Malaysian bespoke - Page 8

Originally Posted by hymo

Drape the proper way is not yet part of standard Ah Loke cut. You have to impress upon him at the very beginning that is non-negoatiable.

By SF conform, I mean a balanced jacket with a clean back, a generous lapel roll, lightly padded shoulders, a collar that hugs the neck no matter what, a gorge dart to control the lapel crease edge from gaping open (especially important with fused jackets which have no bridle in the lapel crease edge to draw it in), strong waisting, etc.

(Few tailors do full canvassing. Many have not even heard of it, or have not heard of it in decades. The standard construction is the fused jacket.)

Also,almost no tailor in Malaysia does hand-sewn buttonholes anymore, I have so far found 2 exceptions, AL being one of them. But they are done in polyester thread -- most of us who use him supply our own silk twist (unobtainable in Malaysia).

I have been inside maybe 60 or so tailoring shops here in Malaysia and have "interviewed" for technical proficiency maybe 2 dozen tailors. There is not a single accomplished tailor amongst them, as in one I need give no technical direction. But I give technical direction for a living, and manage engineers, so it comes naturally to me.

The shopping malls you named have a particularly high percentage of foreigners/tourists.

If I knew of a better tailor I would be using him already.

Originally Posted by hymo

He made me this:

Originally Posted by hymo

I have been inside maybe 60 or so tailoring shops here in Malaysia and have "interviewed" for technical proficiency maybe 2 dozen tailors. There is not a single accomplished tailor amongst them, as in one I need give no technical direction. But I give technical direction for a living, and manage engineers, so it comes naturally to me.

Originally Posted by nslatter

Should have visited Lord's Tailor.

The suit looks sharp.
http://www.lordstailor.com.my/

Originally Posted by hymo

I think apropos is a net negative to this thread, and clearly walks around with something long, sharp and spiky shoved up him (by an Asian tailor). Stylistix: The "proper" way to provide for drape to allow for upper body ROM is a generous upper back width which will result in vertical folds of cloth in the vicinity of the rear armscye when worn by the customer. However, no tailor I've been to in Malaysia seems to do it this way. Some make a jacket you cannot move in. Suits are largely ceremonial in Malaysia. You get wed in one, you get buried in one. Nobody cares about drape. With Ah Loke, he traditionally puts the drape at the back of the rear upper sleeves, which is generally not done in other parts of the world with more sophisticated tailoring, which results in the messy upper sleeves you see in my linen jacket. I noticed this during the fitting, and told him to clean it up. He told me it will restrict ROM, and I said do it anyway. He then proceeded to pin up the back of the sleeves (where the messiness is) and asked me if I would accept something like that. The jacket felt considerably more restrictive, and no, I cannot live with something like that. So I said to proceed with the sleeves as they are. In my latest suit (the navy DB), I made it clear to him I wanted synthetically clean sleeves and to put all the drape where good tailors put theirs: on the back panel, through a wide upper back. The result is as you see: clean sleeves, with blades of excess cloth in the vicinity of the rear armscye.