The industrial revolution saw [for the first time] the standardisation of components. Also, prior to this components weren't interchangeable - a real issue if your musket needed a new barrel, or your coach a new wheel. These days we expect standardisation. If your Grado headphone jack didn't fit into the socket on your iPhone you would be stupefied.
This standardisation is a subtext in the manufacturing and retailing of clothes. Ladies sizes are based on statistical analysis of measurements in the 1950's - and women have changed shape and size since then. Men's clothes are often divided into small, medium and large and so on - based on waist and chest and length of torso and inside leg. If you happen to conform to one of these sizes, your clothes will fit you well. If you don't - and most people don't - then the fit is a compromise, and will be either too large or too small - or too short! One way around this is by bespeaking tailored clothing - but that is very expensive...
One way for an organisation to better fit its customers is something called Mass Customisation. A phrase often heard just before or after other fancy terms like Agile or Lean Production. These are manufacturing systems that can adapt what is produced within certain parameters. Toyota have used such a system for many years. The robots on their production lines can select and combine specific components from a range, so successive cars that roll off the end of the line might have different sized engines, trim or even colours.
Can a similar concept be applied to clothing? To a certain extent, yes. Marks and Spencers is one of several companies now offering 'made-to-measure' shirts: Made to Measure
The customer inputs several key measurements - neck, arm, chest etc and selects from a range of fabrics, styles and buttons. The details are inferred from this data by software, and a specific shirt is made for a specific customer. Thousands of shirts, thousands of customers - Mass Customisation.
