Perkins Tailoring Instruments

Thanks to an impassioned entreaty from Natalie (of the CTDA, I am guessing), I managed to track down the elusive source of the Perkins Tailoring Devices.

The concept behind these devices are not new- this shoulder incline device dates to 1934

and this one was developed in Russia in the 70s


These, however, only measure the slope of the shoulder. The full; kit of Perkins devices also include in incline device to measure the prominence of the shoulder blades, a rise device to measure for trouser rise, a sleeve device to measure from the pit of the arm to the wrist or the tip of the thumb, a device known as a trouser length/low shoulder device which is intended to also capture the estimated 15-20% of people whose shoulder is low at the collar edge and not merely at the shoulder point.

I haven't used most of the devices so I can't say much about them other than that they could make standardization simpler, particularly where stores are communicating measurements to factories for MTM programs.

Philip Perkins admits to not using computers at all so he can not be contacted by email; this also explains why there is precious little information about these devices on the internet. If you are interested in learning more about them (he will fax you a 3 page instruction document) contact Philip Perkins at 210-684-6233 (Texas so Central Time Zone)