The Hong Kong BaoTou Tailors and Fabric Shops for CMT Thread

[PekingRoadHK]

@boot_owl,

The original design of your jacket is horsehide, that's why you picked horsehide.

I plan to have a new leather jacket made with cowhide later. The workmanship for cowhide costs less than horsehide , and I feel more comfort with cowhide. If you demand tough usage for long term, horsehide is better. For ordinary usage for long term, cowhide is good enough.

 

[nomad2]

Has anyone in Hong Kong been able to find Loro Piana jersey shirting fabric (similar to https://www.100hands.nl/collections/shirts/products/loro-piana-navy-jersey)? I have been asking a few tailors and fabric stores and many of them don't have jersey fabric.

 

[dygital]

Just went to artextile today and bought some Drapers 4ply and cotton (370g)

It was quite expensive, with the 4ply being around 1200 per yard and the cotton 600 something.

I also got some 370g irish linen from Samuel Chen for about 480 a yard.

Are there other clothes out there with better value aside from VBC that are reasonably easy to source in Hong Kong? I have bought from Acorn before but they don't offer anything heavy enough that I like.

Also, how do you guys differentiate between the gigantic amount of bunches for wool cloths? I want to try Zegna or Loro Piana but I heard that their lower end offerings are no good, but then, it is incredibly difficult to distinguish the lower end offerings and the higher end ones, not to mention the difficulty in knowing whether or not the price I'm paying is even a reasonable one.

ps. does anyone know what the going rate is for spring ram or finmeresco per yard roughly?

 

[PekingRoadHK]

@dygital

For suit fabrics, check Kwong Hing, Linking and Golden Circle. They offer British fabrics for low cost. Linking offers cotton fabric for suit for HK$200 something.

I won't buy Italian fabric for over HK$600/yard. Forget about low end of Zegna and Loro Piana, they don't last long. If you prefer Italian fabric, check VBC and drago between HK$400/yard and HK$600/yard, or Scabal (made in Italy), these are better.

 

[dygital]

@PekingRoadHK What would be a good place to get Zegna and Loro? I can't really differentiate between low end and their mid/high end offerings. Are there particular bunches, or weights to avoid?

What is an acceptable place to start for Zegna or Loro? (as in bunches or weights)

 

[dukenukem4ever]

@PekingRoadHK What would be a good place to get Zegna and Loro? I can't really differentiate between low end and their mid/high end offerings. Are there particular bunches, or weights to avoid?

What is an acceptable place to start for Zegna or Loro? (as in bunches or weights)

Avoid the super 130s loro (sold for about 600 per meter) like the plague! ?

Zegna I remember some place in TST , not a friendly place starting price around mid 900s but this was not the nice Zegna . 15mil was in the 1000s.

 

[Ziqianzhu]

I made my first MTM jacket jacket last month when I started the hobby of hunting fabrics. Now I am tempted to purchase a few fabrics for future CMTs. Do you recommend I buy them now and store them for future CMTs? Thanks,

 

[PekingRoadHK]

@Ziqianzhu

some people do that, especially tailor shops, and that depends on if you have good discount for your fabrics.

wool, cashmere, linen are always fine.

cotton , Oxidize!

 

[Ziqianzhu]

@Ziqianzhu

some people do that, especially tailor shops, and that depends on if you have good discount for your fabrics.

wool, cashmere, linen are always fine.

cotton , Oxidize!

Thanks, good to know not to stock cotton fabrics. I am just going to resume my fabrics hunting then!

 

[klp2332]

A jacket from a local Baotao here. It was my first commission, and I am 75-80% happy with it. There were some issues (e.g. shoulders, lower back curvature), but I appreciate the cutting and the fine handwork. The tailor was also very polite throughout and is an admirable man in that respect. I am confident we can improve for our next commission.

3 Roll 2. The fabric was from Zegna.

Happy to know your thoughts.

 

[dygital]

@klp2332 Looks like Wong SY? Looks good if a bit short. Can I ask why you chose Wong (if that's who it was)? I remember his price to be around 3.2K for an odd jacket? That would put the cost of a jacket with cloth uncomfortably close to a proper tailor shop.

Where did you get the zegna fabric?

 

[klp2332]

@dygital

Yes, indeed it is SY Wong.

To answer your other question, I like to try a number of different tailors in all price ranges.

As for fabric, I get it from Kristine, who is the sole proprietor of Bukle Fabrics in Latvia. In my experience, they have the best selection, as well as the best prices. I believe she sends a number of bunches every now and again to Hong Kong. Feel free to contact her:

✂️ Fashion Fabrics Shop ✂️ (@boucle_fabrics_shop) • Instagram photos and videos

www.instagram.com

 

[PekingRoadHK]

@klp2332,

My opinion, looking at the back, the length is a bit longer. Looking at the front, the length is just right. For lower back curvature, Wong can fix that easily.

Wong SY charges more than average BaoTou, because he is using a very high grade workshop in Shenzhen which charges more than average Shenzhen workshops. Wong has to add up the cost. This high grade workshop is also making suits for expensive tailor shops in HK.

What's the differences between this high grade workshop (larger size) and average workshops? Wong should explain to you why he picks this workshop, it's mainly the workmanship on the canvas. To compete with this high grade Shenzhen workshop, there are a few smaller size workshops in Shenzhen taking longer time to deliver comparable quality workmanship.

My opinion on how to pick the right BaoTou:
1) All BaoTou has different cutting and fitting. Some are more Italian cutting and some are more British cutting. This is your taste, which one best for you.
2) Some are more working into details and some are less. I pick "old HK" for their attitude for details.
3) The workshops behind BaoTou. BaoTou is the QC manager.

 

[yace]

@PekingRoadHK

Do they still use Shenzhen workshop now, since the border is not open?

 

[PekingRoadHK]

@yace

There are containers crossing borders globally everyday, including this COVID-19 time period.

This is how BaoTou work, they do the cutting and fitting in HK, they pass their work to logistics to go Shenzhen workshops and take back the finished products to HK BaoTou.

In normal days, some BaoTou go Shenzhen at night and come back HK the next day afternoon, some go in the weekend only. BaoTou can monitor Shenzhen productions during their Shenzhen time. Now, BaoTou in HK cannot go Shenzhen and they can only talk to their Shenzhen workers by wechat.