The Japanese Bespoke Tailoring Thread

[ZRH1]

I would recommend NOT choosing a high twist wool for nothing else than suits. I have sport coats in both Fresco and Spring Ram and I don't like them both, despite really appreciating their unitone equivalent for suits. I feel single sport coats are best done with a pattern/texture. At the moment I really like Cerutti Oxygen for a lighter choice and Harrisons Moonbeam for a warmer equivalent. Both travel very well.

 

[dialtone]

@ZRH1 Indeed, I would not wear an odd jacket in high twist wool. It's a bit too sharp. Most of the high twist bunches I've seen are clearly geared toward suiting, and the tendency toward solids and stripes reflects that.

The Fox Air bunch posted earlier in this thread has a number of checks, window panes, etc. That feels a bit more suitable for odd jackets, though I probably still wouldn't go for it. Too many other, superior options. Still, I can see why some would be interested.

I really like my 4-ply Finmeresco suit, of course.

 

[Destination_Arubin]

@ZRH1, that's a fair point and a lot of people would agree with you. Most high-twist wools are in solid colours in plain weaves, and can be challenging to wear as sport coats (especially non-navy). But patterned high-twist wools such as Fox Air (or discontinued Fox Journey) can work well as sport coats.

I’ve always admired Yamamoto-san of Tailor Caid for keeping quite a concentrated wardrobe, and I’ve seen him wear the below sport coat in many pictures. I think it’s a high-twist wool from the Fox Journey book. He almost always wears it with a white shirt and a black knit tie and always looks great.

I admit though, that I like my navy sport coat in a fine hopsack weave although many would think the fabric is too ‘suity’. I considered Bateman Ogden’s Apollo too. The spongy texture of Apollo gives the jacket a larger, puffier silhouette. Loosely woven hopsacks from some Italian mills give a similar impression.

Cerruti Oxygen is really nice, and I should really check out the collection in more detail. Harrison’s Moonbeam is great, and I hope to make something from that fabric at some point. Good to know those both travel well.

 

[ZRH1]

@ZRH1, that's a fair point and a lot of people would agree with you. Most high-twist wools are in solid colours in plain weaves, and can be challenging to wear as sport coats (especially non-navy). But patterned high-twist wools such as Fox Air (or discontinued Fox Journey) can work well as sport coats.

thank you @Destination_Arubin. Whilst I cannot argue for personal preference, I do want to add that I precisely included patterned high-twist wools as my recommendation to avoid. I think the sharpness of high-twist wools is most apparent, as you rightly say, in the plain versions, but there is something off for me in having a sharp, flat fabric, when there are countless WSL or the like, options for precisely this purpose. My claim is underlined by me NOT wearing the high-twist patterned single jackets and that is why I wanted others to avoid such waste.

 

[Destination_Arubin]

That's good advice for a lot of people. The patterns of high-twist wools are sharp, and while I think those are nice, it's hard to wear on consecutive days in a week as the pattern becomes the focus of the outfit. Especially in a larger madras check like the one I posted from Tailor Caid. A WSL like you suggested is likely to work for a larger variety of people.

 

[Ilkless]

Quarter-lined Sartoria Ypsilon jacket is my go-to for work travel. Easy to pack, feels like a blouson but shaped as heck. Not fully sold on the patch pockets but the shoulder line and collar are exceptional with no padding and only wadding on the sleevehead.

Will definitely be making more with him in future.

 

[Destination_Arubin]

I'm glad you like your jacket and it fits you well. Sartoria Ypsilon has roots from T&G Caraceni right? Was it an easy order process for you, and how long did it take?

 

[Ilkless]

I'm glad you like your jacket and it fits you well. Sartoria Ypsilon has roots from T&G Caraceni right? Was it an easy order process for you, and how long did it take?

Yes, T&G Caraceni, and before that Hawes and Curtis way back when they still had a full bespoke programme.

Housestyle is, in head cutter/owner Funabashi-san's words, very close to what he learned at T&G Caraceni back then, but perhaps slightly lighter and with no shoulder padding where possible.

But he's very versatile and can cut something closer to the more structured end of the spectrum, as seen in this stunning fitting sample he had lying around close to my size (forgot to take a photo before sleeves were ripped off), that has the Roman influence shine through in the lapel and gorge but otherwise very British.

I would be torn between a DB in his lighter make or an SB like ths fitting sample for my next commission.

That said, what he prides himself on is cutting an extremely precise unpadded shoulder with minimal extension, ending in a lightly-roped sleevehead.

Back to the jacket, I contacted them in February of my trip in end-May. Got measured 3 days in and they rushed a baste for me in a week. I wouldn't advice anyone to do what I did of course, if it can be helped. Jacket delivered end-September/early October.

