Australian Members

nabilmust said:

I think price is a multi-causal factor, not just thread count. There's the ply-count, and not forgetting the quality of the cotton, itself (pima/upland/tree/Egyptian/Turkish/Chinese/Indian/Australian etc etc etc), and whether it's a cotton blend, or pure cotton, etc, etc, etc...

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Cottonwork doesn't seem to provide info on ply count unfortunately, but both are 'Super-fine Egyptian cotton' according to the website, and all are pure cotton generally. I'm mainly interested in whether TessMonti is noticeably better than the Thomas Mason fabric (which I have a sample of, and was quite impressed by when feeling it and comparing to Cottonwork's own fabric tiers). Thanks for the info re: ply count though, will keep an eye out. Generally 2-ply cotton shirts tend to be standard at the higher end, as I understand it?

Journeyman said:

MS, I disagree. He should book tickets to Italy, go to Naples and have some shirts handmade by Anna Matuozzo and her family.

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Now we're talking! I knew this thread was destined for bigger things.

P.S Matt, MJ Bale is having a pretty big lane way sale today, through till the third. I know you're out in the sticks, but if you are traveling to Melbourne, you might be able to pickup a nice suit.

Journeyman said:

MS, I disagree. He should book tickets to Italy, go to Naples and have some shirts handmade by Anna Matuozzo and her family.

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Yes, might do some space tourism whilst I'm at it.

I have actually already gone custom for the majority of my business shirts (courtesy of a fairly good tailor in Bangkok, shirts made from Egyptian cotton, I think he said it was same fabric as some RLBL shirts). Of course, my experience wasn't the same as if I'd gone to Charvet or Savile Row, but that'll be on the cards next year when I'm back in the UK (and damn, Maurice Sedwell/Andrew Ramroop is more expensive than he used to be... think he went from 2500 GBP to 4500 GBP per three-piece recently...). Right now I have more dress shirts than is really necessary, when I was in Bangkok I got far too many double cuffs, but oh well. Need to branch out into some button-cuff types, as I think wearing cuff-links day-in day-out might be a bit too formal in certain instances for my current workplace.



flexiflex said:

I understand the reason to offshore and have the suits made in China, as the labour cost is cheap. But why Japan? Thought the labour cost is comparable to Australia. Japan is renowned for quality products and having stuff made in Japan give me the same impression. Why MJ doesn't have their products made in Australia and they can put a stamp on their suit, (100% Aussie made)

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I don't think it's a question of just cost, so much as value and availability of skill. Some of our Australian clothing label owners on this forum will tell you that in many cases there is no suitable Australian supplier of the garments they and the market want. Some of the skills like shoe making are basically gone altogether.

Even if there are Australian suppliers, quality can actually be more of an issue than it is in China, and the gap is getting larger very year. Look at the quality of your Chinese made MJ Bale suits and compare them to an Australian made Farage suit. Last time I looked the Chinese suits were better finished all round and more consistently cut to their block, not to mention half the price. Their Japanese made suits are even nicer, on par with the Australian suits in terms of price and getting even cheaper as the yen falls.

I'm as patriotic as the next bloke, but I'm not prepared to pay a 100% premium for an inferior product just because it whistles Waltzing Matilda.



Prince of Paisley said:

Even if there are Australian suppliers, quality can actually be more of an issue than it is in China, and the gap is getting larger very year.

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Interesting point. Reflection of manufacturing/skills in ascendancy in one region and in decline in another.

flexiflex said:

Do any of you guys meet up or anything like that? I think we are a bunch of niche as the state of Australian fashion is shocking. At least in Sydney, Melbourne is noticeably better.

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Yes! More meetups, more often. I've been to one, was hideously late after poorly organising it, still had a blast chatting the night away. It's a shame our schedules/locations vary so wildly across the forum.

Prince of Paisley said:

I don't think it's a question of just cost, so much as value and availability of skill. Some of our Australian clothing label owners on this forum will tell you that in many cases there is no suitable Australian supplier of the garments they and the market want. Some of the skills like shoe making are basically gone altogether.

Even if there are Australian suppliers, quality can actually be more of an issue than it is in China, and the gap is getting larger very year. Look at the quality of your Chinese made MJ Bale suits and compare them to an Australian made Farage suit. Last time I looked the Chinese suits were better finished all round and more consistently cut to their block, not to mention half the price. Their Japanese made suits are even nicer, on par with the Australian suits in terms of price and getting even cheaper as the yen falls.

I'm as patriotic as the next bloke, but I'm not prepared to pay a 100% premium for an inferior product just because it whistles Waltzing Matilda.

