The Cup That Did Not Fit
A buyer sent a tech pack for a balconette bra with a cup size curve from 32B to 38DD. The pack named the fabric and the cup shape, but did not specify the cup construction. We built the pattern with a two piece cup, because that is the standard for balconette, and we quoted on that basis. When the first sample arrived, the buyer told us the cup was too shallow for the larger sizes. We rebuilt the cup with three pieces, and the fit improved, but the buyer had lost two weeks, and the fabric for the first sample was wasted. The cost of the rebuild was on us, because we had quoted on a construction we chose, but the delay was on the buyer, because the construction was not in the pack. We now ask for the cup construction on every quote, and we do not quote without it. The balconette is now in production, and the cups fit across the curve, because the spec was written before the sample was cut.
A buyer ordered 2,000 units of a lace bralette and asked for a "standard" wash test. There is no standard wash test. There is a cold wash, a warm wash, a hand wash, and a machine wash, and each has a different cost and a different fabric requirement. The lace the buyer chose was rated for hand wash, but the buyer expected the bralette to survive a machine wash, because that is what the consumer would do. The first sample failed the machine wash, the lace shrank, and the elastic twisted. We rebuilt the sample with a lace rated for machine wash, and the sample passed, but the cost of the lace was higher, and the buyer’s margin was lower. The buyer had quoted the retail price on the cheaper lace, and the difference was absorbed by the buyer, not the factory. We now ask for the wash test on every quote, and we quote the fabric that will pass it. The cost of a missing wash test is the difference between the fabric you quoted and the fabric you need.
A buyer ordered a corset with steel boning and did not specify the boning channel width. We built the channels at the standard width, and the bones curled at the seams after the first wear, because the channels were too wide for the bone. We rebuilt the channels at a narrower width, and the bones stayed flat, but the buyer had lost a week, and the fabric for the first sample was wasted. The cost of the rebuild was on us, because we had quoted on a width we chose, but the delay was on the buyer, because the width was not in the pack. We now ask for the boning channel width on every corset quote, and we do not quote without it. The corset is now in production, and the bones stay flat, because the spec was written before the sample was cut.
We ask for the cup construction, the boning type and channel width, the lace type and stretch percentage, the lining fabric, the wash test, the size curve, the label and packaging, and the delivery date. We ask for these because each one has a cost and a lead time, and each one, if missing, has a cost and a delay. We quote within 24 hours of receiving the full pack, and we turn down work when the pack is incomplete, because the cost of an incomplete pack is always higher than the cost of a complete pack, and the cost is always paid by the buyer. We have seen the cost, and we have seen the delay, and we have seen the retail window close. We do not want to see it again.
A buyer sent a full tech pack for a lace corset with a three piece cup, steel boning with a 5mm channel, a lace rated for machine wash, a lining fabric, a size curve from 32B to 38DD, a label and packaging spec, and a delivery date. We quoted within 24 hours, we built the first sample in two weeks, the sample passed the wash test and the fit test, and the order went into production on the third week. The buyer’s retail window was met, the margin was met, and the corset is now in stores. The buyer had done the work of writing the pack, and the work paid off in speed and in cost. We did not have to guess, we did not have to rebuild, and we did not have to charge for rework. The pack was the work, and the work was the pack.
The Pack Is the Work
The tech pack is not a formality. It is the work. It is the difference between a sample that fits and a sample that does not, between a wash test that passes and a wash test that fails, between a retail window that opens and a retail window that closes. We quote within 24 hours of receiving a full pack, and we turn down work when the pack is incomplete, because the cost of an incomplete pack is always higher than the cost of a complete pack, and the cost is always paid by the buyer. Send us the full pack and we quote within 24 hours. Send us a sketch and we quote with a list of what is missing, and the lead time grows by the days it takes you to answer. The pack is the work, and the work is the pack.
The cost of a missing spec is never absorbed by the factory. It is absorbed by the buyer, in rework, in delay, and in the retail window that closes while the spec is being written.
A tech pack must contain the flat sketch, the measurements, the fabric, the trims, the construction, the label, the packaging, and the wash test. Each of these has a cost and a lead time, and each of these, if missing, has a cost and a delay. The flat sketch is the shape. The measurements are the fit. The fabric is the hand and the wash. The trims are the function. The construction is the assembly. The label is the law. The packaging is the shipping. The wash test is the consumer. A pack that names the style and the fabric is a sketch, not a pack. A pack that names all of these is a pack, and a pack is the work.
The cost of a missing spec is the cost of the rework, the cost of the delay, and the cost of the retail window that closes. The rework is the fabric and the labor to rebuild the sample. The delay is the days it takes to rebuild. The retail window is the sales lost while the sample is rebuilt. We have seen all three, and all three are paid by the buyer. The factory quotes on the spec it receives, and if the spec is incomplete, the factory quotes on what it chooses, and what it chooses may not be what the buyer wants. The cost of the difference is on the buyer. We do not want to quote on what we choose. We want to quote on what you want, and we want to quote within 24 hours of receiving it. Send us the full pack and we quote within 24 hours. Send us a sketch and we quote with a list of what is missing, and the lead time grows by the days it takes you to answer.
A buyer sent a full tech pack for a balconette bra with a three piece cup, a lace rated for machine wash, a lining fabric, a size curve from 32B to 38DD, a label and packaging spec, and a delivery date. The buyer had quoted the retail price on the lace, and the lace was the one rated for machine wash, so the margin was met. We quoted within 24 hours, we built the first sample in two weeks, the sample passed the wash test and the fit test, and the order went into production on the third week. The buyer’s retail window was met, the margin was met, and the bra is now in stores. The buyer had done the work of writing the pack, and the work paid off in speed and in cost. The pack was the work, and the work was the pack.
The Pack That Lost the Order
A buyer sent a sketch for a balconette bra and asked for a quote. We quoted with a list of what was missing: the cup construction, the lace type and stretch percentage, the lining fabric, the wash test, the size curve, the label and packaging, and the delivery date. The buyer took a week to answer, and the answers changed the quote, because the lace the buyer wanted was more expensive, and the wash test the buyer wanted required a different lace. The buyer’s retail price had been quoted on the cheaper lace, and the buyer could not meet the margin with the lace that would pass the wash test. The buyer cancelled the order, because the retail window had closed, and the margin could not be met. The sketch was not a pack, and the sketch lost the order. The pack would have saved it.
What to send us
If the specifications above match what you are sourcing, send your tech pack to Orange Sea Clothing. If the pack is not written yet, sketches and a reference sample are enough to start — sample development covers the design review, fabric and trim sourcing, pattern making and the first prototype, so you see fit and construction before you commit to a production run.
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