The Hong Kong Tailors Thread

[Nayr-]

Hey everybody, first-time poster here. Checked in with T Adair & Sons regarding Thomas Mason by the yard; they indeed do sell it by the yard, so I'll be getting a CMT done this summer. Will be paying them a visit over the weekend (they were closing as I visited, so didn't get a chance to see all of their cloths).

Anybody have any recommendations regarding where to get a CMT done in Hong Kong? I think Ascot Chang does have CMT available for HKD750, but I'm unsure if they do CMT for a new customer. Also was considering Dream Bespoke, but was unsure of their quality (HKD300 for a CMT, I think).

Probably will go with a basic Silverline white and light blue, considering I don't have any bespoke shirts at all.

They have a book of linen which was amazing. Check out their Albini books as well.

 

[BigRob]

I'm visiting HK in two weeks and want to get an ~$1,000 USD suit made. If I wanted to go to a tailor like W.W. Chan or Lee, can I walk in to the store and get service, or should I call ahead (days, weeks, months?) to make a reservation?

 

[dragon8]



I'm visiting HK in two weeks and want to get an ~$1,000 USD suit made.  If I wanted to go to a tailor like W.W. Chan or Lee, can I walk in to the store and get service, or should I call ahead (days, weeks, months?) to make a reservation?  

Chan takes walk-ins but its always better to call ahead.

 

[dragon8]



Hey everybody, first-time poster here. Checked in with T Adair & Sons regarding Thomas Mason by the yard; they indeed do sell it by the yard, so I'll be getting a CMT done this summer. Will be paying them a visit over the weekend (they were closing as I visited, so didn't get a chance to see all of their cloths). 

Anybody have any recommendations regarding where to get a CMT done in Hong Kong? I think Ascot Chang does have CMT available for HKD750, but I'm unsure if they do CMT for a new customer. Also was considering Dream Bespoke, but was unsure of their quality (HKD300 for a CMT, I think). 

Probably will go with a basic Silverline white and light blue, considering I don't have any bespoke shirts at all. 

AC will do CMT for any customer.

 

[toomanytailors]

Hey guys, first time posting here. My friend and I have been visiting some tailors in Hong Kong to get some shirts made. We will be posting some photos and comments on our blog. Hopefully, we will be rolling out more posts and you guys will find it useful.

We've updated with our first post on Jantzen come check it out and leave some comments!

http://toomanytailors.wordpress.com

TMT

 

[BigRob]

Hey guys, first time posting here. My friend and I have been visiting some tailors in Hong Kong to get some shirts made. We will be posting some photos and comments on our blog. Hopefully, we will be rolling out more posts and you guys will find it useful.

We've updated with our first post on Jantzen come check it out and leave some comments!

http://toomanytailors.wordpress.com

TMT

Dafuq, they had a young woman take your measurements? I would have demanded an old Chinese man. It's part of the experience.

Also -- after having read your post (it's well-written), I'm wondering why you didn't comment on/post pics re: the quality of the shirt you had made. Did it fit well?

 

[addedfuel]

Hey guys, first time posting here. My friend and I have been visiting some tailors in Hong Kong to get some shirts made. We will be posting some photos and comments on our blog. Hopefully, we will be rolling out more posts and you guys will find it useful.

We've updated with our first post on Jantzen come check it out and leave some comments!

http://toomanytailors.wordpress.com

TMT

Your review is great. Given that there are only 2 of you, how many tailors do you or have you covered? I'd be glad to chip in.

 

[Limniscate]

How much cheaper is CMT, if any? What's the typical range of savings?

 

[JLibourel]



I'm visiting HK in two weeks and want to get an ~$1,000 USD suit made.  If I wanted to go to a tailor like W.W. Chan or Lee, can I walk in to the store and get service, or should I call ahead (days, weeks, months?) to make a reservation?  

It's been a couple of years since I had my last suit made by Chan, but I don't believe you can get a suit from them for appreciably less than $1,500 (if that) these days. Excellent bunch to deal with, I always found.

 

[darkhorseandco]



Does anybody know of tailors in HK who carry the Smiths steadfast book (preferably in central)?

I know Chan has it, but they have taken it on tour at the moment.

Check out Practical Tailors in AIE building on Connaught Road in Central. They have the Smith's along with the Minnis Fresco book. I've recently had a navy fresco suit made up and something from the Smith's book is next on my radar.

 

[AndoT]

Cat - Cat thanks for our advice. I finally got around to seeing Y William Yu. I liked their service and the fact he started lower end until I gave a bit of a push on better fabric.

