The Hong Kong Tailors Thread

[BespokeKiwi]

... This is a continuation of my earlier posts.

For those interested, there is a cross post (#229) regarding the navy blue blazer and its 4-hole polished metal buttons on the "The Great Navy Blazer Conundrum".

http://www.styleforum.net/t/335189/the-great-navy-blazer-conundrum/225

 

[dolama]

My first week in Hong Kong and I have already ordered 3 shirts from Ascot Chang and a suit from William Yu (not Y William Yu).
I both cases the first impression has been positive, let's now wait for the final result.

 

[AchtungBaby07]

I've decided to take the plunge and give Moda Republic a shot as they have been very responsive over email and were extremely pleasant to work with! As such, after a couple of email exchanges with Chris, I proceeded to drop by at their physical store in Hong Kong during my recent vacation there.

Chris is an extremely affable chap and we had a great time talking through all the nitty gritty details. Chris and his team are extremely professional and I felt really comfortable throughout the whole process and it was also great that they did not try to hard sell me anything! It had been a really pleasant experience overall.

They stocked an extensive range of shirting and suiting fabrics and what you guys see on their website was only the tip of the iceberg. While they did not stock the usual branded shirting fabrics such as Thomas Mason, Acorn, Riva, etc, their existing stock of cotton and linen shirting fabrics are actually pretty good. IMHO, they are really great bang for the buck. Suiting wise, they do have in stock much more well known fabrics such as VBC, Zegna, etc.

As such, I've ended up commissioning 5 shirts ( a mixture of both cotton and linen shirts) and a navy suit, using their in house "unbranded" S120 fabric. Shall do up a more extensive review once all the items are fully made up. In the meanwhile, would appreciate all the big timers' opinion on the first fitting for my suit! I've requested for a notched lapel, double vented, fully canvassed two button suit.

The most obvious problem for me were the trousers, especially at the bunching at the seat/thigh area and have requested for this to be fixed. I've also requested for the tailor to clean up the back the jacket as there were some creases. The tailor has pinned up the top portion at the back of the jacket to "clean up" some of the creases (as seen from the back view). I had also requested for the sleeves to be shorten, which explains why the end of the sleeves were folded up. Appreciate all your comments on how to improve the fit of the suit!

Front view


Back view



Side view



MOP button used for shirt

 

[BespokeKiwi]

@AchtungBaby07 Nothing to add to your own observations regarding your recent basted fitting and the adjustments required, especially the trousers. You seem to know what you're doing. So, best wishes with the new commissions. I hope they turn out well for you and you're pleased with the results. Thanks for sharing.

Edit: I hasten to add that I'm not a SF "big timer", just a relative new comer. Hopefully, some of the other SF old hands will chime in too.

On last thing, I noticed that you appear to have a drop right shoulder that your tailor will need to address. Otherwise, you may have down stream issues with the sleeve pitch/length and shirt cuff exposure asymmetry.

 

[Classic Car]



I've decided to take the plunge and give Moda Republic a shot as they have been very responsive over email and were extremely pleasant to work with! As such, after a couple of email exchanges with Chris, I proceeded to drop by at their physical store in Hong Kong during my recent vacation there. Chris is an extremely affable chap and we had a great time talking through all the nitty gritty details. Chris and his team are extremely professional and I felt really comfortable throughout the whole process and it was also great that they did not try to hard sell me anything! It had been a really pleasant experience overall. They stocked an extensive range of shirting and suiting fabrics and what you guys see on their website was only the tip of the iceberg. While they did not stock the usual branded shirting fabrics such as Thomas Mason, Acorn, Riva, etc, their existing stock of cotton and linen shirting fabrics are actually pretty good. IMHO, they are really great bang for the buck. Suiting wise, they do have in stock much more well known fabrics such as VBC, Zegna, etc. As such, I've ended up commissioning 5 shirts ( a mixture of both cotton and linen shirts) and a navy suit, using their in house "unbranded" S120 fabric. Shall do up a more extensive review once all the items are fully made up. In the meanwhile, would appreciate all the big timers' opinion on the first fitting for my suit! I've requested for a notched lapel, double vented, fully canvassed two button suit. The most obvious problem for me were the trousers, especially at the bunching at the seat/thigh area and have requested for this to be fixed. I've also requested for the tailor to clean up the back the jacket as there were some creases. The tailor has pinned up the top portion at the back of the jacket to "clean up" some of the creases (as seen from the back view). I had also requested for the sleeves to be shorten, which explains why the end of the sleeves were folded up. Appreciate all your comments on how to improve the fit of the suit! Front view Back view Side view MOP button used for shirt

