I knew that getting back late from a night out would do me the world of good! Now listen up. I have thought for ages that there was something to be said for “cottage industries” in the true sense of the meaning. The wealth of Northern Europe was to a large extent based on this sort of thing from the middle ages until the industrial revolution. A few summers back (BC – Before Children) I and my wife went on a driving holiday around northern Scotland; I thought we would do it while it was still part of the UK, I’d never set foot there again if they left. I would highly recommend it.
We went round the coast from Inverness to the Isle of Skye and while we were touring around there saw a small sign indicating there was a weavers right in the middle of nowhere (a farmhouse on its own in the midst of rocky heather). We went down and found this chap: Our Videos | Skye Weavers in Motion | Short films about weaving
Sat at his loom peddaling away. He said he got about one visitor a day during the summer so wasn’t surprised to see us rock up and ask to see what he was doing. He spent about 15 minutes going through the process and the history – how he had learnt the craft off somebody else on another island and fixed up the loom himself, attached to a bicycle which powered it. Brilliant. It would be even more brilliant if this sort of thing was promulgated more widely. If only he was a blind, Italian nun he could probably sell the finished products for 10x the price he is currently.
Another cottage industry that really fascinates is lace-making because of how widespread it was even at the beginning of the 20th century but a list of endangered crafts can be found here: Crafts – Heritage Crafts |
Please post other such examples as I for one would be fascinated to know what is out there.
Great comment. I’m off to Skye at the end of the month (fourth visit, gets better each time, especially when the summer hordes have left) so i’ll check your link and see if we can fit it in.
Where i live (no prizes for guessing) there are still many old three-storey weavers cottages. The top storey was where the weaving took place (most light) and these skills helped in forming the basis of what became the driver of British manufacturing: the cotton industry; but, something was lost in the process.
The cottages themselves were very well-built, hence they survive. Craftmanship will never go out of fashion, and becomes ever more valuable in a world of cheap trash.
I have heard that among the super rich,many of whom now are Asian,it is common and vulgar to wear garments with the brand name showing. They do indeed purchase clothes that their friends and anyone in the know would recognize but someone like me wouldn’t which would signal to them I wasnt in their world (or it could be you)and thus not worth cultivating or even speaking to. I’m ok with that. It’s how it is. Now,at the peril of being IST I’m going to point out something,it’s a media trick or con that’s still being foisted on us. Every time Muslim people ,brown skinned people,Asian people get spoken of in our legacy media it’s as a PROBLEM. One that requires a White Saviour solution. Brown skinned people are poor,they are underpriviied ( a weird term. So who is over privileged and what is the defining factors of just being privileged,it’s a complete nonsense term) anyway Black,Brown,Asian.people need literacy classes and befriending. All this BS is to keep OUR EGOS topped up. And it’s nonsense. The Muslim women I live among don’t need literacy classes and they don’t need patronising from.me. They dress smartly in beautiful robes and even if black on closer inspection the black is shot through with sparkliness,they have gold and jewels, they.drive upmarket cars,they make my “white privilege” look pretty hollow! I’m joking I dont accept the privilege idea in the first place. I live near the city of Bath and right now that place is full of Asian young people who are all loaded,no I’m.stating a fact not expressing envy. Our media is messing with our minds in that we generally get shown a muddy village full of poor people but Asia is now full of mega-cities and Asian people don’t seem to find mega -cities fazing ie psychologically disturbing the way we do. Most young Asian people are well educated and have breathtaking wealth,it never worked that way for British people in general back in the day but maybe that was because consumerism was invented to get the money.bsck off them.
Quite an odd comment. I donât think the general impression people have of Asia is âa muddy village full of poor peopleâ. Nor do I understand why you believe people would think that.
As far as wealth never working that way for the British and your observation that the new super rich wear clothes without brand names, and that anyone in the know would recognise but you would not, is similar to the British aristocracy and all their rules, like which knife and fork to use, and only the insiders would know those rules, in all their breathtaking wealth.
Exactly. The aristocracy does not wear branded clothes because it is itself a brand. It does not need other brands to be recognized in public. The fact that ordinary English people define taste and style based on the behavior of the aristocracy is a unique phenomenon common to countries with a recent history of aristocratic rule. Asians and Americans, on the other hand, do not suffer from this ‘curse of aristocracy’ in anchoring their taste and culture to some social class.
