Why it takes this long
The slow parts are the point.
Almost none of the nine months is spent sewing. It is spent waiting for a toile to be looked at in daylight, for a cloth to arrive from Como, for a beading sample to be approved, and for a body to be measured again closer to the date.
A machine-finished hem takes minutes. A hand-rolled one takes an afternoon and moves differently for the next thirty years. We are not being precious — we are choosing the version that survives.
