Arterton - Official Affiliate Thread: Signature Garment Bag, Yearn Shoemaker, Nakata Hanger, Clothes Doctor, Dismantlable Umbrella

[clee1982]

yea I can relate, I find most English brand fits narrower in toebox than I like... (or I just mean GG…)

 

[JFWR]

Nakata Hangers (Made In Japan)​

The "Rolls Royce" of garment hangers definitely goes to one specialist workshop in Japan who’s roots extend as early as the Taisho period: Nakata Hangers. All of their hangers are made by hand in a beautiful city within Hyogo prefecture.

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As of late, they are also the hangers of choice for The Armoury and WW Chan – those in Hong Kong and New York may pick them up there. However, we have now brought them into the UK to be made readily available. Delivery begins early March 2022. Find out more about the Nakata Hanger brand here.

About the Hangers (what's so special?)

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Since each hanger is made by hand, additional attention can be given to selecting materials (such as avoidance of knots, grain matching). The neck and shoulders are contoured by hand, which ensures that there are no unnecessary stresses on the garment around the collar or shoulders. They are also contoured in a way to open up the garment and encourage breathability.

The AUT-03 and AUT-05 both have a shoulder thickness of 570mm. And the felted trouser bars of the hangers feature a market-leading diameter of 1.5cm. These reduce the possibility of any unsightly fold-line.

Interestingly, there is also a trouser hanger – AUT-11 with a ‘Zig’ design, which creates a barrier-less opening on one side. These are designed in such a way for trousers to be easily hung or retrieved from the hanger, even when the hanger is in the closet.

Arterton by Nakata

Nakata also manufactures our Signature Hanger collection. Offered for shirting and suiting/jackets, these hangers are an aesthetic … They are stained, with a water-base formulation (which leaves their wood grain intact) in our signature ‘Dutch Estate Blue’ and ‘Cambridge Red’ colours.

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Pre-order now as quantities are limited.​

What does it mean to be "an aesthetic"?

 

[prof.contingency]

What does it mean to be "an aesthetic"?

@JFWR Thank you!

Oh, great catch, and thanks for picking up on it! It's good to know that people read these things thoroughly. I meant to say that "... they are an aesthetic addition to one's wardrobe". Of course, the word aesthetic is subjective. But the idea is that coat hangers need not have to be brown or brown... or brown. They can come stained in other colours with the original wood grain visible.

 

[Ranjeev]

I ordered a couple of things, including a pair of Yearn oxfords. Will report back when I receive the goods but service thus far was top notch.

 

[clee1982]

yup some relative sizing comment would be helpful too!

 

[prof.contingency]

Round 2 of the Great Arterton-Styleforum Giveaway begins tomorrow at 6 PM GMT (1 PM EST). We will be giving away 50x Travel Washes. The liquid-free formulation is handy in the hotel room and helps refresh your clothing when in a bind.

Use code 'CDTRAVELWASH'

Simply add Clothes Doctor Travel Wash and apply the code. Orders will be shipped for free to customers in the UK. And, whilst the giveaway is intended for UK audiences, we will allow for members outside the UK to partake in the giveaway, which will incur a subsided shipping rate (e.g. £1.50 to Europe, £2.50 to Asia, and North America). (Our apologies for this as recent shipping and custom trends have necessitated this).

One per customer and/or mailing address.

 

[prof.contingency]

Round Three of the Great Arterton-Styleforum begins today at 5 PM (GMT)​

Use code 'SUITCARE' to redeem the Clothes Doctor 50ml Eco Wash for Cashmere & Wool.

Orders will be shipped for free to customers in the UK. Subsided shipping rate (e.g. £1.50 to Europe, £2.50 to Asia, and North America). (Our apologies for this as recent shipping and custom trends have necessitated this).

 

[prof.contingency]

Our Signature Garment Bag spotted in the wild in London:

 

[Megakurth]

I wanted to share my thoughts and review of my Arterton Signature Garment bag in Navy with the Saddlery Brown Modular Travel handle.

*for full disclosure, William/ @prof.contingency reached out to me before the Thanksgiving Holiday asking if I was interested in giving the garment bag a try as I had previously shared thoughts and feedback regarding some other bags on the market and my individual needs. We shared some dialogue and he provided me with a voucher that covered the garment bag and shipping. I chose to purchase the handle on my own and as an additional courtesy, received upgraded shipping. The voucher was not contingent on a review.

That said, prior to the pandemic I’d have to travel on a semi-regular basis, on average with 1-2 suits and 2-3 shirts at a time. I started with a zip up poly Suitsupply bag that came with a previous purchase. While it did the job, I looked for a more protective solution. I tried one of those Vocier carryons (which was supposed to “roll” the garment around the interior of the suitcase, wrinkle free) which to be frank did nothing more than crush my suits, requiring a re-press (not to mention the “German engineered” zipper that popped during a quick flight). Most recently I settled on an Amazon suit bag which was relatively cheap and functional but on occasion, I would find the hangers would slip out during travel and my garments “balled up” for lack of a better term.

I shared my thoughts on the garment bag market on a number threads when I was looking for something in cotton to store my garments in for protection during the continuation of the pandemic. I had trouble justifying some of the more expensive bags on the market for what I saw as nothing more than some “protective cotton”. For that purpose I settled on some cheap cotton zip up bags from the Container Store.

When William reached out to me, I appreciated the consideration and gesture, shared my needs, and initial feedback based on observation which mostly dealt with my thoughts on the market.

The bag arrived a bit wrinkled (really doesn’t matter) but nicely packaged with a handwritten note.