The trouble is you are conflating many “Asian” groups together (even British Asians and Asians living in mega cities). You say Muslim as if that is in and of itself one group in this country. The stats bear out that Indian “Asians” – generally not muslim – have about double the number of high-earning households (14%) than the general population (7%). Pakistani and Bangladeshi “Asians” – generally muslim – have much lower rates (3% and 5%). What I would say is that outward displays of wealth are not an indicator of actual wealth, especially in a highly debt-laden society like ours.
OK – but thatâs Bath – itâs where people with money go.
Jim Veenbaas
5 months ago
Everyone should read Rob Hendersonâs essay on luxury beliefs. The ultra wealthy have eschewed many luxury items because more and more people can afford them, and knock-off fakes are virtually indistinguishable from the originals.
As the author mentions in this essay, the wealthy are interested in buying products that have a story – and some authenticity. They have also adopted a wide range of social and political beliefs that set them apart from the herd. They are looking for sustainable products, but they also adopt hysterical beliefs about climate change and support the dysfunction of net zero.
Cottage industries like fabric making and glass blowing are wonderful addendums to the economy, but these are niche industries. You build a strong, vibrant national economy by selling products to 8 billion people, not 60 million millionaires. The author says the luxury industry employs 450,000 people and generates 81 billion in revenue. Iâm skeptical and would love to see a breakdown of those numbers.
âthe tech sector contributes div > p > a”>ÂŁ150 billion to our annual GDP. However, the luxury sector, despite contributing ÂŁ81 billion annually, supporting 450,000 jobs, and paying in ÂŁ25.5 billion
Skeptical? As you should be. The 150 billion figure takes us back to another story that also gives no reference for such figures. Nor does the 450,000 and 25.5 million figure have any reference in this article itself. Unherd deserves criticism for publishing such a story. They should know better, in fact iâm sure they do, so why let this through.
The fact that the figure isn’t supported by references doesn’t make it untrue. You’d do better to present your case as to why you think it so.
A starting point might be to note that ÂŁ150bn/75 million = ÂŁ2000 per person per year in GDP. And the UK GDP is around ÂŁ35Kpa. So that’s around 6-7% of GDP. I’m assuming an actual current UK population of 75 million here (supermarket financials suggest it’s already over 70 million – haven’t checked the sewage treatment stats, but those may also be more reliable than the official stats sicne you can’t fake sewage). 6% of GDP isn’t impossible, depending on how you define the “tech sector”. Remember, North Sea oil used to be 10% of UK GDP at one point.
Why might I think itâs unreliable? Because thereâs no reference. Itâs not up to me to prove them untrue. If thereâs no reference then they canât be relied on. What Iâm asking for is not too much from any writer who uses figures to make a point.
the wealthy are interested in buying products that have a story â and some authenticity
Sure – but a lot of those stories are made up, or bought with a brand name, and the products then sold at hyped up prices. We are dealing with the hyper real here, not the real. The âauthenticâ not the authentic.
I think we’re dealing with both.
The article slightly blurs its core craft emphasis with luxury and fashion. There is a demand for both – this is simply market segmentation and leaves the question of which market is larger (it’s luxury/fashion). But I’m also convinced that unique/craft/quality is also a significant and growing market.
That should be no surprise as there’s a very large proportion of the UK population (and in other countries) who have a large disposable income and want something unique. And that may be something bespoke with no brand name at all (which is the way I’d go if I had the money).
Quality items tend to be good value for money, though not cheap.
Luxury items (in the current sense) tend to be very poor value for money and very expensive. Their main value is in social signalling – that I am the kind of person that can afford this. The purpose of much of the marketing is to disguise this behind heritage, craftsmanship, taste and the rest.
The author seems to mix this a bit with Designer (roughly anything sold at an airport) which is midrange price wise, mediocre quality but with high brand recognition reinforced by mass advertising. This is the visible logo stuff.
Trevor Q
5 months ago
This is one aspect of the argument David Goodhart makes in his book ‘Head Hand Heart’. Essentially we under-reward craftsman and people with emotional skills at the expense of the health of our society.
People like Naomi Campbell (a strange choice for an article about crafts) and those involved in fashion ?
Liked this article and largely agreed with it. Craftsmanship over fashion every day. But I think removing the emphasis on luxury and fashion and focusing on crafts, quality, uniqueness and authenticity would improve it.
And full marks for highlighting Janan Ganesh’s ghastly inverted snobbery.
