Hong Kong Tailoring Style: a guest series on ASW

[voxsartoria]

I thought it would be interesting to many of you that A Suitable Wardrobe has Jonathan Lai doing a guest series on Hong Kong tailoring. He'll cover Baromon, Chan and Yao.


- B

 

[kolecho]

I am looking forward to it.

 

[Watchaholic]

Thanks for the heads up, looking forward to it as well

 

[P-K-L]

At first I thought this was about ASmallWorld

 

[GBR]

Will be interesting.

 

[dragon8]

This will be nice.

 

[Parker]

I thought this was a pretty good general description of the Hong Kong style. I just don't know about the pocket I never knew I needed! What's that?!

"Baromon, Chan and Yao each have a marked silhouette and characteristic detailing but they share a similar genotype. Clean, close-fitting jackets with a touch of structure, closed quarters and a cupped skirt define the torso. Shoulders have a straight fall with moderate padding on a rounded contour that tapers to a narrow sleeve and trousers come straight with a bit of break as well as a pocket that you never knew you needed."

The first two reviews are up on Will's blog now.

 

[Redwoood]

I have to admit I'm enjoying this series quite a bit more than the average ASW post.

Which is meant as a compliment to Johnathan Lai, and not the other way around.

 

[zalb916]

A close friend of mine just had two suits made. One by Yao and the other by Chan. I just asked him today to compare the two. Here's what he said:

"I love the Yao suit - fits perfectly, love the cloth, looks great. I'm very happy with it. If I stare at it I can be convinced the lapels are too high but I've worn it to work three times in the last two weeks and want more like it in different colors. Very pleased.

I regret buying the Chan suit, which doesn't at all look "contemporary" it just looks like I put on a little boys' coat, and I regret the decision to wear it during the wedding, since all I notice in our pictures is how small it looks. The waist is about two inches too big and needs to be adjusted, which explains why it looked too long in the pictures you saw."

He has a reasonably public position, so I'm reluctant to post pictures of him without his permission. If he agrees, I'll do so. Needless to say, he clearly preferred Yao to Chan.

 

[kolecho]

It'll be great to see some comparison pictures, but I do agree that Chan cuts a more fitted coat from what I have seen from both houses.

 

[JLibourel]

Originally Posted by zbromer

"I regret buying the Chan suit, which doesn't at all look 'contemporary' it just looks like I put on a little boys' coat, and I regret the decision to wear it during the wedding, since all I notice in our pictures is how small it looks. The waist is about two inches too big and needs to be adjusted, which explains why it looked too long in the pictures you saw."

He has a reasonably public position, so I'm reluctant to post pictures of him without his permission. If he agrees, I'll do so. Needless to say, he clearly preferred Yao to Chan.

As someone who has purchased four suits and 16 odd jackets from Chan, that is certainly very contrary to my experience. I wonder what went wrong.

 

[dragon8]

Originally Posted by zbromer

A close friend of mine just had two suits made. One by Yao and the other by Chan. I just asked him today to compare the two. Here's what he said:

"I love the Yao suit - fits perfectly, love the cloth, looks great. I'm very happy with it. If I stare at it I can be convinced the lapels are too high but I've worn it to work three times in the last two weeks and want more like it in different colors. Very pleased.

I regret buying the Chan suit, which doesn't at all look "contemporary" it just looks like I put on a little boys' coat, and I regret the decision to wear it during the wedding, since all I notice in our pictures is how small it looks. The waist is about two inches too big and needs to be adjusted, which explains why it looked too long in the pictures you saw."

He has a reasonably public position, so I'm reluctant to post pictures of him without his permission. If he agrees, I'll do so. Needless to say, he clearly preferred Yao to Chan.

I agree. Yao's suits are very very nice and I also prefer Yao's to Chan's.

I've never encountered any problems with Chan's suits. I think they are top-notch and would recommend them w/o hesitation. But Yao's are a bit better than Chan's.

 

[TRINI]

Isn't the balance off in the Yao? Either that or they didn't cut it large enough across the ass.

 

[dragon8]

Originally Posted by JLibourel

As someone who has purchased four suits and 16 odd jackets from Chan, that is certainly very contrary to my experience. I wonder what went wrong.

It's possible that he had the suit made on tour w/o fittings.

 

[Svenn]

Originally Posted by TRINI

Isn't the balance off in the Yao? Either that or they didn't cut it large enough across the ass.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wbd-uMYmb_...Yao+-+Side.jpg

Seems to be the same problem I had with my Yao suit.