The Hong Kong Tailors Thread

[Dib]

Isolation - ur review had me in stitches

I think I'm going to go and check that place out just for the pure entertainment value!

 

[Isolation]

Oh yeah I want to add one part which was really bad. One guy wanted his suit to look more modern, so the tailor said "oh we'll make the waist slimmer and more tapered in". Reasonable. He was writing down measurements and presumably wrote that down, but when the guy ordering the suit heard that, he added "oh, I don't want it too slim on the waist" presumably because he was worried it'd show his chubbiness a little bit. Whatever. The guy replied "yeah okay, a little bit slim on the waist but not too much..." I proceeded to glue my guy on the "tailor", as he took the model suit off and took the money and until the guy left. He didn't write anything down. That's the kind of attitude we're talking about here, doesn't care about what the customer needs just tries to churn suits out, and basically just nods and says yes to everything the customer says but only does something if they must. Was somewhat disgusted by it. I mean I've had tailors forget details, but they always apologize and immediately go back to change it, offer to have me send it to them and reimburse the shipping charge etc, and they always admitted if they were wrong or if something could be improved, whereas this guy just tries to coerce you into accepting whatever thing they churned out while smiling and talking about Obama.

Well I guess I won't look like Obama or get a payrise, or become a CEO anytime soon. I'll just have to live with that.

 

[bamboo]

It sounds scary, but they are very talented business men. They have survived years doing their way.

 

[Isolation]

Yes, I understand, and I wouldn't even call them a rip off or hustle because when it comes down to it the price is reasonable, probably, but it's not the kind of thing I'd call bespoke tailoring, and I wouldn't want to do business with them.

 

[bamboo]

I totally agree. It probably is much better deal than tailors publishing ads in news paper. I may take somebody who wish not to spend much money on clothing and in a disparate need for suits.

 

[Isolation]

Hey quick post, can someone help me with this. Would you say bubbling like this is a notable issue, or normal? The suit has just been pressed (by the makers) and allowed to rest on the hanger for half a day.




I want to ask to have it fixed, but I don't know if this is some kind of imagined flaw; it feels like it isn't. None of my other suits do that, though perhaps it's the fabric? There's a bit more of this lower down, too, but it's hard to take a picture of, especially not wearing it. I feel like it's quite noticeable when worn but I can't say for sure.

 

[GBR]

Very difficult to say but it looks like normal use: Who made it and does it claim top be canvassed or fused?

 

[Isolation]

It's WW Chan. I'm very happy with very other facet of the suit, but at first there were wrinkles right next to the lapel. I brought it to them, they pressed it, and it went away momentarily, but came back immediately. They had a longer look at it and decided the canvass was not fitted properly (had too much material) and spent 2 weeks or so fixing it, and I just got it back. The wrinkles near the lapel is gone now, but there are still some bubbling near the edge. I looked up pictures of well made suits being worn, and I just don't see that bubbling; it makes it so the area beneath the button whole at the edge is not one smooth flat surface. I'll post a picture of before (flash, see the wrinkles on the left; this has been mostly fixed now):



Like I said, the picture I posted just now was from my suit newly pressed after getting it back from them, and having rested it on the hanger for half a day. I've only worn it on to try, so it's not like I've spent a day in the suit and it's gotten wrinkled. It's not even a matter of wrinkes, there aren't folds or anything, it seems like the fabric is not matched properly and as such there's some bubbling out, and it remains even if I pull them on the side, and like I said it was pressed just before specifically when I pointed it out to them. I didn't let it sit long enough to check since I assumed they must have made sure everything's fixed by now now that I've been back and forth a few times. Should've waited I guess. I mean it seems like a small thing to complain but imo that part of the suit is one of the more noticable parts aside from the shoulder and lapel so it's not really unimportant. It just doesn't look smooth and it looks very distracting especially the suit being a smooth (ahem) black makes any non smooth surface reflect light differently enough that I think it's really distracting visually.

