In the old days Bill Hoffer would have been called a haberdasher, or a gentleman's clothier. Today he is called an executive wardrobe consultant. He advises people how to dress, and provides them with clothing and accessories to realize their look.
"How you look affects how you think," says Hoffer. "First impressions are important. We only have one opportunity to make them."
Dressing others is Hoffer's passion, but he did not recognize it until he got into the clothing business, quite by chance.
Though not a churchgoer himself, he once accompanied his mother to church. He chatted with a man there, and by the end of their conversation the man offered him a job. Hoffer was 40 years old.
Bill Hoffer was born in 1949 in Miami, Okla., a small town in the northeastern part of the state. He grew up in a triangle of towns only a few miles apart: his birthplace; Joplin, Mo.; and Galena, Kans.
His father was a lithographer, his mother a bookkeeper. He has one sister.
When Hoffer was a teenager, his family moved to Longview, Texas. He attended Texas A&M University and joined the ROTC the first semester. "But I figured out that I had gone to college for an education," he says, "not to become a soldier." In 1970 he took a military pre-induction physical. He was classified 4F due to poor eyesight, sparing him service in the Vietnam War.
Hoffer graduated from A&M in 1975 with a degree in business administration. His first job was as a purchasing agent for a hospital. "I dealt with salespeople," he says, "and I saw that their days were more interesting than mine, plus they made more money than I did."
He quit his job at the hospital and sold dictation machines for six months. Then he found a better sales job at Fleet Pharmaceuticals, where he worked for 13 years. He advanced to division manager and moved to California. But then Fleet began to downsize, and Hoffer's options diminished. He resigned and returned to Texas.
Then, one fateful Sunday in 1989, he paid that church visit, and a casual conversation led him to discover his dormant passion.
Hoffer's new employer was Tom James Clothing Company in Dallas, for which he sold custom clothing to professional men and women. After building a substantial client base over five years, he was offered a chance to open his own office in a city without a Tom James office. He chose Seattle, which he had visited and enjoyed.
Hoffer moved here in March 1994, settling on Queen Anne. Eventually his family followed him to the area. His sister lives in Wallingford; his parents, on the Kitsap Peninsula.
Over the next eight years he built a successful and profitable Seattle office, hiring and training eight other sales consultants for the company. But eventually he burned out. "I worked very long hours," he says, "and attended lots of staff meetings. I wanted to take control of my life, to bring it in balance." He also wanted to regain the hands-on experience that he loved: dealing with clients, garments and fabric.
In 2002 he started his own business, Wardrobe Design. Already he has about 175 clients. They include attorneys, financiers, realtors, newspaper editors, car dealers, a Seattle Seahawk - and a bodybuilder. "He has a 48-inch chest and 32-inch waist," says Hoffer. "Imagine his fit problems."
Only two of his clients are women. "But I see the potential for growth in that area," Hoffer says. "More and more women are entering the upper echelons of business."
He sees his clients twice a year on average, so he has room for more "quality" clients, meaning clients who will spend at least $1,000 to $2,000 a year on clothing. "But it's not about selling as much as possible," says Hoffer. "I won't take clients out of their comfort zone." Garments and accessories are more expensive, but they are higher quality and last longer. "I maximize my clients' investment in clothes," he says. "They get a better value for their dollar."
When Hoffer first meets with a client, he asks many questions: What do you do? Where do you go? What are you considering replacing in your wardrobe? He gets a feel for the person's style. Do they dress conservatively, or are they more "fashion forward"?
He asks where they shop, and if they like to shop. Many don't, primarily because they do not have the time. "Successful people's schedules are jammed," says Hoffer. Also, many clients feel pressured in stores by salespeople and consequently make bad fashion decisions.
He relates to people who don't like to shop in stores, because he has never wanted to work in one. "I like to be outdoors," he says, "to travel to my clients." Wardrobe Design is not a store. Hoffer comes to clients at their convenience, either to their office or home. The only way Wardrobe De-sign resembles a store is financially. Hoffer buys clothes at wholesale prices and sells them at retail prices. He does not charge for his services.
About half of his clients order ready-to-wear clothing. Hoffer offers such lines as Alpetora suits from Italy, Kinross cashmere, Raffi sweaters, Allen Edmond shoes and Trafalgar belts and "braces" (haberdasher-speak for suspenders). He chooses vendors based on industry feedback. Selections can be viewed on his Web site or in a portfolio that he carries.
The other 50 percent require custom clothing, many due to fit problems, like the bodybuilder's. For this, Hoffer takes many measurements, recording them on a diagram crowded with small print. He brings fabric samples to these appointments.
"Shirt fabrics are the most fun," he says. "I have so many, over 200." Most men wear solid pastel shirts, but he offers more unique fabrics: deep, rich colors, stripes and checks for more casual wear. Hoffer gently challenges his clients to break down barriers. For example, he says that many men don't wear earth tones, but they could.
A secret master tailor, with whom Hoffer has collaborated for more than a decade, sews alterations if necessary.
Sometimes Hoffer goes to great lengths to accommodate a client. One wanted a fire-engine red silk suit; Hoffer searched for several weeks before he found a fabric that pleased his client, in a Scottish mill. Another client wanted a tartan plaid jacket for the holidays. That search also ended satisfactorily in Scotland.
"We're an image-conscious society," says Hoffer. "We make many judgments based on our visual ex-periences. It's human instinct to react to what we see." He makes it his job to ensure that his clients are judged well.
To reach Bill Hoffer at Wardrobe Design, log on to www.wardrobedesign.net or call 571-6687.
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