The one thing one can always be sure of in the luxury market is that while secretaries like being mistaken for billionaires wives – and will blow out their credit card to do so – billionaires wives donât like being mistaken for secretaries, and will soon move on to the new thing if they are!
David Morley
5 months ago
he critiques the supposed âghastliness of the productsâ and international consumers
If you want to gauge this, just pop along to the trade fairs that promote this stuff, pick up the free magazines, listen to the conversations – jewellery, clothes, watches, take your pick. Some of it is beautiful, most of it is expensive kitsch, and some of it really is ghastly.
Saddest of all are items which use expensive materials, hours and hours of artisanal labour, to produce something expensive but almost embarassingly awful. Some old firms have sold their brand, some have sold their souls – and itâs all flogged – next to longevity and cod spirituality – wrapped up in the most god awful pretentious marketing material.
No reason Britain shouldnât get its share of all this – but you need to hold your nose a bit!
Josef Ć vejk
5 months ago
I have searched and searched and finally found Pseud’s Corner in Unherd.
Cathy Carron
5 months ago
Logos are not âbeautifulâ they are just an expression of insecurity. An object or piece of clothing should speak for itself.
Sure, for those that have ears to hear. But most people can only judge the quality of a piece of clothing, say, by its brand name or price. They are unlikely to even to be able to tell what it is made of. Most people think polyester fleece is made of wool.
Logos really simplify the whole process of social signalling. You buy x with a visible logo, the companyâs adverts let people know x is cool and expensive and associated with fictitious good looking rich people, signal is received and understood.
Basically the definition of “old money” vs “new money” which actually applies to both “Aristocratic” and “Industrial/Agricultural Working Class.” as opposed to the “aspirational middle class.”
I knew that getting back late from a night out would do me the world of good! Now listen up. I have thought for ages that there was something to be said for “cottage industries” in the true sense of the meaning. The wealth of Northern Europe was to a large extent based on this sort of thing from the middle ages until the industrial revolution. A few summers back (BC – Before Children) I and my wife went on a driving holiday around northern Scotland; I thought we would do it while it was still part of the UK, I’d never set foot there again if they left. I would highly recommend it.
We went round the coast from Inverness to the Isle of Skye and while we were touring around there saw a small sign indicating there was a weavers right in the middle of nowhere (a farmhouse on its own in the midst of rocky heather). We went down and found this chap:
Our Videos | Skye Weavers in Motion | Short films about weaving
Sat at his loom peddaling away. He said he got about one visitor a day during the summer so wasn’t surprised to see us rock up and ask to see what he was doing. He spent about 15 minutes going through the process and the history – how he had learnt the craft off somebody else on another island and fixed up the loom himself, attached to a bicycle which powered it. Brilliant. It would be even more brilliant if this sort of thing was promulgated more widely. If only he was a blind, Italian nun he could probably sell the finished products for 10x the price he is currently.
Another cottage industry that really fascinates is lace-making because of how widespread it was even at the beginning of the 20th century but a list of endangered crafts can be found here:
Crafts – Heritage Crafts |
Please post other such examples as I for one would be fascinated to know what is out there.
Absolutely right.
Great comment. I’m off to Skye at the end of the month (fourth visit, gets better each time, especially when the summer hordes have left) so i’ll check your link and see if we can fit it in.
Where i live (no prizes for guessing) there are still many old three-storey weavers cottages. The top storey was where the weaving took place (most light) and these skills helped in forming the basis of what became the driver of British manufacturing: the cotton industry; but, something was lost in the process.
The cottages themselves were very well-built, hence they survive. Craftmanship will never go out of fashion, and becomes ever more valuable in a world of cheap trash.
Patrick Grant’s new book Less features a list of lots of these sorts of places!