I've decided to take the plunge and give Moda Republic a shot as they have been very responsive over email and were extremely pleasant to work with! As such, after a couple of email exchanges with Chris, I proceeded to drop by at their physical store in Hong Kong during my recent vacation there. Chris is an extremely affable chap and we had a great time talking through all the nitty gritty details. Chris and his team are extremely professional and I felt really comfortable throughout the whole process and it was also great that they did not try to hard sell me anything! It had been a really pleasant experience overall. They stocked an extensive range of shirting and suiting fabrics and what you guys see on their website was only the tip of the iceberg. While they did not stock the usual branded shirting fabrics such as Thomas Mason, Acorn, Riva, etc, their existing stock of cotton and linen shirting fabrics are actually pretty good. IMHO, they are really great bang for the buck. Suiting wise, they do have in stock much more well known fabrics such as VBC, Zegna, etc. As such, I've ended up commissioning 5 shirts ( a mixture of both cotton and linen shirts) and a navy suit, using their in house "unbranded" S120 fabric. Shall do up a more extensive review once all the items are fully made up. In the meanwhile, would appreciate all the big timers' opinion on the first fitting for my suit! I've requested for a notched lapel, double vented, fully canvassed two button suit. The most obvious problem for me were the trousers, especially at the bunching at the seat/thigh area and have requested for this to be fixed. I've also requested for the tailor to clean up the back the jacket as there were some creases. The tailor has pinned up the top portion at the back of the jacket to "clean up" some of the creases (as seen from the back view). I had also requested for the sleeves to be shorten, which explains why the end of the sleeves were folded up. Appreciate all your comments on how to improve the fit of the suit! Front view Back view Side view MOP button used for shirt

I've decided to take the plunge and give Moda Republic a shot as they have been very responsive over email and were extremely pleasant to work with! As such, after a couple of email exchanges with Chris, I proceeded to drop by at their physical store in Hong Kong during my recent vacation there. Chris is an extremely affable chap and we had a great time talking through all the nitty gritty details. Chris and his team are extremely professional and I felt really comfortable throughout the whole process and it was also great that they did not try to hard sell me anything! It had been a really pleasant experience overall. They stocked an extensive range of shirting and suiting fabrics and what you guys see on their website was only the tip of the iceberg. While they did not stock the usual branded shirting fabrics such as Thomas Mason, Acorn, Riva, etc, their existing stock of cotton and linen shirting fabrics are actually pretty good. IMHO, they are really great bang for the buck. Suiting wise, they do have in stock much more well known fabrics such as VBC, Zegna, etc. As such, I've ended up commissioning 5 shirts ( a mixture of both cotton and linen shirts) and a navy suit, using their in house "unbranded" S120 fabric. Shall do up a more extensive review once all the items are fully made up. In the meanwhile, would appreciate all the big timers' opinion on the first fitting for my suit! I've requested for a notched lapel, double vented, fully canvassed two button suit. The most obvious problem for me were the trousers, especially at the bunching at the seat/thigh area and have requested for this to be fixed. I've also requested for the tailor to clean up the back the jacket as there were some creases. The tailor has pinned up the top portion at the back of the jacket to "clean up" some of the creases (as seen from the back view). I had also requested for the sleeves to be shorten, which explains why the end of the sleeves were folded up. Appreciate all your comments on how to improve the fit of the suit! Front view Back view Side view MOP button used for shirt

How much do they charge you for suit and shirts?

