The Hong Kong BaoTou Tailors and Fabric Shops for CMT Thread

[Warrant_Buffet]

this is the low season for tailor industry in HK, it means most tailor shops don't have much work. that includes baotou/tailors taking orders from government uniform business. baotou giving priority to tailor shops is not a big secret, but there is not much work in the industry from baotou telling me about the business for the moment.

the unfinished work is still in HK, it means it is made in HK, and the sifu of your baotou is on sick leave? you don't know the reason, you don't know how long you will be waiting. your baotou should give you a solution after 3months waiting. this is up to you.

if this is not low season, good baotou and good workshops are very busy, and 3/4months is quite extreme. this is the normal speed: 2/3/4 weeks from day 1 to delivery of end products.

I mean, I did ask him why, but he wouldn't say it ??‍♂️ From him going down with a disease to not giving a reason at all, I've asked for reasons and received plenty. I understand I need to get a real reason; it's just that I can't get a real one. ??‍♂️ And this is slowly becoming a matter of (dis)honesty

 

[Warrant_Buffet]

After incessant nagging, I finally got to try on the long awaited sport coat.
Lesson learned tldr: bespoke isn't quite bespoke sometimes.
(EDIT / DISCLAIMER: Refering to what @Petey said, despite the sarcasm and rather harsh comments here and there, I actually quite liked that jacket)
And if you don't mind a ramble, let's get right into it:
The try-on
I tried on the coat and immediately noticed a few things. Starting with the positives:
- The fit and silhouette felt just right
- The back was clean enough
- Shoulder roping? Check. Concave shoulders? Can be more so but check
- Relatively comfortable to lift my arms
As far as things Fung and his team could improve:
- Right shoulder. A bit of rippling along the seam
- Thought Fung said the shoulders could be done without padding. Turned out the coat is still more padded than what I usually get
- The shirring was *magically* gone. Too late to do anything about it now. Welp
- The supposed 2nd-fitting was also *magically* gone. Welp x 2

What's at work?
- Not every cutter understands what you're looking for. They are obviously not taught to cut every style of coat the world has to offer
- Look, just because a cutter knows exactly what you're looking for, it doesn't mean the makers are willing or able to follow
- Cutter-maker communication isn't always smooth. A cutter, for example, can simply ask the maker to sew so and so areas without giving concrete numbers. What that means is it's up to the makers to - you guessed it - guess
- Performance varies from fabric to fabric but hey, it's both the cutter and the makers job to take those things into account - except if they don't, forget or simply decide to slack

The conclusion
Even in a supposedly bespoke setting where you get into minute details of what you want made, you will likely just get a fraction of what's expected. Pics to follow next week hopefully

 

[Petey]

I hope its 80% of what you imagined it to be

 

[Warrant_Buffet]

I hope its 80% of what you imagined it to be

I would say so, despite my harsh comments. Still puzzled why he wouldn't tell me why it took 3 months for the coat to be made tho lol and he still hadn't explained why

 

[thesupremegrape]

After incessant nagging, I finally got to try on the long awaited sport coat.
Lesson learned tldr: bespoke isn't quite bespoke sometimes.
(EDIT / DISCLAIMER: Refering to what @Petey said, despite the sarcasm and rather harsh comments here and there, I actually quite liked that jacket)
And if you don't mind a ramble, let's get right into it:
The try-on
I tried on the coat and immediately noticed a few things. Starting with the positives:
- The fit and silhouette felt just right
- The back was clean enough
- Shoulder roping? Check. Concave shoulders? Can be more so but check
- Relatively comfortable to lift my arms
As far as things Fung and his team could improve:
- Right shoulder. A bit of rippling along the seam
- Thought Fung said the shoulders could be done without padding. Turned out the coat is still more padded than what I usually get
- The shirring was *magically* gone. Too late to do anything about it now. Welp
- The supposed 2nd-fitting was also *magically* gone. Welp x 2

What's at work?
- Not every cutter understands what you're looking for. They are obviously not taught to cut every style of coat the world has to offer
- Look, just because a cutter knows exactly what you're looking for, it doesn't mean the makers are willing or able to follow
- Cutter-maker communication isn't always smooth. A cutter, for example, can simply ask the maker to sew so and so areas without giving concrete numbers. What that means is it's up to the makers to - you guessed it - guess
- Performance varies from fabric to fabric but hey, it's both the cutter and the makers job to take those things into account - except if they don't, forget or simply decide to slack

The conclusion
Even in a supposedly bespoke setting where you get into minute details of what you want made, you will likely just get a fraction of what's expected. Pics to follow next week hopefully

Do you have any photos of the finished product?

 

[dukenukem4ever]

Cannot wait for HK to open its borders again.

 

[thesupremegrape]

Narrowed down my fabrics to navy cloth from: Dormeuil, Dugdale Bros., Holland and Sherry. Same super count and all twill worsted. How would you go deciding between the 3?

 

[dukenukem4ever]

By Price? Lol

 

[thesupremegrape]

By Price? Lol

All seems to be ballpark similar

 

[Petey]

Cannot wait for HK to open its borders again.

What would you like to do first when you can come to HK?

 

[dukenukem4ever]

First is going to be getting some wonton noodle! And then get fabric for CMT.

 

[Petey]

First is going to be getting some wonton noodle! And then get fabric for CMT.

Lol That's good. I love Wonton noodles with a side of veggies. Where will you be looking for fabric?

 

[Warrant_Buffet]

Finally picked up the jacket! Didn't get a good shot of it but you may be able to tell that the concave shoulders are - well, *very* subtle let's say.

Anyhow, the armholes are cut very high, which makes it super easy to life my arms and swing em. Love the fish-mouths too.

Jacket's long enough btw. I just gotta learn to take better selfies...

 

[thesupremegrape]

Finally picked up the jacket! Didn't get a good shot of it but you may be able to tell that the concave shoulders are - well, *very* subtle let's say.

Anyhow, the armholes are cut very high, which makes it super easy to life my arms and swing em. Love the fish-mouths too.

Jacket's long enough btw. I just gotta learn to take better selfies...

Not bad, but definitely wouldn't conside that a concave shoulder haha

 

[Warrant_Buffet]

Not bad, but definitely wouldn't conside that a concave shoulder haha

I suspect the wedding doesn't hold up well enough. And by “subtle” I was being sarcastic lol
Here's a closeup of the seam tho: