WW Chan Shanghai Suit Results

[tchoy]

Have you had these issues resolve by Chan?

 

[davdh]

Have you had these issues resolve by Chan?

No, I will be going to Shanghai next month, and hopefully they'll agree to do the alterations without a fee. I met Patrick while on tour, and he told me that the Shanghai and Hong Kong shops are essentially separate businesses, though they have the same boss at the very top. He also took a look at my suit, made some notes on what had to be altered, and said that he would email the notes to the Shanghai office.

 

[VinnyMac]

For $2200, that's dreadful, lol. If you had 4 fittings, why did you leave the shop like that?

 

[davdh]

For $2200, that's dreadful, lol. If you had 4 fittings, why did you leave the shop like that?

I agree! I left since it was fairly obvious that they weren't going to do anything about it, then and there. I told them that the pants had far too many ripples in the back, but they just said "you need the wrinkles; otherwise it would be very difficult to sit down". They dismissed all my concerns in the same manner, so I just decided I would go back and see Patrick about it.

Alas, Patrick isn't willing to alter for me, so I'll have to bring it back and see if Shanghai will be willing to follow through with Patrick's notes. If they don't, do you think it would be possible for me to convince Hong Kong to alter them for me, even though I made it in Shanghai?

 

[CaymanS]



they just said "you need the wrinkles; otherwise it would be very difficult to sit down". They dismissed all my concerns

...

Patrick isn't willing to alter for me

I am amazed that gdl's and parker's suits come out looking so good (back when gdl and parker used chan)...this is simply a horror, buyer-beware story any way you slice it.

 

[Dib]



I agree! I left since it was fairly obvious that they weren't going to do anything about it, then and there. I told them that the pants had far too many ripples in the back, but they just said "you need the wrinkles; otherwise it would be very difficult to sit down". They dismissed all my concerns in the same manner, so I just decided I would go back and see Patrick about it. 

Alas, Patrick isn't willing to alter for me, so I'll have to bring it back and see if Shanghai will be willing to follow through with Patrick's notes. If they don't, do you think it would be possible for me to convince Hong Kong to alter them for me, even though I made it in Shanghai? 

I think it will be difficult to convince HK to alter it, although you should certainly ask and see what they say. They are so busy nowadays with all the orders from overseas trips that the customer service isn't what it used to be. 5 or 6 years ago they were always very accomodating to make tweaks and adjustments even after final fitting, less so nowadays.

 

[Svenn]

Curious how this turned out for you OP?

I think it will be difficult to convince HK to alter it, although you should certainly ask and see what they say. They are so busy nowadays with all the orders from overseas trips that the customer service isn't what it used to be. 5 or 6 years ago they were always very accomodating to make tweaks and adjustments even after final fitting, less so nowadays.

^Do you have another recommendation for HK that is more willing to tweak?

 

[davdh]

It was altered by Shanghai during June. I'm not completely happy with the results, but it looks like they can't do any better.

I'll post some pictures later tonight for more critique.

Edit: grammar

 

[Svenn]

This really is an unfortunate result for you; I was thinking about trying Chan in HK in a few weeks but after seeing how you were treated, I'm having second thoughts. Really the one and ONLY job of a bespoke tailor, if any, is to give you a smooth finish without fitting flaws. That's all there is to it. It's incomprehensible to me why so many of them don't get it. They run their businesses like cloth retailers, and think letting you 'customize' your suit with pocket types, vents, etc is all you're entitled to, and fit is the last consideration. Having them give excuses for those ripples, which is their laziness to fix the problem, is outrageous. Now I'm sure if you were in HK and got Patrick there to measure you, and you got their good cutter on a good day, you could get an excellent suit... but you shouldn't have to play that 'luck of the draw' type game with this type of investment. Alas, at the end of the day, we're all pretty much bound to that gamble.

 

[GBR]

That is a dreadful looking suit and certainly not the 'Chan' I would recognise. Maybe the two businesses should be judged individually rather than considered as being the same - which is the presumption you are making.

