The Hong Kong Tailors Thread

[dolama]

Hi all.
I am going to relocate to Hong Kong in May and I will need to find good tailors for 2-3 suits and 5 shirts.
My budget is around 700-800 USD per suit, and 150-200 USD per shirt.
Where should I go to get the best value for my money?
No problem for me to visit two separate tailors for suits and shirts.
Time is not an issue.

Any suggestion is welcome!
Cheers.

 

[AdamWill]

look back through the thread and you'll see a lot of suggestions around those price ranges. Lee Baron, Dream Bespoke, etc etc. Of course you can go to any of the popular ones with base prices a little under your budget and get slightly nicer fabric. It's hard to give a definitive 'this is definitely the best one for you' recommendation as tailoring's very personal and it'll depend on whether you get along with the people, like their house style, like the fabrics they have available, etc etc etc. Your shirt budget might cover AC (Ascot Chang), who are the preferred high-end option in HK apparently.

 

[Pierre Marc]

For the David's Shirt I normally go to there location in the galleria building in Central on the first floor.

For Jantzen my bad experience was in shop and no delivery. I live in Shanghai but I travel in HK 2-3 times per month so I never rush the tailor always go during one trip than fitting in the next trip.

 

[add911_11]



Hahaha, we know you don't have the contact of the buttonhole lady.
I just wonder the buttonhole lady you talk to, is that the same lady who make the buttonhole for add911?
Or just some lady who do make buttonhole for other tailors and said if doing something like this will take at lease two hours?

Seriously I don't know the milanese buttonhole lady in Hong Kong. I have never met her in person but have seen and touched her work.

I am not sure whether Aacot Chan shirt are that good. Can someone show me their work?

 

[Fishball]



Seriously I don't know the milanese buttonhole lady in Hong Kong. I have never met her in person but have seen and touched her work.

I am not sure whether Aacot Chan shirt are that good. Can someone show me their work?

Add911, you live in HK, so why don't you go to AC shop to find it out?
I can say AC is the best Shirtmaker in HK for sure. And I think you can't find a Shirtmaker in HK will say they are better than AC. However, price is a totally difference thing.
Now I just order few shirts from AC, since no one in HK can make as AC do, other daily wear shirt I commissioned in other shop for almost 3 times cheaper.

 

[Wongtouski]



jantzen do suits too, but not very good ones, from the ones I saw while I was in there getting fitted for shirts...

I have a tux from them made for less than 4k. It's great cuz its dark and I always get drunk in it and not have to worry about ******* it up.

 

[AdamWill]

I have a tux from them made for less than 4k. It's great cuz its dark and I always get drunk in it and not have to worry about ******* it up.

haha, but if that's the only point, why not go to one of those $2k places?

the ones I saw people trying on while I was getting my shirts done looked like they fit terribly. did they get your fit right?

 

[Wongtouski]



haha, but if that's the only point, why not go to one of those $2k places?

the ones I saw people trying on while I was getting my shirts done looked like they fit terribly. did they get your fit right?

Mine actually fit pretty good, granted I got it like 3 years ago and they weren't as busy, I also went on the weekend so they had more time to make sure the fit was fine.

 

[add911_11]



Add911, you live in HK, so why don't you go to AC shop to find it out?
I can say AC is the best Shirtmaker in HK for sure. And I think you can't find a Shirtmaker in HK will say they are better than AC. However, price is a totally difference thing.
Now I just order few shirts from AC, since no one in HK can make as AC do, other daily wear shirt I commissioned in other shop for almost 3 times cheaper.

Put it that way, except they do canvassed collar and cuff (which I had in UK before and never liked it) and hand-attached sleeves, what's so good about them?

 

[Fishball]



Put it that way, except they do canvassed collar and cuff (which I had in UK before and never liked it) and hand-attached sleeves, what's so good about them?

Any hand work you need to pay extra, but they can do it.
The good thing is they can almost do anything by your request. No one do unfused collar as good as AC in HK. and their QC and customer service is the best in HK. I think that is all.

 

[Classic Car]



For the David's Shirt I normally go to there location in the galleria building in Central on the first floor.

For Jantzen my bad experience was in shop and no delivery. I live in Shanghai but I travel in HK 2-3 times per month so I never rush the tailor always go during one trip than fitting in the next trip.

What are the prices for David's Shirt? There are many David's Shirt in HK, do they have the same owner?