I went with 2 Zegna, a Holland Sherry and LP.

I'll have the results in a few weeks so will post photos. Cheers

 

[Wongtouski]



Hey everybody, first-time poster here. Checked in with T Adair & Sons regarding Thomas Mason by the yard; they indeed do sell it by the yard, so I'll be getting a CMT done this summer. Will be paying them a visit over the weekend (they were closing as I visited, so didn't get a chance to see all of their cloths). 

Anybody have any recommendations regarding where to get a CMT done in Hong Kong? I think Ascot Chang does have CMT available for HKD750, but I'm unsure if they do CMT for a new customer. Also was considering Dream Bespoke, but was unsure of their quality (HKD300 for a CMT, I think). 

Probably will go with a basic Silverline white and light blue, considering I don't have any bespoke shirts at all. 

A/C is $850, I know because I also wanted to buy from Adair and get CMT done LOL.

Do you know how much per yard they're selling?

 

[Nayr-]

Thomas Mason and Albini about HKD145-HKD200 per yard. Linen on the higher end of pricing.

 

[Penfold]

Check out Practical Tailors in AIE building on Connaught Road in Central. They have the Smith's along with the Minnis Fresco book. I've recently had a navy fresco suit made up and something from the Smith's book is next on my radar.

Any ballpark figures on pricing please?

For the record I've also got a Y William Yu suit in progress, inspired by a photo of a B& Tailor suit I saw on here (it might belong to Tchoy, I'm not sure). I'm trying to lose weight but living in HK surrounded by all these tailors and shirtmakers became too much for me. I sniffed around TST, getting quotes from Simpson Sin ($8700 half-canvassed, $9000 fully canvassed, which they didn't seem keen on doing, for a VBC cloth from the Solids II book), Lee Baron ($4800 basic (fused? not clear on that point), $2000 more to do canvassed and $1800 for a spare pair of trousers), Gordon Yao ($13500 for VBC but I really wanted a Scabal Red Label cloth that would have pushed the suit up to $17500 and Y William Yu where I pulled the trigger on a LP fabric (forgotten the details and now rather regret it) for $9500 fully canvassed, three fittings and as many free bottles of water as I can drink per visit (i.e. one).

Since I live in HK at the moment I agreed they could take their time with this suit, and in return Andy (cutter/salesman/front of house) made encouraging noises about finding an old-time Shanghai craftsman. At the skeleton baste fitting the trouser man was in attendance to assist whilst Andy took more time on the coat in terms of length, balance and so on. At the second fitting the trouser were close to finished, but this time the coat tailor (an impressively old ***********) was there to mark up and see what needed to be corrected. Third fitting is in about ten days or so.

So far so good, but I'm not sure YWY have the greatest number of fabric books from the more prominent mills to choose from - and I can see from my first attempt that I should pay greater heed to SF's accumulated wisdom on such matters. But I can also see that the usual caveats apply here just as they should - you get what you pay for, HK tailors will do what you tell them to do and won't do what you don't ask for, and that the first suit is always necessarily something of a warm-up. However as another step along the learning curve I'm pretty pleased.

Photos below - blue tie is skeleton baste, pink tie is forward and I've included the lovely B& Tailor suit that inspired me too. Whoever's suit it is, and whoever took the photo, please forgive me for stealing it and if you want it removed then just PM me.

 

[darkhorseandco]

I think the YWY suits look promising though i would probably ask for the jacket to be lengthened as it looks a little short for my taste. Most HK tailors tend to default towards a shorter jacket unless you instruct them otherwise and their definition of a jacket "covering" the seat is somewhat loose.

My Minnis suit at Practical Tailors ("PT") was HKD9,700 for fully-canvassed, half-lined (forget the name of the fancy lining but I believe it was 100% silk rather than a silk / polyester blend which many other tailors carry) with a Milanese buttonhole. I've used a number of tailors in HK including Lee Baron, William Cheng & Son, Il Sarto and New Century and I'm very much pleased with the results at PT thus far.

The proprietors, Andy and Jason are ex-Taipan Row ("TR") from a number of years back (when I believe the TR name still stood for something) and as they tell me they combine the cut and fit of a Cantonese tailor with the workmanship and finishing of a Shanghainese tailor. PT also differ from alot of other tailors in HK in that they have their own "kitchen" and so have better control over quality and timeliness in terms of delivering product.

My Minnis is currently in their kitchen getting some final alterations (letting the jacket out slightly at the waist) so I'll post pics when I get around to collecting it.