All analogies fall apart on close consideration.
In this case, though, I think it still works. It says nothing of the work they do, but more to the goal of their work. Tailors/coblers (fashion, in general) are tasked with making elegant attire. It is true that some are tasked with making practical attire.
Physicists, however, are never tasked with making elegant physics. It is rewarded. But it is not directly their task.
I always enjoyed this take on analogies, and their consistent property of falling apart upon close consideration.
> An analogy is like a finger pointing at the moon, pay too much attention to the finger and you miss out on all the heavenly glory.
Somehow I think the analogy falls apart on close consideration. ;)