Tailor in Shanghai - WW Chan or Daves? - Page 4

How easy is it to just being your own fabric from abroad on business trips to shanghai? I assume there wouldn't be local ordinances against this?

You mean CMT? Most of the tailors I know refuse to do so.

Dave's accept CMT, Chan does not.

I wouldn't say that the service was outright bad, but nothing special, I guess that makes it look bad next to Chan's, where it is excellent.

Easy, have done it and had suits made. I have also had my horeshair canvas GLUED in so be careful - don't believe everyone just coz they say they are a 'hong bao' tailor and they know what they are doing. However I have found the real deal who can do it for a steal now.

Are you referring to Chan?

Just wanted to know which Dave did anyone use since there are several. I think the Dave that everyone gave good reviews to is now located in the Bund.

Sorry - I meant to quote the text - no you can't use your own fabric with Chan's but can with Dave's.

I have had some bad experiences with tailors here claiming to make a fully canvassed suit, but have now found an old hand that can do it properly at very reasonable prices.

To the post above, which Dave's is the real seems to be an endless source of confusion. The real one is on Wuyuan road, the impostor is at the portman and another at Nanpu bridge. I don't who is now on the bund but the real Dave's is still on Wuyuan Road.

Ww chan by far is superior in terms of fit and craftsmanship. Dave is good if ur not looking to spend less cash

If Dave's intent was to build a first class tailoring house, then I really don't understand the name. It's like Rick's Cafe in Casablanca run by a local. Anyone could assume that name.

Short summary of my experiences:

When: Early 2011
Where: Fabric Market, Booth 153
Price: Shirts were 100 RMB, pants 200 RMB, tuxedo was 700 RMB. Heavy negotiation.
Overall score: -2: +3 for shirts, -2 for fashion knowledge, -2 for tux, -1 for pants.
Summary: Do it if you're just after shirts. Expect to know what you want and go 2-3 rounds with them before they get it right.

When: Early 2012
Where: Dave's @ Wuyuan
Price: Suit (120 wool), including 1 shirt and 2 pants was 8,995 RMB. 2,000 RMB up front deposit. Was advised no negotiation allowed by other customers. Individual shirts 450 RMB, Replace overcoat lining: 800 RMB, New overcoat 7000 RMB (or so - just went with the re-lining instead).
Overall score 0: +3 for suit, -1 for alterations required, -1 for knowledge, -1 for shirts.
Summary: Need to be knowledgable. Need to be firm in suggestions. Helps to speak Chinese. I really do like the suit, other than the minor flaws, but I'm not a fashion guru.

Where: WW Chan
Price: TBD, I hear it's close to Dave's
Overall Score: TBD
Summary: TBD

---

Long version

Fabric Market:

I was never really into clothing because nothing in the US fit that I could afford (I'm 2 meters & about 130kg), so, when I relocated to Shanghai for my assignment, one of the first things I did was head to the fabric market (Luijibang -- not sure if there is more than one?) and have a shirt made (in booth 153 "Jackson Style" - co-worker recommendation).

The biggest struggle I had was knowing what I wanted; I find that while pretty much everyone in the USA has an opinion on fashion, approximately zero people in China do. Booth 153 didn't know the names of the fabric (or knew it as something else), and frankly, I wouldn't trust them to be honest anyway -- every bolt of fabric was stamped "made in italy", which seems like an obvious lie.

Some internet research went a long way for shirt style. After 2-3 tweaks over a few weeks, I had a good fit on a good shirt. I bought 20 more and tossed everything I had from before (mostly men's warehouse). Probably the best $300 that I've ever spent in my life.

A few months later I had a tuxedo made by the same guy. Pants were ridiculously tight, and though I thought it was fine at the time, I later found out he screwed up the outfit all over the place; he basically just made a suit in black with silk lapels and a silk hem covering. He got the lapel style wrong (notched vs shawl), he had belt loops vs suspender buttons, the shirt didn't have stud holes, etc...

---as I said, I don't know much about fashion so I didn't catch this up front---

Had some pants made too, but they were a complete waste of money after washed and worn a few times they shrank, pilled, or fell apart. I even had them copy a garment I already had -- which they failed to duplicate -- very unchinese of them. So that was the end of the road.


Daves:

My boss here (also a US citizen) directed me to Dave on Wuyuan, telling me it was the best in Shanghai. Overall pretty good compared to what I'm used to at Men's Warehouse and the Fabric Market, but should have been better for the price, and I should have done my research!

Extremely expensive based on what I'm used to spending, but heard a lot of good things. The process was quick, they had *some* more information to share and coaching on materials (they knew what fabrics were (ie oxford, twill) but couldn't describe the differences to me (at least in English), but next to no style advice, even when asked direct questions (ie "how long of a cuff should I have for someone my height", etc...). Maybe I should have been more wary when I saw their in-store mannequin wearing a tuxedo - with a NOTCHED lapel!

Went in for 1 fitting a week after picking the material & getting measured, picked up the suit (after a second fitting) week after that. Fit was really good, wife thinks it's the best thing I've ever worn. Definately the most comfortable pants I've ever worn outside of jeans.

However, when I wore it the first full workday, along with the shirt I bought from them, I noticed the cuff of the shirt didn't peak out from the jacket the way I was used to (basically no shirt beyond the jacket sleeve when standing unless I specifically tug the shirt through the sleeve). At first I thought the jacket sleeve was short, but when I got hom that night I realized the shirt sleeve on Dave's shirt was nearly 2" shorter than the sleeves on my Booth 153 shirts. The Booth 153 shirts (french cuffed, just like Dave's) extend about 1 cm when standing up straight, and the whole cuff is outside the jacket when sitting with elbows at chest height when typing on my laptop. Of course, at this point I'm not sure which is correct (anyone know?), though the Booth 153 shirts feel better in the sleeves, so I lean that way.

I also read that a pant cuff on a tall man should be 1.75 inches / 4.5 cm minimum; the cuffs they made where more like 2.5cm even when I told them to be extra long because of my height. They also forgot to add a fabric loop under the lapel button hole, but snuck it in before I paid. Finally, they messed up the back of the neck area ever so slightly as to appear puffy.

I'm bringing the suit back for alterations but can't today as they're all gone for Chinese new year. I'm telling them to refund the shirts. We'll see what they say. Will update.

WW Chan:

I was planning on buying a few more suits from Dave after getting the previous one perfected, it really wasn't bad afterall. After reading this and a few other threads though, it seems WW Chan might be what I'm looking for at the same price point as Daves. Will give them a shot in the coming weeks and update.

Appreciate any additional thoughts / comments.

I suppose this is nothing terribly constructive, but thank you for your detailed post. I have read few posts here to be as specific and as clear as yours. I look forward to hearing your experience with Chan in the future.

But is "top notch" in Taiwan any more than mid ground elsewhere?

Turns out I'm leaving China (for Korea) before I find out how WW Chan is. Anyone have a recommendation for a good tailor in Seoul?