A few initial observations:

1. The color is darker than the photos (an observation rather than a complaint)

2. It’s quite a bit thicker than I expected and definitely has some “heft” (not a bad thing, wasn’t completely sure what to expect)

The bag itself seems well-made from the cotton to the leather and hardware. One thing to note that is apparent in the photos is that the bag leather and hardware (lighter brown with bright gold/brass) does not match modular handle leather and hardware color (darker brown with antiqued hardware) but just an observation.

I did throw a jacket (KA travel hanger) and two shirts on separate hangers to give the handle a test run and everything came out wrinkle free.
Overall, I am very pleased with the bag and handle. As COVID-19 continues to put a damper on business travel, i’m not sure when I’ll put it to full use, but for the time being it will serve to keep things in pristine condition in the closet. Functionally, my only hesitation is that the bag is extremely nice and I’d hate to get it dirty/beat up by schlepping it around and may utilize it more for local travel, by car, etc.

I thank William again and wish him and his company a great success and look forward to purchasing from him again.

Happy to answer any questions and provide additional thoughts.

 

[prof.contingency]

@Megakurth Thanks so much for writing up that review and sharing your honest thoughts with the community!

It hit some of the key points that, I think, people would be interested in hearing about. I am also glad that you like the bag and I hope it serves you well in your closet and business trips for a long, long time!

 

[clee1982]

so open bag on the side make things slide in easier vs. traditional center zip only bag? you guys probably want to demo a video on that to demonstrate a point

 

[prof.contingency]

so open bag on the side make things slide in easier vs. traditional center zip only bag? you guys probably want to demo a video on that to demonstrate a point

Another great idea @clee1982! I shall jot that down and try to have a comparison video done sometime.

Yes, a double-zip opening, which is offset to one side, makes it much easier to insert and retrieve garments -- a point that we try to occasionally get across. Try putting a larger coat through a single zip opening and you will see what I mean. Even a runner that is placed diagonally would make no difference. What matters is the size of the opening, which can be achieved only with double zips.

We also find that the double-zip opening allows one to see what's inside the bag (of course, each bag can also be colour coded). Open the bag slightly and one can see inside the gap

In our opinion, a transparent PVC window, which is common on some of the bags that one gets for free, rarely allows one to see inside the bag. As a matter of physics, there just isn't enough light that enters the bag and then reflects back out to the user's eyes, even in lit closets. We also wanted to avoid plastic PVC because they will inevitably degrade over time, as to release odours and, god-forbid, start yellowing nearby fabrics.

 

[Colrais]

For Yearn, would you still recommend a half-size up for feet with a more typically asian profile? I can speak to being narrower in the heel, wider in the forefoot, a lower instep. I've not tried CJ/EG. My usual references are Carmina Inca and Rain in the 7.5UK.

I believe Justin Fitzpatrick took his usual size in UK.

The bags look fantastically well-thought through, both for personal use and as gifts.

 

[prof.contingency]

For Yearn, would you still recommend a half-size up for feet with a more typically asian profile? I can speak to being narrower in the heel, wider in the forefoot, a lower instep. I've not tried CJ/EG. My usual references are Carmina Inca and Rain in the 7.5UK.

I believe Justin Fitzpatrick took his usual size in UK.

The bags look fantastically well-thought through, both for personal use and as gifts.

@Colrais Thanks for the compliments about the bag; much appreciated. The feedback has been fantastic from all our channels so far.

Regarding your question about the Yearn shoes. Whilst the length of East Asian feet are generally shorter, they are actually wider (in that they have more girth) than Caucasian feet. In other words, Caucasian feet tend to be more narrow than an East Asian feet of the same length.

Yes, for this very moment, we would still recommend sizing up. But, when in doubt, I would also recommend dropping our advisors an email anytime to discuss sizing on an individual basis. Carmina is great. I am somewhat familiar with the Rain last. It's pretty standard and well-balanced, whereas the Yearn lasts are designed to be generally a bit more narrow in the aim of some elegance. However, I don't think that this is done to the extent of an ill-fitting shape, and hence, I don't think one needs to adjust their size. To do so, would certainly run the risk of achieving shoes of the wrong length. Just go aong and appreciate the more elegant silhouette.

Word to the wise: at the moment, Yearn and Arterton have been working on adjusting how we "translate" some of Yearn's internal sizing and we are trying to standardise it across all the outlets. (Funnily enough, since you mention it, Justin Fitzpatrick has been kind enough to consult with Yearn and offer his expertise.) The objective is that we will ultimately get a simple system that is true to size with UK sizing. This will be implemented in the near future (at the end of this week) and our website/this thread will be updated accordingly. But, just to confirm, we aren't actually changing the physical shape of any of the lasts/sizes (and all current pre-orders will get the UK size that is right for their feet).

Dec 8 Edit: Yearn shoes now fit true to size. Please take your usual UK size.

Nonetheless, if you place an order now for 8 UK, we will assume that you want shoes for size 7.5 UK. By the way, as a matter of unpublished, soft policy, we offer free return postage for exchanges (worldwide) until the end of February.

 

[prof.contingency]

The FINAL round of The Great Arterton Styleforum Giveaway begins today at 6 PM (GMT + 0) (1 PM EST)!

Use code 'FREEGIFT' to redeem the Clothes Doctor Travel Wash​

Orders will be shipped for free to customers in the UK. Subsided shipping rate (e.g. £1.50 to Europe, £2.50 to Asia, and North America). (Our apologies for this as recent shipping and custom trends have necessitated this).

Thank you to everyone that took part. It's been a pleasure!