Chinese tailors vs European tailors?

[Macan]

Even though I'm a tailor originally from Europe, I learned a lot of important tailoring skills from my chinese partners ( shifus).

And personally, I think Chinese tailors are very talented and many more are venturing to be tailors here. (well china is the home of fabrics now anyway)

So my question is, do you have any experience in custom clothes made by both European ( Englsih, Italian,etc) and Chinese ( Shanghai, HongKong) tailors or tailoring shops?

Can you see any difference, which one would you prefer? It just seemed interesting.

 

[twistoffat]

I do I´ve used both. My Tailor in Taipei at the Howard hotel is very talented but no more so than the European tailor. Without being unfair I´d say the chinese tailors are somewhat more limited in their choice of Fabrics in comparison to their European counterparts.

 

[RogerC]

I also feel there's a difference between Hong Kong and Mainland tailors in terms of their styling and cutting expertise. The Hong Kong tailors are part of a tradition going back to the days of the Empire and the roaring Shanghai of the '30s, and especially the extravagancies that could be found in the colonies. I feel that this gives them a broader idea of what style they are cutting and how it can make you look good.
In the mainland, the habit of wearing suits for business has been slowly trickling back, and there is not yet a lot of mindshare about what makes a well-fitting, well-cut suit, the language of colours and fabrics, etc. Hence, I always feel that cutters need much more guidance, and that they do pretty much the one thing they're taught, and caveat emptor to those who might want something special.
Workmanship, though, is similar (at least as long as you're not in touristy trappy places). It also may well be possible that the return of some Hong Kong tailors to the mainland (such as Chan) brings back some of the intangible expertise to the mainland. Oh, and fabrics on the mainland are more expensive, often inferior, and variety is often smaller.

 

[Maccimus]

Originally Posted by RogerC

Oh, and fabrics on the mainland are more expensive, often inferior, and variety is often smaller.
Most of mainland tailors sell fake fabrics.

 

[GBR]

I have used tailors in Saville Row, Hong Kong (Gordon Yao and Chan) and odd provincial UK one man bands.

My preference is for HK - not because of the overall quality (though it is very high) but because they have a greater willingness to achieve what I want in detailing etc. There is a a willingness to serve as opposed to merely be polite which characterises Saville Row in particular.

I could detail these at length but suffice to say that I prefer the pockets in my coat to be quite specific in size and place. Only Yao has willingly done this, others have grumbled and made poor attempts. There are other points on which he accommodates me on what is a bespoke service. - bespoke in my mind gives me the right to specify in detail what I am to receive. Gordon provides that and I am grateful and will remain loyal to him because of it.

 

[stylomilo]

Having used both, I would say that the Asian tailors require a great deal of direction & specific instructions to reach the same results as compared to the ones in Europe. Having said that, I also understand that there's a great number of Chinese (Asian) tailors working off the Row as finishers and in the garment trade in Italy

 

[Macan]

Thanks for your inputs. Very interesting.

 

[sartorial_marxist]

*paging for appropos

 

[Agatha Crusty]

It seems to me that Chinese tailors are still following a template set by European (specifically English) tailors, because that style is held in such high regard.
European tailoring has a lot of rich heritage knocking about in old places that have hung onto a lot of tradition and accumulated know-how which has managed to survive, even though it is rapidly dying out.

Personally I find British suiting cloths supreme, the climate and water resources (especially in Scotland) have allowed cloth production to reach an apex and English tailoring has benefited from this enormously over the centuries.

China has the edge on price though, and delivers easily enough quality to allow it to compete overall within the market for people who want bespoke but don't like to pay the added prestige cost Savile Row charges just for being situated on Savile Row.