https://communityclothing.co.uk/blogs/news/less-by-patrick-grant?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiuC2BhDSARIsALOVfBJ_wcjzMaqpd3QlEWTLML62lJOvNTea8KTlJdP2ONPF0Ttl92eqLM0aAjOOEALw_wcB
I have heard that among the super rich,many of whom now are Asian,it is common and vulgar to wear garments with the brand name showing. They do indeed purchase clothes that their friends and anyone in the know would recognize but someone like me wouldn’t which would signal to them I wasnt in their world (or it could be you)and thus not worth cultivating or even speaking to. I’m ok with that. It’s how it is. Now,at the peril of being IST I’m going to point out something,it’s a media trick or con that’s still being foisted on us. Every time Muslim people ,brown skinned people,Asian people get spoken of in our legacy media it’s as a PROBLEM. One that requires a White Saviour solution. Brown skinned people are poor,they are underpriviied ( a weird term. So who is over privileged and what is the defining factors of just being privileged,it’s a complete nonsense term) anyway Black,Brown,Asian.people need literacy classes and befriending. All this BS is to keep OUR EGOS topped up. And it’s nonsense. The Muslim women I live among don’t need literacy classes and they don’t need patronising from.me. They dress smartly in beautiful robes and even if black on closer inspection the black is shot through with sparkliness,they have gold and jewels, they.drive upmarket cars,they make my “white privilege” look pretty hollow! I’m joking I dont accept the privilege idea in the first place. I live near the city of Bath and right now that place is full of Asian young people who are all loaded,no I’m.stating a fact not expressing envy. Our media is messing with our minds in that we generally get shown a muddy village full of poor people but Asia is now full of mega-cities and Asian people don’t seem to find mega -cities fazing ie psychologically disturbing the way we do. Most young Asian people are well educated and have breathtaking wealth,it never worked that way for British people in general back in the day but maybe that was because consumerism was invented to get the money.bsck off them.
Quite an odd comment. I donât think the general impression people have of Asia is âa muddy village full of poor peopleâ. Nor do I understand why you believe people would think that.
As far as wealth never working that way for the British and your observation that the new super rich wear clothes without brand names, and that anyone in the know would recognise but you would not, is similar to the British aristocracy and all their rules, like which knife and fork to use, and only the insiders would know those rules, in all their breathtaking wealth.
Exactly. The aristocracy does not wear branded clothes because it is itself a brand. It does not need other brands to be recognized in public. The fact that ordinary English people define taste and style based on the behavior of the aristocracy is a unique phenomenon common to countries with a recent history of aristocratic rule. Asians and Americans, on the other hand, do not suffer from this ‘curse of aristocracy’ in anchoring their taste and culture to some social class.
Americans seem currently obsessed with the old money aesthetic. That seems to at least approximate to aristocracy.
The trouble is you are conflating many “Asian” groups together (even British Asians and Asians living in mega cities). You say Muslim as if that is in and of itself one group in this country. The stats bear out that Indian “Asians” – generally not muslim – have about double the number of high-earning households (14%) than the general population (7%). Pakistani and Bangladeshi “Asians” – generally muslim – have much lower rates (3% and 5%). What I would say is that outward displays of wealth are not an indicator of actual wealth, especially in a highly debt-laden society like ours.
OK – but thatâs Bath – itâs where people with money go.
Everyone should read Rob Hendersonâs essay on luxury beliefs. The ultra wealthy have eschewed many luxury items because more and more people can afford them, and knock-off fakes are virtually indistinguishable from the originals.
As the author mentions in this essay, the wealthy are interested in buying products that have a story – and some authenticity. They have also adopted a wide range of social and political beliefs that set them apart from the herd. They are looking for sustainable products, but they also adopt hysterical beliefs about climate change and support the dysfunction of net zero.
https://quillette.com/2019/11/16/thorstein-veblens-theory-of-the-leisure-class-a-status-update/
Cottage industries like fabric making and glass blowing are wonderful addendums to the economy, but these are niche industries. You build a strong, vibrant national economy by selling products to 8 billion people, not 60 million millionaires. The author says the luxury industry employs 450,000 people and generates 81 billion in revenue. Iâm skeptical and would love to see a breakdown of those numbers.
âthe tech sector contributes div > p > a”>ÂŁ150 billion to our annual GDP. However, the luxury sector, despite contributing ÂŁ81 billion annually, supporting 450,000 jobs, and paying in ÂŁ25.5 billion
Skeptical? As you should be. The 150 billion figure takes us back to another story that also gives no reference for such figures. Nor does the 450,000 and 25.5 million figure have any reference in this article itself. Unherd deserves criticism for publishing such a story. They should know better, in fact iâm sure they do, so why let this through.
The fact that the figure isn’t supported by references doesn’t make it untrue. You’d do better to present your case as to why you think it so.
