The Hong Kong BaoTou Tailors and Fabric Shops for CMT Thread

[Free Style]

You managed to cherry pick a tailor shop without mentioning which one and how much you paid for that? You want to be transparent? Then put a name and a price on what you show.

I am extra transparent: the Milanese button hole below is on a jacket from Wong SY sifu. Can you explain why is so different from “Case 3” in #1,805? Same sifu, same craftsmanship and execution.. or not?

View attachment 1876660

This shows that one cannot rely your examples and pictures: let’s say I see case 3 in #1,805 and I am satisfied about the quality. So I go to that sifu and the result is what you see in my picture above. Would you be happy?

Just want to give an update on this: Wong helped to send back the jacket and get the buttonhole execution improved. I am happy with the final result vs the first execution.

 

[Warrant_Buffet]

Just want to give an update on this: Wong helped to send back the jacket and get the buttonhole execution improved. I am happy with the final result vs the first execution. View attachment 1974711

Glad to see 文君洋服 , the factory behind the suit, did this for you👍🏼

If possible, see if you are able to check the inside of the jacket. Lapels especially. Some factories use skin fusing to make the front look cleaner

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Side note: did some research on CMT (via Alibaba, across provinces / districts including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Shandong, Qingdao) and found that
- Some offer fully-handmade jackets (sleeve attachment, buttonholes, lapel and collar stitching) usually costs over 400usd each, CMT. Compare that with sifu rates;
- Machine-made full canvas options at about 150-240; handmade features are add-on premiums. Rates are more like what sifus charge, but they supposedly earn from our commissions too...

Now you might know better how much craftsmanship goes into your sifu jacket.

It might be worth it to find out whether the garments are sent to OEM factories or small-scale workshops and whether you can truly manipulate all the details and indicate if you want handmade work instead of machine-stitched counterparts. And at the end of the day, it all goes back to the impossible trinity of price, quality and consistency/efficiency...

I've attached a pic for those who read Chinese

 

[PekingRoadHK]

Just want to give an update on this: Wong helped to send back the jacket and get the buttonhole execution improved. I am happy with the final result vs the first execution. View attachment 1974711

Wong SY sifu replied me, your jacket was made when his Milanese Buttonhole sifu was infected of COVID-19, his factory has to outsource the Milanese Buttonhole job to someone else in Shenzhen in that period. That's what happened.

When talking about China factories and HK baotou, HK baotou is the QC and standard contoller. Without HK baotou, China factories always make things with China QC and China standard for mainland China internal consumption. With HK baotou, QC and standard are made for export consumers. This is about "made in China" for many products in different price level, e.g. garments and electronics, there are at least 2 standards for manufacturing:
1) mainland China internal consumer market
2) export markets (including HK)

China manufacturers are always cutting cost for products for mainland China internal consumption, they need to make better products to comply with local standard of the export countries. HK baotou are the QC and standard controller for local HK consumers.

This is not a secret, this is "made in China" character:
The same "made in China" products bought in mainland China have different manufacturing standard than bought in overseas export markets (including HK). This is the character of "made in China" . This is not limited to garments and electronics. Tailor made suits made by China factories have different standard for locals and exports. When individual consumers deal with China factories directly, they are usually considered as locals.

I talked to a few sifu in Mirador Mansion. They said the same, over 90% tailor made suits sold to HK consumers are made in mainland China, less than 10% are made in HK. There are local workshops for WX chxn, tailor shops in IFC, etc. Tailor made suits are made in HK, not in mainland China. There are retired sifu used to work for these local workshops, they are now working at home, going to Mirador to pick up orders from Mirador baotou everyweek. This is happening for decades. Another example is my leather jackets made in HK instead of made in mainland China, I can always witness how my sifu made my garment in his HK home. People from China factories are naive, they want consumers to think everything must be made in mainland China, it can't be true.

Why not we go factories in mainland China or local HK workshops directly instead of going tailor shops / baotou? Yes, if we can manage the factory well, and talk to the in-house sifu in the factory. There could be more than 3 sifu making the same suit in different production procedures at different time period in the same China factory, and I can't talk to all 3 different sifu for each procedures. Tailor shops / baotou has a position of QC and standard controller.

 

[PekingRoadHK]

Just got 3 short sleeve shirts for the summer. They are Egyptian cotton from RK Textiles. The quaility of Egyptian cotton from RK is a bit better than from Nita Fashions. I showed the fabric bill to the baotou, the baotou explained, it's Indian cotton. Real Egyptian cotton is 10 times the price.