 

[emptym]



I am amazed that gdl's and parker's suits come out looking so good (back when gdl and parker used chan)...this is simply a horror, buyer-beware story any way you slice it.

This really is an unfortunate result for you; I was thinking about trying Chan in HK in a few weeks but after seeing how you were treated, I'm having second thoughts. Really the one and ONLY job of a bespoke tailor, if any, is to give you a smooth finish without fitting flaws. That's all there is to it. It's incomprehensible to me why so many of them don't get it. They run their businesses like cloth retailers, and think letting you 'customize' your suit with pocket types, vents, etc is all you're entitled to, and fit is the last consideration. Having them give excuses for those ripples, which is their laziness to fix the problem, is outrageous. Now I'm sure if you were in HK and got Patrick there to measure you, and you got their good cutter on a good day, you could get an excellent suit... but you shouldn't have to play that 'luck of the draw' type game with this type of investment. Alas, at the end of the day, we're all pretty much bound to that gamble.

I think you guys are forgetting the importance of the difference between the HK and the Shanghai Chans. As the OP wrote above, they're pretty much separate entities. Until his post, I didn't realize quite how separate. But it's long been common wisdom here that the HK Chan does significantly better work than the Shanghai one. Parker, Gdl's, and almost everyone else's stuff on here, including my own, was done at the HK branch. Part of that is simply due to the fact that that's the one that travels to the US.

If you can get to HK, I highly recommend Chan. They do great work. But you really need to stay there for over a week to get the proper fittings. Ideally, you'd meet them on tour in the US or the UK, then let them know when you'll be in HK. Try to go at a time when Patrick is there. They'll have a basted suit ready for you, then a couple fittings.

 

[Svenn]

^I'm glad to see they're still doing a good job in HK, but still, it seems Patrick should have been more helpful to the OP.

I'm headed to HK in a few weeks and Chan HK emailed me saying they could do a measuring and two fittings in 5 days, and then ship it back to me. I guess I need to ask and see if this Patrick fellow will be there before they leave on the Oct tour, but I don't want to insult them by implying he's the only good cutter there.

 

[emptym]

Patrick marked up the OP's suit with suggested changes for the Shanghai shop to execute. I'm not sure what more he could have done, given the degree of separation between the two locations/businesses.

Five days sounds good. I had a fitting on a Mon, Wed, and Fri, then picked up the suit on Sat morning, I think. But, as mentioned, I had ordered the suit on one of their tours, so they had the basted stage ready for me that Mon when I arrived. If you're ordering right there in HK, three fittings in five days and having it sent home sounds very good.

I wouldn't be too concerned about requesting Patrick. They've actually advised me to email to see if he'd be there on my planned trips. Another reason they prefer to be informed early of a potential visit is to make sure they reserve some workers for your stuff. Sometimes they're too busy for a quick turnaround, and sometimes there are holidays.

Btw, I saw in the cloth thread that you were interested in cloth that drapes well. I highly recommend the 11.5 oz, 4-ply Smiths Finmeresco. My first suit from Chan was in that and I love the stuff.

 

[Svenn]

^Thanks for the recommendation, are there any pics of that cloth anywhere? I saw some of your other suits/jacket and they've given me new hope that my choice of HK Chan was a good one. It's really worrisome since it seems like all of the old successful Chan fans from 2007-2010 have kind of disappeared, and there's all these new posts about how they've gone down in quality. I've given myself a full 7 days in HK now just in case. I plan on being very direct about getting a clean drape from the start, so I can hopefully avoid the OP's problem, especially regarding the trousers and the sleeves. I'll update the Forvm in 4 weeks when the suits should be done.

 

[davdh]

RIght, as emptym says, the Hong Kong and Shanghai are completely different shops; I wish I had known that beforehand.

I've spoken to Patrick on tour before, and he does indeed seem very knowledgeable; I think he would have done a much better job than the fitter in Shanghai. Since they're effectively two separate business though, Hong Kong can't alter anything for me.

Sorry about the delay in posting pictures - I haven't had the opportunity to snap any. I'll get some up as soon as I can.

Good luck with Chan in Hong Kong, and please keep us updated!