 

[BigbigJohnny]

There's so much pulling on the front and the jacket doesn't sit properly as well. From my past tailoring experience, it's hard to imagine the final product fit well if the guys provide you only one fitting. Also, the button holes on shirt shouldn't opened on "vertical line" of check? This is unacceptable for me...

I've decided to take the plunge and give Moda Republic a shot as they have been very responsive over email and were extremely pleasant to work with! As such, after a couple of email exchanges with Chris, I proceeded to drop by at their physical store in Hong Kong during my recent vacation there. Chris is an extremely affable chap and we had a great time talking through all the nitty gritty details. Chris and his team are extremely professional and I felt really comfortable throughout the whole process and it was also great that they did not try to hard sell me anything! It had been a really pleasant experience overall. They stocked an extensive range of shirting and suiting fabrics and what you guys see on their website was only the tip of the iceberg. While they did not stock the usual branded shirting fabrics such as Thomas Mason, Acorn, Riva, etc, their existing stock of cotton and linen shirting fabrics are actually pretty good. IMHO, they are really great bang for the buck. Suiting wise, they do have in stock much more well known fabrics such as VBC, Zegna, etc. As such, I've ended up commissioning 5 shirts ( a mixture of both cotton and linen shirts) and a navy suit, using their in house "unbranded" S120 fabric. Shall do up a more extensive review once all the items are fully made up. In the meanwhile, would appreciate all the big timers' opinion on the first fitting for my suit! I've requested for a notched lapel, double vented, fully canvassed two button suit. The most obvious problem for me were the trousers, especially at the bunching at the seat/thigh area and have requested for this to be fixed. I've also requested for the tailor to clean up the back the jacket as there were some creases. The tailor has pinned up the top portion at the back of the jacket to "clean up" some of the creases (as seen from the back view). I had also requested for the sleeves to be shorten, which explains why the end of the sleeves were folded up. Appreciate all your comments on how to improve the fit of the suit! Front view Back view Side view MOP button used for shirt

 

[BespokeKiwi]

... This is a continuation of earlier posts.

The focus on this post is on shirts. While on a recent sartorial vacation to HK, I commissioned a quantity of shirts as part of a long overdue wardrobe refresh.

The shirts (pictured below) are grouped into sets as follows:

1. Sports Shirts. Button down collar sports shirts in uniform gingham pattern. This set also includes two "fancy" shirts, albeit in a striped pattern in assorted panel colours.
2. Sports/Dress Shirts. Semi-spread collar sports/dress shirts in uniform bold striped pattern.
3. Dress Shirts. Semi-spread collar dress shirts in uniform solid colours. This set also includes two shirts in micro-check in light blue and salmon/pink colours.
4. Dress Shirts. Semi-spread collar dress shirt in uniform stripped pattern with contrasting white collar and cuffs. This set also includes one solid light blue shirt in Chambray fabric.
5. Semi-formal Dress/DJ Shirt. I'm my haste in HK, I seemed to have incorrectly commissioned a DJ shirt with a wing tip collar, instead of a point collar that I prefer on this type of shirt. So, the shirt is going back to my HK tailor to have the collar changed. Alternatively, I may just get a new shirt made with the preferred point collar.

All the new shirts are made from high quality Sea Island cotton (except for a stray Oxford and Chambray) in assorted colours and have my initials embroidered onto either the left waist (for the sports shirts) or the left sleeve cuff (for the dress shirts, excluding the DJ shirt that is without initials) as noted in an earlier post. With the exception of the semi-formal DJ dress shirt with French cuffs, all the shirts have less formal barrel cuffs, which I prefer.

Once my wardrobe refresh project has been completed, with all the new garments fulfilled, and I've got myself organised; then I will begin posting some "in action" photos of my new garments "in the wilds" of my New Zealand and South East Asia habitats.