HK$170 (fabric cost) + HK$130 (workmanship, made in HK) = HK$300 / tailor made shirt.
I witnessed the sifu making my shirts in their Mirador workshop, it's real made in HK. Just ordinary shirts, nothing too fancy.

shirt..jpg

• PekingRoadHK
• Jun 19, 2023
• mirador baotou tailor shirt baotou tailor

3 short sleeve shirts for the summer

 

[jyu1415]

Where is the best place to find VBC s110 Perennial? I have recently emailed LWH and was quoted HKD 500/M. Is this is current market price or should I shop around?

 

[PekingRoadHK]

@jyu1415

I have been purchasing discount fabrics of British brands from online shops and vintage fabrics from local shops. I haven’t shopped for VBC for years.

Forget about LWH. I heard many local shops are offering VBC 110/120 for around HK$300+/yard.

 

[jyu1415]

Thank you for the reply. I have already narrowed my options to VBC navy/charcoal stripes. Do you mind pointing me to some local shops that will be on the friendlier side?

 

[PekingRoadHK]

@jyu1415

LWH has more choice of pattern from VBC.

Kwong Hing and Samuel Chen have limited choice of pattern from VBC. Both are customer friendly.

 

[PekingRoadHK]

Between May and August is low season, good sifu are still busy all time. I asked Ng sifu to check the fitting of my leather jacket last week, Tang sifu will have my new leather jacket ready soon.

I asked Ng sifu to show how he makes suits with full canvas, he posted these photos in his IG. He explained, all good sifu have been doing the same things in HK, not limited to Mirador sifu. Most tailors use China canvas, and very few use British canvas. This is the standard of full canvas suit: a full canvas suit is a suit with full canvas. We can see the canvas is placed from top to bottom, this is full canvas:

In some cases, fabrics are too thin or too weak to hold the inner pockets. When we put too many things in the inner pockets, pockets overloaded, fabric tears, the suit won't last long. That's why sifu places a fuse layer, that will make the fabric stronger to hold things, ie. to make suits lasting longer. This is an example of a full canvas suit with a fuse layer:

In some cases, fabrics are thick or strong enough to hold the inner pockets. Sifu does not need to place a fuse layer. This is an example of a full canvas suit without fuse layer:

Examples of British canvas and Italian fused layer can be seen at #1,877 of this thread. Example of China canvas can be seen at #1,626 of this thread.

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After the tailor made the measurement in HK, he has to draw on the fabric before he cuts the fabric. The same tailor made the measurement, he sees the body of the real person, he cuts the fabric, he takes care of fitting. All work done by the same tailor, that will make better fitting in the end product. This is to see the tailor cutting skill. The rest will be finished by HK/China workshops. The same tailor can take over the workshop and finish all works by himself in HK, this kind of tailor is more skillful. It means this kind of baotou can manage everything.

Not all baotou tailors in HK do all the works. Some outsource everything to HK/China workshops, they take care of measurement and fitting in HK, they don't cut the fabric. It means this kind of baotou is relying on the HK/China workshops.

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About 95% tailor made suits we purchased in HK are made in mainland China, ie. cutting and fitting in HK, the rest finished by China workshops.

About 5% tailor made suits we purchased in HK are made in HK, they mainly are top brand bespoke with HK workshops, ie. cutting and fitting in HK, the rest finished by HK workshops. There are retired in-house tailors from these top brand bespoke in HK, they now work in Mirador as baotou tailors to make suits, or they work in Mirador taking suit alteration jobs, or they work at home taking outsource order from Mirador baotou. It means we can order Mirador sifu to make suits (made in HK), ie. by retired in-house tailors from top brand bespoke.

Can we by-pass tailor shops or HK baotou and go direct to China workshops?

Yes, if we can manage and communicate well with the sifu in workshops. There could be a few different sifu working in different process, they might speak different Chinese languages of their home towns. They have different China standards of tailoring, different from HK standard. We must have good knowledge to manage China sifu to do things with HK standard. I tried before, the China sifu made things of China standards to HK walk-in customers, the whole things had to recut again for HK standard. The most confusing part is different China sifu have different definitions of full canvas. They have different production standard for mainland China market and export market (including HK). When we deal with China factories directly as a walk-in customer, we might be considered as customers for mainland China market. This is the character and problem of "made in China", not limit to garment manufacturing, it applies to many different industries of manufacturing.

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What's the future? OpenAI 7.0? to manage AI factory and take orders.

We need AI tailoring, there must be 3D measurement in HK or customer locations. The AI tailoring factory from anywhere around the globe must be hi-tech enough to take over all skillful tailors to take care of cutting, fitting, and making suits. The AI system must be able to understand the character of different fabrics and the character of different customer bodies, to make the best fitting for each customer. We make orders and communicate with AI tailors. When time comes, all traditional baotou and tailors are gone, tailors enter the new era, they manage their own AI tailor workshops with their new AI equipments, e.g. OpenAI 7.0? to manage AI factory and take orders. Robot arms will do the cutting in the AI factory.