Baste turned out excellent with the only thing needed being a touch more waist suppression, so Funabashi-san and I were happy to take it straight to finish. He has a few tiers of handwork at different prices; I picked his entry-level line as I'm not super fussed about handwork and I just wanted to see what he would cut for me. I see it as a long-term fitting sample for future commissions, and honestly I think it's a smashing return for something made straight to finish for an overseas first-time customer.

I should also note that Funabashi-san observed I had a very high natural waist and the buttoning point rolls with it -- a solid 1.25 inches above every other jacket I own! I thought it worked well in the end.

As for more details on the fitting process (including his work at trying to train a machine learning model to generate a pattern from 3D body scans as a basis for him to adjust further), I wrote about it here previously.

 

[llamaeatllama]

Thanks all for your responses to my questions earlier. Will be meeting Sartoria Raffaniello in late June.

How did it end up going? I'm visiting Japan next May, and was looking through this thread for inspiration. Only 2 weeks, so it seems like full bespoke is out of the question, but did the MTM work in your time frame?

 

[GaiusM]

How did it end up going? I'm visiting Japan next May, and was looking through this thread for inspiration. Only 2 weeks, so it seems like full bespoke is out of the question, but did the MTM work in your time frame?

This has been said before but once again:
Why rush a process that is not meant to be rushed? Japan has plenty of RTW to offer that will consume less time and money, the former being more important in this situation. Hit up Hankyu Men's and Ring Jacket in Ginza/Yurakucho and Isetan in Shinjuku, both neighborhoods you will most likely be visiting anyways, and save yourself the trouble.

 

[Ilkless]

This has been said before but once again:
Why rush a process that is not meant to be rushed? Japan has plenty of RTW to offer that will consume less time and money, the former being more important in this situation. Hit up Hankyu Men's and Ring Jacket in Ginza/Yurakucho and Isetan in Shinjuku, both neighborhoods you will most likely be visiting anyways, and save yourself the trouble.

TBF, Ring's mainline trousers don't have the best cut -- low rise and not flattering IME. They are at their best when there is design input from a tasteful experienced retailer.

But I agree with the general sentiment. A lot could have gone wrong with going straight to finish after 1 baste for me as well, and I only took the risk because I was (and am) enamoured with Caraceni and found no other way to access it without flying to Italy.

 

[KWang94]

How did it end up going? I'm visiting Japan next May, and was looking through this thread for inspiration. Only 2 weeks, so it seems like full bespoke is out of the question, but did the MTM work in your time frame?

Went well for me, I did a MTM jacket in gunclub tweed. Jacket ended up a tiny little bit short but I must say I was really impressed by how much shape there was for a jacket with so much drape in the chest and back.

 

[llamaeatllama]

This has been said before but once again:
Why rush a process that is not meant to be rushed? Japan has plenty of RTW to offer that will consume less time and money, the former being more important in this situation. Hit up Hankyu Men's and Ring Jacket in Ginza/Yurakucho and Isetan in Shinjuku, both neighborhoods you will most likely be visiting anyways, and save yourself the trouble.

I definitely agree with the sentiment, and plan to do some RTW shopping, but I’m concerned I’ll have a hard time finding things in my size as I am 6’4”. I appreciate the suggestions and I’ll make sure to check those out.

Another reason I was initially interested is because I’ve never had a tailoring experience, and thought that would be a great way to make my trip special, but I’m learning a lot from this thread and the forum in general that is making me reevaluate, and I think there’s going to be other great options.

 

[__k]

But patterned high-twist wools such as Fox Air (or discontinued Fox Journey) can work well as sport coats.

@Destination_Arubin - chiming in to affirm that you are not alone. I, too, own an odd jacket in a high-twist wool from the Fox Air/Journey bunch (although just MTM from Ring Jacket). Admittedly, I have regrets about this order, but I still wear the jacket on occasion.

Ring Jacket all but confirmed that I was incorrect for ordering this as a sport coat when they made it up as a suit in their RTW line the following year... I was looking to just buy the odd trousers RTW to complete the suit but they weren't willing to part the pants from the jacket.

 

[__k]

TBF, Ring's mainline trousers don't have the best cut -- low rise and not flattering IME. They are at their best when there is design input from a tasteful experienced retailer.

I agree that their RTW trousers are cut with the rise a bit too low - right below the natural waist. I've found that they do quite well with alternations on their RTW trousers and are always willing to accommodate iterative alternation requests, if the lower rise isn't a dealbreaker. They have a separate machine-made RTW trouser (their Napoli model) that has a higher rise and is much roomier in every dimension.