Tag made-to-measure garments

Stroll in Paris and spot a Haute Couture shop? It’s not just fancy babble! A combo of exclusive, tailor-fitted clothing, obsessively handmade from bizarrely high-end fabrics—it’s “high sewing.” Prepared to mortgage your car or home for one piece, though. Today, it still represents luxury, regulated by Paris’ ‘Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.’ Alas, if, like me, you’re an everyday-Joe, much safer to stick to the off-rack stuff.