The same theory applies to all tailor made things, not limited to garments.
Jewelry designed and tailor made by AI system, watches designed and tailor made by AI system, cell phones designed and tailor made by AI system, eye glasses designed and tailor made by AI system, etc. I want AI tailor made furniture and electronic appliances to fit my home.

You live in a small town, it takes long hours traveling to big cities to order things, measurement and fittings. You are a busy man, you don't have time to do things in day time, you want to take care of your personal things at 4am. The future AI system will solve problems, working 24 X 7 from around the globe.

 

[PekingRoadHK]

I make a correction to the above #1,914.
This one is no canvas and without fused layer:

full canvas without fused.jpg

• PekingRoadHK
• Aug 5, 2023
• hong kong baotou tailors mirador baotou tailor

full canvas without fused

Ng sifu explained to me, all good baotou tailors in HK are doing the same things. Full canvas suits and no canvas suits are made with or without fused layer, depending on situations explained in #1,914.

 

[alex20000]

I hope to get a couple more suits made with Ng Sifu. Hopefully next year.

Appreciate the enormous amount of information & knowledge you provide PekingRoadHK.

 

[PocketJack]

Somehow I need to renew my wardrobe after COVID.
Fabric: Is Golden Circle at 寶勒巷? If yes, I will visit them during weekend. Except Golden Circle, any fabric sellers have full range or discounted Scabal Eton and Londoner?
Cutting: My tailor Yeung Cifu retired and I am looking for a tailor. Seems Ng Sifu is very reputable. Is there anything I should be cautioned?

Thank you Ching

 

[PekingRoadHK]

@PocketJack

1) Fabric:
for discount British brand name fabrics (limited choice, not full range),
local shop: Golden Circle at Prat Ave.
online shop: Harrisons Burley

for British brand name fabrics at regular price (full range),
local shops: Golden Circle, Linking, K.C. Lee, etc.

2) Cutting:
Yeung sifu is retired, he might take order from his old customers sometime when he can work at home.
Both Yeung sifu and Ng sifu are more for traditinal cutting. Wong SY sifu is more for Italian cutting.

香港 來料加工 訂造西裝 CMT suit Hong Kong

香港 來料加工 訂造西裝 CMT suit Hong Kong, 省錢找包頭(裁縫)來料加工訂造西裝 CMT suit HK, Tailors (BaoTou) in Mirador for CMT suit HK.

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省錢找包頭(裁縫)來料加工訂造西裝 CMT suit @ PekingRoadHK :: 痞客邦 ::

省錢找包頭(裁縫)來料加工訂造西裝 CMT suit Tailors (BaoTou) in Mirador for CMT suit 好多香港裁縫、 包頭、 疋頭行! Many tailors,

pekingroadhk.pixnet.net

 

[ksl0588]

Just got 3 short sleeve shirts for the summer. They are Egyptian cotton from RK Textiles. The quaility of Egyptian cotton from RK is a bit better than from Nita Fashions. I showed the fabric bill to the baotou, the baotou explained, it's Indian cotton. Real Egyptian cotton is 10 times the price.

HK$170 (fabric cost) + HK$130 (workmanship, made in HK) = HK$300 / tailor made shirt.
I witnessed the sifu making my shirts in their Mirador workshop, it's real made in HK. Just ordinary shirts, nothing too fancy.

shirt..jpg

• PekingRoadHK
• Jun 19, 2023
• mirador baotou tailor shirt baotou tailor

3 short sleeve shirts for the summer

Hi, may I ask where you had these shirts made? I am visiting hong kong and planning to have some reasonably priced short sleeve shirts made. Thank you!

 

[PekingRoadHK]

@ksl0588,

Mirador Mansion in TST is the center of baotou for suit and baotou for shirt. They are all making suits and shirts for tailor shops in HK. My blog tells a few only, there are a lot more.

There are too many baotou for shirt, they explained to me there are 2 grades of workmanship:
1) HK$300+/pc.
2) between HK$130/pc and HK$200/pc.

For between HK$130/pc and HK$200/pc, they are all about the same grade. By looking at the workmanship and details, I don't see much difference for those between HK$130/pc and HK$150/pc. In this same grade, picking the right fabric shows more differences.

It usually takes about a week to make a shirt, or not more than 10 days. This is the usual practice for me, I pick one baotou to make one shirt, if everything is fine, I order more. If I don't like it for whatever reason, I go another baotou. There are small differences for cutting. My suggestion is to pick whoever you prefer from the same grade baotou, you might try a few to see which one suit you most.

I see the quality of HK$130/pc is acceptable, therefore, I don't need to order HK$300+/pc.

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#1,918
For British brand name suit fabrics at regular price (full range),
local shops: Golden Circle, Linking, K.C. Lee, Samuel Chen, Kwong Hing, etc.