A starting point might be to note that ÂŁ150bn/75 million = ÂŁ2000 per person per year in GDP. And the UK GDP is around ÂŁ35Kpa. So that’s around 6-7% of GDP. I’m assuming an actual current UK population of 75 million here (supermarket financials suggest it’s already over 70 million – haven’t checked the sewage treatment stats, but those may also be more reliable than the official stats sicne you can’t fake sewage). 6% of GDP isn’t impossible, depending on how you define the “tech sector”. Remember, North Sea oil used to be 10% of UK GDP at one point.
Why might I think itâs unreliable? Because thereâs no reference. Itâs not up to me to prove them untrue. If thereâs no reference then they canât be relied on. What Iâm asking for is not too much from any writer who uses figures to make a point.
Here’s the reference â from the Walpole, the UK’s Luxury trade body. Research conducted by Frontier Economics. Should be hyperlinked in the article: https://drive.tiny.cloud/1/uzek3g09l88jlwua2pj1dwb052z9k43cs6c1jlv5jxbhqp9s/aecd6c42-abf2-4aa7-9054-165986e3353a
A huge chunk of that value comes in automotive â think Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover etc (see the Bain study)
Sure – but a lot of those stories are made up, or bought with a brand name, and the products then sold at hyped up prices. We are dealing with the hyper real here, not the real. The âauthenticâ not the authentic.
I think we’re dealing with both.
The article slightly blurs its core craft emphasis with luxury and fashion. There is a demand for both – this is simply market segmentation and leaves the question of which market is larger (it’s luxury/fashion). But I’m also convinced that unique/craft/quality is also a significant and growing market.
That should be no surprise as there’s a very large proportion of the UK population (and in other countries) who have a large disposable income and want something unique. And that may be something bespoke with no brand name at all (which is the way I’d go if I had the money).
Good clarication, thanks.
Quality items tend to be good value for money, though not cheap.
Luxury items (in the current sense) tend to be very poor value for money and very expensive. Their main value is in social signalling – that I am the kind of person that can afford this. The purpose of much of the marketing is to disguise this behind heritage, craftsmanship, taste and the rest.
The author seems to mix this a bit with Designer (roughly anything sold at an airport) which is midrange price wise, mediocre quality but with high brand recognition reinforced by mass advertising. This is the visible logo stuff.
This is one aspect of the argument David Goodhart makes in his book ‘Head Hand Heart’. Essentially we under-reward craftsman and people with emotional skills at the expense of the health of our society.
What is meant by emotional skills?
People like Naomi Campbell (a strange choice for an article about crafts) and those involved in fashion ?
Liked this article and largely agreed with it. Craftsmanship over fashion every day. But I think removing the emphasis on luxury and fashion and focusing on crafts, quality, uniqueness and authenticity would improve it.
And full marks for highlighting Janan Ganesh’s ghastly inverted snobbery.
Well perhaps. But we live in an accelerated age. Stealth wealth and quiet luxury are currently a thing, but perhaps they will soon be passé. Already there are influencers online advising on how to achieve the old money aesthetic without the old money.
The one thing one can always be sure of in the luxury market is that while secretaries like being mistaken for billionaires wives – and will blow out their credit card to do so – billionaires wives donât like being mistaken for secretaries, and will soon move on to the new thing if they are!
If you want to gauge this, just pop along to the trade fairs that promote this stuff, pick up the free magazines, listen to the conversations – jewellery, clothes, watches, take your pick. Some of it is beautiful, most of it is expensive kitsch, and some of it really is ghastly.
Saddest of all are items which use expensive materials, hours and hours of artisanal labour, to produce something expensive but almost embarassingly awful. Some old firms have sold their brand, some have sold their souls – and itâs all flogged – next to longevity and cod spirituality – wrapped up in the most god awful pretentious marketing material.
No reason Britain shouldnât get its share of all this – but you need to hold your nose a bit!
I have searched and searched and finally found Pseud’s Corner in Unherd.
Logos are not âbeautifulâ they are just an expression of insecurity. An object or piece of clothing should speak for itself.
Sure, for those that have ears to hear. But most people can only judge the quality of a piece of clothing, say, by its brand name or price. They are unlikely to even to be able to tell what it is made of. Most people think polyester fleece is made of wool.
Logos really simplify the whole process of social signalling. You buy x with a visible logo, the companyâs adverts let people know x is cool and expensive and associated with fictitious good looking rich people, signal is received and understood.
Unfortunately you are correct.
Basically the definition of “old money” vs “new money” which actually applies to both “Aristocratic” and “Industrial/Agricultural Working Class.” as opposed to the “aspirational middle class.”