[davidpm]

I was in the Helly Hanson store in Annapolis last week and was impressed by the prices. At $900 for a jacket my cheap side kicked it and I wondered how much the materials are?

I'm sure that learning how to sew something that complicated is a challenge but that is what us sailors live for.

Where would one buy the hi-tech fabrics at a reasonable price?
Tailoring has been done for centuries, good sewing machines are affordable.

I could stitch some random dudes name or even my own on the shoulder and tell everyone it is a European brand. If I used my family name "Metzler" it would even be technically true just have to go back a few generations.
The fit could be made right and all the fancy time-consuming extras that are never used could be skipped.

Anyone with tailoring expertise?