Low tech and inefficient shopping

I went clothes shopping today, for trousers. It was an inefficient, low tech experience. I went to a well known clothes store, fingered through racks of trousers - the ones I hated least - looking for a pair or two that might fit me, tried them on, and found a second pair of the same size and type that fitted.

I can remember in the 1980s seeing on television (Tomorrow's World?) a whole body scan of someone (simulated, I think) to get their external dimensions with a view to computer cutting a suit for them. Yes, my body's external dimensions should be an easy thing to measure and record, as often as I like. With this information, finding out which shops have trousers that will fit me in stock ought to be very simple. I may wish to go somewhere and physically see/hold a pair of trousers to see if I am content with their colour, style, texture, and so on, but why waste my time if they don't have any that fit me?

If I have seen a style/colour that I like, given my known dimensions and preference for fit (length/looseness) it should be no problem to computer cut a pair of trousers just for me, and deliver them home or somewhere for collection. This should vastlly reduce the amount of already made trousers to flick through - though actually the flicking through could be saved by automation.

Perhaps the combination of size and fit merits a try on, but the size of trousers should be measured consistently (ie in a standard way) to avoid irritating variations in actual size compared to nominal size even in a particular shop. I should be able to try on any pair of trousers for size and fit information.

In an RBE the technology would be applied to radically reduce the time and materials waste involved in what should be the simple task of obtaining an ordinary garment.