Reddit reviews Couture Sewing Techniques, Revised and Updated

Here is a great article from NPR laying out the world of men's suits http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/09/05/160607575/the-difference-between-a-99-suit-and-a-5-000-suit-in-one-graphic

There's a great documentary on Netflix called "Dior and I" (translated from "Dior et Moi"). It examines the design of one line of Dior haute couture. It's a French language film. Haute Couture is the most expensive fashion on the market and the right to be called haute couture is regulated with strict rules.

The world of ready-to-wear uses patterns based on average bodies to create garments. Ultra high end ready to wear (most of the stuff you see at fashion week) is meticulously constructed with premium materials and highly skilled techniques.

Haute couture is designed specifically for the body of the client, with design elements scaled up and down to flatter the client's figure and maintain the integrity of the design. A mock up garment is painstakingly created by draping it on a dress form to create the sewing pattern. This garment is tried on by the client and taken apart to trace for the final garment. The garment is hand stitched for a fitting, then hand stitched (often from the front side of the garment.. which is very very skilled and time consuming labor) only the finest materials are used, and the dress is often made with "features" that only the most skilled sewers can accomplish. Dresses have intense structure to best hold and display the drapes and folds. Necklines are painstakingly shaped to ensure that there is no gaping. The most skilled levels of ironing and pressing are used (I'm not kidding here) to shrink and stretch fabric. Similar techniques of pressing and shaping fabric are really only used on the sleeves of fine suit jackets outside of this world. Expensive fabric is used with great care to match design elements across the seam lines, which means that the fabric is not used in a conservative manner. The most labor intensive and technically challenging techniques are used to create a masterpiece.

[Edit] if you're interested in learning about the techniques used in couture sewing, I highly recommend the book "couture sewing techniques." It gives very practical information on the subject.

Yes! My favourite sewing book is all about exactly this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00L2223DM/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1462594687&sr=1-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Claire+B.+Shaeffer&dpPl=1&dpID=61NyFHd8qDL&ref=plSrch

The author also does a bunch of other books in a similar vein, with slightly more specific focuses (like tailoring and trim), but I haven't had the money for those ones yet.