Alas, owing to some annoying fit and/or QC issues -- with some of the jackets and trousers fulfilled to date -- and the need to return them to HK for adjustment, it could still be another 1-2 months before some of the new garments (all being featured in this thread) finally start to make a first appearance in the WAYWRN thread. Like the slogan of a long running TV advertisement in New Zealand for cheese says: "Good things take time". So, hopefully, my Hong Kong tailor (Ash Samtani) will come through for me and won't let me down, i.e. with their work in progress adjustments to some of my jackets and trousers.

"Good things take time" (Video Clip)


More to follow...

--

Sports Shirts:




Sports/Dress Shirts:





Dress Shirts:

 

[Fishball]



I've decided to take the plunge and give Moda Republic a shot as they have been very responsive over email and were extremely pleasant to work with! As such, after a couple of email exchanges with Chris, I proceeded to drop by at their physical store in Hong Kong during my recent vacation there. Chris is an extremely affable chap and we had a great time talking through all the nitty gritty details. Chris and his team are extremely professional and I felt really comfortable throughout the whole process and it was also great that they did not try to hard sell me anything! It had been a really pleasant experience overall. They stocked an extensive range of shirting and suiting fabrics and what you guys see on their website was only the tip of the iceberg. While they did not stock the usual branded shirting fabrics such as Thomas Mason, Acorn, Riva, etc, their existing stock of cotton and linen shirting fabrics are actually pretty good. IMHO, they are really great bang for the buck. Suiting wise, they do have in stock much more well known fabrics such as VBC, Zegna, etc. As such, I've ended up commissioning 5 shirts ( a mixture of both cotton and linen shirts) and a navy suit, using their in house "unbranded" S120 fabric. Shall do up a more extensive review once all the items are fully made up. In the meanwhile, would appreciate all the big timers' opinion on the first fitting for my suit! I've requested for a notched lapel, double vented, fully canvassed two button suit. The most obvious problem for me were the trousers, especially at the bunching at the seat/thigh area and have requested for this to be fixed. I've also requested for the tailor to clean up the back the jacket as there were some creases. The tailor has pinned up the top portion at the back of the jacket to "clean up" some of the creases (as seen from the back view). I had also requested for the sleeves to be shorten, which explains why the end of the sleeves were folded up. Appreciate all your comments on how to improve the fit of the suit! Front view Back view Side view MOP button used for shirt

I wish you luck

 

[AchtungBaby07]



I wish you luck

Ohh noo.. Does that mean that the suit is so bad that it's beyond rescue?

 

[Petepan]

^^^ A lot of work. Start from top. Collar gap, shoulders too wide, shoulders uneven (dropped right shoulder I suspect), so you see some fabric pulling on the left chest near button. Excess fabric on rear arms, see bunching fabric at top of arms. I am not an expert, so these are small things I can see with amateur eyes. Something might be wrong with armhole too, but cannot see clearly from pics.

 

[acidboy]



Ohh noo.. Does that mean that the suit is so bad that it's beyond rescue?

unfortunately, from what I'm looking at- yes.

 

[Haroldwong]

Was it a basted fitting the second time? Or was it a complete suit where they made adjustents?

 

[AchtungBaby07]

Thanks guys for all the feedback thus far, will sure I feedback to Moda Republic to see if they can still salvage it.

^ this is my first fitting after choosing the fabric and got measured up so it's more of a basted fitting

 

[Classic Car]



Thanks guys for all the feedback thus far, will sure I feedback to Moda Republic to see if they can still salvage it.

^ this is my first fitting after choosing the fabric and got measured up so it's more of a basted fitting

Remember to ask Moda to fit the collar and the lapel, the lapel bounced out and not even close to the chest. How much despoit did you pay?

If the suit turn out bad, cut loss.

 

[aton]



Remember to ask Moda to fit the collar and the lapel, the lapel bounced out and not even close to the chest. How much despoit did you pay?

If the suit turn out bad, cut loss.

You must be kidding!
But, imo the suit fabric seems very glossy (if not too glossy).