feet into them and go," he says.
"Basically, people are lazy. No wonder flip-flops are popular."
But flip-flops have moved way beyond casual in recent seasons -- particularly the women´s styles. And they´re no longer made just of rubber.
Now they come in leather, denim or rope, with heels or platform soles, and decorated with buckles, sequins or crystals.
The single identifying feature that remains unchanged is the double strap that comes between the first and second toes. That thong is what separates flip-flops (no matter how embellished) from all other sandals.
Flip-flops don´t trace their origin to American surf shops, although their association with those establishments might lead to that conclusion. Rather, they are copied from Japanese zori -- sandals made with sponge-rubber soles and a thong between the first two toes.
It was in the late 1990s that flip-flops made the leap from beach to city sidewalk, says Jen Mooney, fashion editor at Footwear News, a trade publication.
"In New York a few years ago, everyone started wearing cheap rubber flip-flops. They look great, they´re easy to wear, they´re really inexpensive -- so why not? They became a huge trend overnight," she says.
Designers took note, and for a couple of seasons they sent their models down the runway wearing flip-flops -- even with ball gowns.
"They give an outfit a funky edge, a certain attitude, casual but chic," Mooney says. "Almost every company does them now."
That includes style leaders such as Ferragamo, Prada and Gucci and trendy newcomers that include Kate Spade, Faryl Robin and Lisa Nadine. Even Chanel has put its famous double C´s on flip-flops, which sell for a cool $405.
With such a high-priced stamp of approval, there´s no doubt about it: The humble beach thong has morphed into a high-fashion phenomenon.
Pliner designs flip-flops with supportive orthotic foot beds, platform soles, two-inch hourglass heels and straps of brightly colored suede or metallic leather.
They´re beautiful and sensuous, he says. And they go with everything.
"Flip-flops are the easiest solution to summer footwear."
From.. the Washington Post.
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On a different note, here is a fact about WOOL!

´Royal´ sheep gives finest bale of wool
The best grade fleece from Australia´s most pampered sheep has produced the country´s finest bale of wool, likely to fetch more than A$100,000 (US$54,000) and be woven into designer suits for men.
The sheep are dressed in coats protect them from wind and rain, their diet is monitored by a nutritionist, and a small number are kept in sheds.
“They´re treated like royalty and looked after like princes,” said Barry Walker, a fifth generation ultrafine wool grower, yesterday.
The downside for the sheep is that the wool only comes from wethers -castrated rams.
“Usually the females are there to breed and being pregnant changes their physiology and as the physiology of the animal changes so does the fibre,” Walker said. “A wether´s fibre will change much less because there is no hormonal effect on it.”
The 94- kilogram (207-pound) bale was created by a consortium of three family farms based in Yass, in southeastern New South Wales, and the threads have been officially measured at an average of 12.1 microns wide, Walker said. By comparison, a human hair is about 100 microns wide. A micron is a thousandth of a millimeter.
The previous Australian record was a 12.5-micron bale, which was bought by Italian mill company Loro Piana for a record A$131,000(US$70,518) in February this year.
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I do hope you enjoyed this newsletter, and look forward to your feedback on how to keep improving it.

by Ravi the Tailor