 

[dolama]

@AdamWill
Thanks for your reply, I will definitely try Ascot Chang for the shirts.
For the suits I might try first Empire Intl. Tailors and Simpson Sin Tailor, just because I read decent reviews and they are in my price range.
I guess that ordering at list one suit will be the only way to really understand how they work...

 

[BespokeKiwi]

I recently completed a 8-day trip (from 28 March to 6 April 2014) to HK, mainly for the purpose of refreshing my wardrobe with some new custom made ("bare essentials" only) garments following a period of sustained weight loss.

My sartorial shopping list included: (1) a small set of 2-button SB English cut blazers/trousers for my frequent smart casual/non-conservative business dress business use, (2) a couple of 2-button SB English cut suits for my infrequent conservative business dress use, and (3) a small set of dress and sports shirts.

My budget for the above items was ~HKD $40K (~USD $5K) however, I ended up spending nearly twice that. Alas, I couldn't resist the temptation to make the most of my sartorial sojourn in HK by commissioning more mix and match trousers and shirts, plus a couple for car coats made from a rather expensive Italian wool/cashmere blend fabric.

I intend to publish the results of my sartorial sojourn in HK in periodic instalments over the coming weeks/months, starting with the garments delivered while still in HK and finishing later on with the garments shipped to my home in Auckland, New Zealand.

I did study SF's "The Hong Kong Tailors Thread" and other related threads in detail and duly noted the criticisms about "Indian-HK" tailors and the top-tier HK tailor recommendations. However, I decided to stick with my existing Indian-HK tailor of nearly 30 years (i.e. Ash Samtani), owing to my hitherto long association as a satisfied client of the firm.

Hopefully, my loyalty to the Ash Samtani firm will not have been in vain. So far, so good.

However, in hindsight, I wish I had commissioned at least one of my new garments at one of the tier one HK tailors recommended by SF, as a basis for direct first hand comparison. I will certainly do so on my next trip to HK, which will be of a similar duration or even longer ideally. You see, despite being in HK for 8-days, the Ash Samtani firm was unable to complete my above initial commissions on time. However, I let it slide as I didn't want to pressure them unduly, as my commissions contained many bespoke details and I wanted to give them the time they needed to do their best work.

When I first became a client of Ash Samtani in 1987, the firm was very much a mid range HK tailor offering good quality garments at affordable prices. In short, a "good value" tailor from my then young military officer perspective. Fast forward to 2014, Ash Samtani has now repositioned itself "price wise" as a top-tier HK tailor -- albeit on the low end of the price ranges for tier one HK tailors that are already well known to readers of this thread -- and their prices nowadays reflect the firm's growing self confidence.

Presently, I do not have direct experience with the likes of WW Chan, A Man, Gordon Yao, H Baroman, Simpson Sin and other top-tier HK tailors favoured by this thread; so I will defer to the expert opinions of SF's seasoned members, regarding the success or otherwise of the Ash Samtani firm's efforts to reposition itself upmarket in terms of a quality garments and quality fit.

For the benefit of SF mail order buyers, I should mention that I did commission a bespoke/MTM sports jacket (i.e. 2-Button SB Navy Blue Neapolitan cut) from Ash Samtani six months earlier via mail order, with mixed results. While I was very happy with the quality of the jacket's fabric and custom workmanship on display, "the fit" and subsequent adjustments were proving problematic despite the firm's very best efforts via mail order. So, after the third unsuccessful attempt to achieve a good fit remotely via email photos and parcel post ping pong; I decided to travel to HK to allow Ash Samtani to do proper first-hand measurements and multiple fittings to ensure a good fit and to nail down my pattern.

More to follow...

 

[AdamWill]

@AdamWill
Thanks for your reply, I will definitely try Ascot Chang for the shirts.
For the suits I might try first Empire Intl. Tailors and Simpson Sin Tailor, just because I read decent reviews and they are in my price range.
I guess that ordering at list one suit will be the only way to really understand how they work...

That's basically it, yup. This kind of thread can help you improve your chances of a good experience and let you avoid places that are clearly not good choices, but in the end, your own personal 'best tailor' is something only you can determine.

 

[Classic Car]



@AdamWill
Thanks for your reply, I will definitely try Ascot Chang for the shirts.
For the suits I might try first Empire Intl. Tailors and Simpson Sin Tailor, just because I read decent reviews and they are in my price range.
I guess that ordering at list one suit will be the only way to really understand how they work...

As a local guy, I would recommend Simpson Sin more than Empire Intl.