At this point I've been back and forth the shop about 7 times and it's actually quite frustrating as I'm leaving HK soon too.

edit:

Added extra photos:

 

[Isolation]

Update to situation. I brought jacket back to WW Chan, and they were very quick to look over the jacket and agreed with me about the problems. They said they'll unstitch both sides and refix it back on, and also when I pointed out at one of the buttons which I felt were not kissing properly, they said they'll get it sorted too. I'm obviously not happy that I've had to come back to them several times but their customer service has been good and polite. I'll post updates when I get it back, along with full photos.

 

[dragon8]



Update to situation. I brought jacket back to WW Chan, and they were very quick to look over the jacket and agreed with me about the problems. They said they'll unstitch both sides and refix it back on, and also when I pointed out at one of the buttons which I felt were not kissing properly, they said they'll get it sorted too. I'm obviously not happy that I've had to come back to them several times but their customer service has been good and polite. I'll post updates when I get it back, along with full photos.

They have very good customer service. They aim to please.

 

[smithcorp]

Hi all - first post here and hope you can advise. I'm travelling to Hong Kong for a week for work before Christmas and hoping to buy a bespoke suit while I am there - from reading the forum, I am leaning towards Simpson Sin or Banz but I have a question about their ability to deal with unusual body shapes.

I had a bad bike crash many years ago and my left arm does not straighten further than about 30 degrees from the vertical (ie my arm never hangs properly straight, but always has a slight bend). I have a tailor in Sydney who copes with this (avoiding un-natural looking bunching of fabric and strange cuff position), but I'd like to know whether I am on a fool's errand hoping a HK tailor could cut a suit that would fit with my dodgy arm, in a week?

Any advice appreciated.

smith

 

[Isolation]

From watching interaction with other clients, SS seems to be able to turn out jackets in less than a week, though he's spent more time with me since I'm not in a hurry, and I don't know if that affects the quality significantly. I've seen people pick up suits, they look fine. I'd say that the armholes with SS (and now I just picked up Regent/Excellent Tailor suit) are not as good as WW Chan's, and it's noticeably so, but I'd still say it's pretty good overall. SS has been very good with adapting to my requests; I don't have abnormal body shape or anything so I don't know if they will be experienced with dealing specifically with your needs, but they are communicative and friendly, good english, more than enough to communicate your needs.

I do not forsee much of a problem, though that said, you might want to ask him for a next-day fitting in case an extra fitting is needed to get it right; afterall, if it's an unusual request they might need that extra opportunity to get it perfect. If you go, tell them the guy who got an overcoat and the bright blue suit recommended them. I've got like 5 garments from them, so they should remember me, haha. Maybe they'll try to give you a favorable fitting time, which could improve the situation.

Extra point; obviously your subsequent suits will come out faster, and I've enjoyed getting quick repeated services from SS (as you might be able to tell), so if you might come back to HK in the future, it could be a good idea to see if you can get a good fitting suit here and if you like it order a bunch more. If anything your situation makes finding a (reasonably priced) bespoke tailor all the more important.

I'm still not sure about WW Chan. I am fairly certain I'd like to get suits from them again; it's possible this is just an unfortunate coincidence that quite a few things went wrong in a row with my suit, but I really like their professionalism and fairly precise fittings and such, with those exception. Like I said I liked every other facet about my suit a lot. That said, I think it's a bit weird that they managed to not notice such small but noticable flaws; if I didn't know better,or if I was in a hurry, I would not have had it fixed. While they've been very polite and helpful when I did point out the issues, I feel a bit like they should've never let those flaws reach me to begin with. In general they seem a bit reserved with styling comments in line with this. That said, they are still skilled, and now that I know more about suits and more about what I want, I'm sure their service will be just fine for me, but I do think it's only fair I air these reservation about them. Like I said, I intend to go to them for future suits, so it's largely minor complaints.

 

[Merino Bros]

Many of you may have known that WW Chan has been relocated to the Entertainment Building, Central

New Address: Unit B, 8/F., Entertainment Building, 30 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong




(10:00am - 7:00pm)

 

[vinveritas]

Am curious why WW Chan transferred to Central - is it a bigger place? Thanks.

 

[Isolation]

Central is just more upscale in general isn't it? Place looks fancier and bigger, yeah.