Good tailors in Victoria?

[masqueofhastur]

I get the impression that Vancouver's pretty stale, so since Victoria is just a hop, skip and a jump away, what is there to look for there?

 

[tattersall]

There is ... less.

There are some mtm options (often billed as 'bespoke') from the very ordinary to the better, but very expensive. What were you looking for? I think you'll find Victoria is a subset of Vancouver for most things.

 

[MichaelVH]

I live in Victoria but, have not used any of the local tailors.

By reputation, i'v heard Kane Straith does good work.

 

[CoryB]

I'm in Victoria too. I have never used local tailors for anything more than hemming.

I'm not aware of anyone who does true bespoke; I believe all the 'bespoke' is MTM. Kane Straith, British Importers, and Wilsons (I'm sure there are more) do MTM, but I believe they send the measurements out. Curt's Custom Tailoring on Fort does MTM, but I believe it is in-house.

The tailor at British Custom Tailoring sounded like he may have done true bespoke from the newspaper article, but he is retiring and one can't trust a reporter to know bespoke from MTM.

I may be able to report on Kane Straith with regard to shirt making. I'm still debating what my X-mas gift to myself will be: new boots, new jeans, or MTM shirt. Can anyone comment of Kane Straith's shirt quality?

 

[masqueofhastur]

I was more curious, don't really have the money now, but it's always good to do research beforehand.

 

[tattersall]

Kane is a terrific guy and his family has a long history in Victoria. His mtm is through Omega bespoke and he has access to most of the major cloth distributors. For shirting he has the regular Mason and Albini books but also the superb D&J Anderson line. Kane is also the only decent source for shoes - he brings in Alden and C&J through Sheppard's Direct trunk shows.

Curt's does not do in house - he uses a Montreal based mtm and it is pure crap.

British Custom is closing its doors and he too did mtm. I never took the plunge - he claimed to make "better than Oxxford" but nothing he had on display came even remotely close. Good alterations work, though.

British Importers and WJ Wilson do mtm with Royal shirts and Coppley for suits.

The Artful Needle on Fort St does high-end mtm which she calls 'bespoke' but it's not. She claims it is the same bespoke maker that Harry Rosen uses in Toronto. Full canvas, hand-sewn buttonholes but on the coat she made for me there were some serious problems. The flexibility was not there in terms of what I wanted with shoulder shape, gorge height and buttoning point. She limits herself to overly expensive Zegna cloth for which you pay through the nose.

 

[masqueofhastur]

So Kane is the only one that's really good?

 

[tattersall]

Kane's a great guy - I've not tried his mtm, though. It is from Omega which I believe is available in Vancouver too. You could pm Roger to confirm.

 

[masqueofhastur]

The only Omega I'm familiar with is the watch company.