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Farage gave a presentation to some of my associates, and he reportedly said that up until about a year ago he maintained Australian manufacturing because the quality wasn't up to scratch offshore for suits of the same price. He now plans to use more offshore production (perhaps all of it) as the quality suit manufacturing in China has surpassed that in Australia for the same price point.

Take this with a grain of salt as it is hearsay.

Prince of Paisley said:

I don't think it's a question of just cost, so much as value and availability of skill. Some of our Australian clothing label owners on this forum will tell you that in many cases there is no suitable Australian supplier of the garments they and the market want. Some of the skills like shoe making are basically gone altogether.

Even if there are Australian suppliers, quality can actually be more of an issue than it is in China, and the gap is getting larger very year. Look at the quality of your Chinese made MJ Bale suits and compare them to an Australian made Farage suit. Last time I looked the Chinese suits were better finished all round and more consistently cut to their block, not to mention half the price. Their Japanese made suits are even nicer, on par with the Australian suits in terms of price and getting even cheaper as the yen falls.

I'm as patriotic as the next bloke, but I'm not prepared to pay a 100% premium for an inferior product just because it whistles Waltzing Matilda.

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good insight there, thanks for the info Prince.

Have you guys noticed the suits in Farage are all in peak lapels? I also agree that MJ suits seem to be better quality compared to Farage. Price is cheaper as well.

is there a Paul Smith stocklist here in Sydney? What do people think about their suits?

burnso said:

Also picked up my (bexley) shoe trees from deingesicht today (thanks again) and they are great.
$16.50 ea bargain, great shape and cedar.

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Ditto. Super pleased with them. Thanks to deingesicht for organising.

Michael Sy said:

Now we're talking! I knew this thread was destined for bigger things.

P.S Matt, MJ Bale is having a pretty big lane way sale today, through till the third. I know you're out in the sticks, but if you are traveling to Melbourne, you might be able to pickup a nice suit.

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The Melbourne sale is on next Thursday.



Prince of Paisley said:

I don't think it's a question of just cost, so much as value and availability of skill. Some of our Australian clothing label owners on this forum will tell you that in many cases there is no suitable Australian supplier of the garments they and the market want. Some of the skills like shoe making are basically gone altogether.

Even if there are Australian suppliers, quality can actually be more of an issue than it is in China, and the gap is getting larger very year. Look at the quality of your Chinese made MJ Bale suits and compare them to an Australian made Farage suit. Last time I looked the Chinese suits were better finished all round and more consistently cut to their block, not to mention half the price. Their Japanese made suits are even nicer, on par with the Australian suits in terms of price and getting even cheaper as the yen falls.

I'm as patriotic as the next bloke, but I'm not prepared to pay a 100% premium for an inferior product just because it whistles Waltzing Matilda.

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Too true. And having worked for Fletcher Jones when 90% of it was still Australian made, I've seen the demise in skills first hand. There is no younger generation being taught tailoring, yet there are plenty of fashion designers that can sew creating "fashion" but could they put a canvas in to a coat? The answer is 99% no except for a few.

I still wish there were a few old Fletcher Jones tailors around that had started there own shows to at least make trousers, because there were some cracking flannels, cavalry twills and all sorts coming out in those days, which was really only 10 years ago. Problem is, they were all old factory workers and not entrepranuers, living in Warnambool and mostly retired by now. I'd really love to be able to carry Australian made stuff, but I just can't find it anymore.



Charlie's Wardrobe said:

Too true. And having worked for Fletcher Jones when 90% of it was still Australian made, I've seen the demise in skills first hand. There is no younger generation being taught tailoring, yet there are plenty of fashion designers that can sew creating "fashion" but could they put a canvas in to a coat? The answer is 99% no except for a few.

I still wish there were a few old Fletcher Jones tailors around that had started there own shows to at least make trousers, because there were some cracking flannels, cavalry twills and all sorts coming out in those days, which was really only 10 years ago. Problem is, they were all old factory workers and not entrepranuers, living in Warnambool and mostly retired by now. I'd really love to be able to carry Australian made stuff, but I just can't find it anymore.

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+1. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, my dad used to have some great flannel and mini-houndstooth check trousers made by Fletcher Jones.

I went in there about five years back to see if I could find anything similar and it was all very disappointing. Very dull, mediocre clothes that were all made overseas, and yet they were asking surprisingly high prices.

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Hey Jas; I just realised I ordered my bowtie from Henry Carter without making an account.... I can't seem to check order status etc.
(paid with paypal maybe that's why)

TehBunny said:

Hey Jas; I just realised I ordered my bowtie from Henry Carter without making an account.... I can't seem to check order status etc.
(paid with paypal maybe that's why)

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Bunny, there is a HC affiliate thread .