Show us your Chan - Page 8

I'm willing to believe that a bespoke tailor has given you a $1000 discount if you bring you own cloth but let me tell you: that's not a common number at all. Most tailors who do CMT will not cut that much. I use one tailor who does CMT and procures fabric too - the difference in price vs what I can purchase myself is maybe $100.

I like Parker's fabric choice, but the suit is off in a few ways.

First, the pick stitching on the pockets looks sloppy. Maybe it's just in the pictures, but it looks like the stitching should've been close to the edge of the fabric to keep the edges from lifting off the suit. The stitches also might be improperly spaced and some might be tighter than others, but I can't really tell for sure from the pictures.

Second, the breast pocket is just off. It almost looks like the suit was made to be more playful and casual, but the breast pocket's alignment is so contrary to every other line on the suit that it looks sloppy instead. It also looks like its shape is off; that is, if it were folded in half it wouldn't be congruent. These problems are most apparent in this photo:

I agree with you 100%...most tailors will offer only a token discount for CMT services because they rely on the markup they make on fabric. I was fortunate enough to find a tailor who agreed to make suits for me at a reasonable cost. I also enjoy shopping for the fabric, and have found that I am paying pretty much the same or less than the tailor would have to pay himself to purchase the cloth. I think most tailors deal with so many different suppliers of cloth that they don't receive much of a discount from any of them.

A few quick shots of Breanish tweed on the left and Smiths Finmeresco on the right: Shoulder closeups here on the Chan shoulder thread.

Not all the pics are showing up.

Oops. They're fixed. Thanks.

Really wish Chan came to seattle or vancouver. Stuff looks fantastic.

I think depend on where you lived and where you buy your cloths.
The cloths selling in US is much expensive than in Hong Kong, almost 60% more for some brand.
Also if you can got a "tailor" or wholesale price, it is much cheaper than retail price.

I enjoy buying the fabric too.

Are you trolling or serious?

A swelled edge is a classic treatment for tweed or heavy cloth for which a hand edge stitch would be difficult or prone to failure. In casual Italian jackets, there can be a decorative reference to a classic swelled edge even in lighter fabrics not requiring it. This often takes the form of a quarter pick away from the edge, or a double row stitch, one at the edge and one away.

What you see on Parker's heavy cotton suit is a classic swelled edge. It might or might not be hand pick stitched. My understanding is that Chan is one of the few bespoke tailors to possess such a pick stitching machine.

In either case, the prominence of the stitches is a matter of taste. I have bespoke tweed jackets for which the swelled edge is barely perceptible as is the stitching for it, right at the edge, and ones for which there is a more typical (for RTW) quarter spacing. I also have things made in Naples with either double row or decorative quarter stitching. By their nature, the latter will be a bit more obvious since their purpose is to be seen.


I have never seen a bilaterally symmetrical breast patch on any bespoke jacket, nor on one from a RTW maker with pretenses to fine make. At the very least, a highly symmetrical breast patch will still have a sweep or angle at the top.

I have seen symmetrical patches on less ambitious RTW. I suppose one could prefer the latter to the former, but then one misses the point.

I dig it.

I dig the Smith's less.

^Thank you. The Smiths was done first, with fittings. We made a few changes for the Breanish. Can you be more specific about what you like better on the Breanish? It would be helpful for the future. Anyone else's comments are very welcome too. One thing I think may make a difference is simply how I'm standing w/ the two jackets. I'm pulling my shoulders back while wearing the fresco. The effect is most obvious in the back shot with all the vertical folds, but I think you can see it in the arms on the side shot and the slimmer profile of the front one. And +1 to all you wrote in response to "why." I meant to write that too, but forgot.

Looks good, empty. I like the gray jacket better as well. I think the lapel-to-front-cutaway shape is nicer. This is the new one, yeah? Looks like you did a slight belly on those lapels, too.

As for the stitching on the cotton suit, I asked for a 1/4" inset with a swell. They did the jacket by hand, so the stitches are irregular which is okay with me. The pants, however, are machine sewn and very straight. The breast pocket is rotated at a slight angle which I also asked for. So, I'm to blame if it's wrong.

Looks good, particularly the Breanish. I know that unpadded/unstructured is the "SF-approved" way but I actually think you would benefit from a bit more padding in the shoulders, would create more of a V shape. Maybe this could be accomplished by extending the shoulder more but based on the pics from the back I am not sure that would be wise.

Thanks P. It is the new one. Two of the adjustments were a little belly on the lapels and slightly more rounded quarters. I really like your pockets and may ask to have them copied if you don't mind.

Thanks. I'm not totally against padding, but I thought I'd try the non-padded look for these, and I'm pretty happy w/ it.

That Breanish looks great empty