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> now all of those while still available are significantly more expensive and niche than the mechanized (production or reproduction) equivalents.

No, they cost exactly as much as they always had. Before machines, people didn't have wardrobes full of tailor-made clothes. Each person had, give or take one, exactly as many tailor-made clothes as we have today.

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> Each person had, give or take one, exactly as many tailor-made clothes as we have today.

Many, perhaps most, people don't have any tailor made clothes because they can't afford a tailor. Which has indeed always been the case. But before machines, people who couldn't afford a tailor had no other option for clothes except homemade. Now, with machines, they do.

That’s exactly what stavros is is saying.

Supporting industries losing economies of scale drives up costs. If you have fewer tailors, local cloth suppliers become insolvent. This leads to the few tailors having to import cloth and increase prices.

That makes sense, thanks. I guess the high end becomes slightly more expensive, while the low end becomes massively cheaper.

Closely related to Baumol's cost disease: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease If one option becomes many multiples cheaper, anything that can't also get that cheap will almost inevitably rise in expense as a result.

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