The Ultimate Toronto Thread

[hysteria]

Does anyone have go-to locations that they trust to wash and press their dress shirts in Toronto? Dry cleaning for other items would be nice, but I'm trying to find a trustworthy location I can go just for my weekly shirt washing and pressing.

 

[suitforcourt]

Heartland just got some Isaia and Kiton jackets and suits... awesome fabrics and construction but the prices are quite high...

Price range?

 

[induere_to]

I just want to let you guys know, that as someone that works in the Toronto tailoring/retail/luxury industry, it is unfortunate--though inevitable--that I must disclose that I do work on commission. I'm a tailor's apprentice, and I do get paid for my work, but for each suit, I make an average of less than $150 just for doing some general hand-assembly. It doesn't matter if you pay $2,000 or $7,500 at Brenton, I will still only make less than $150. That's just honest, full disclosure on my behalf.

I'm good at replying to everyone's queries, and providing guidance on fabrics and construction and fit; all for which I am happy to do and do not charge people for. Unfortunately, I've missed out on four commission sales now because some guys that I'm in e-mail, PM, instagram DM dialogues with will walk into the shop without letting me know in advance and buy suits off sales representatives that have a different background and understanding of what bespoke tailoring is. Whether you walk into Brenton, Harry Rosen, or Holt Renfrew, it's generally good etiquette and practice that wherever you go, you make appointments or contact the sales rep or specialist that you have an on-going rapport with.

To clarify, I do what I do because I'm passionate about making clothing and care little for the monetary rewards. As I grow in the industry towards my trajectory, I keep taking pay cut after pay cut; when I was offered an apprenticeship initially, I wasn't offered a dollar for my time, but I worked hard to become skilled in my precision and was eventually offered compensation for the quality work that I do. I am honest, I am direct and I care more about delivering great product and service than I am about making my boss more money.

Without trying to step on any toes, I want to express that the product I sell is different than what the company sells and this is why it's not only important to book through me, but more beneficial to you. I make the garments and my passion for what my fingers can do and my attention to detail will surpass anything the company sells to just anyone that walks through the door. As an example, you may walk into Brenton and speak to a sales rep that quotes you $1400 for 2-piece suit after a tug-of-war of negotiating; but bending the budget to accommodate what you're willing to spend will jeopardize the work that goes into your suit.

My CMT cost for a suit through the company is $2,000 and that doesn't include fabric. But if you're passionate about clothing, and if you really care about the details of the clothes you drape over your body, then the differences between the suits that I sell versus the suits the company sells are night and day. I hand-pad my lapels, I do all the buttonholes by hand, I do all the top-stitching by hand, lining-felling by hand. I raise all the seams for stronger and more durable wear. These are all things that the sales reps at the company may not even know anything about and may refuse to up-sell because they're just chasing commission cheques and rent bills. When they offer you discounts, they're crossing off details from a good quality garment check list. You will still get a basted fitting, you'll still get a forward fitting and you'll still get a suit that fits you well... but your lapels will all be padded by blind-stitch machines, and your buttonholes will be done by machine (which is still technically bespoke)... but it takes away from the work that I am able to do to make your garment as superior as it can be.

 

[Spaghettimatt]

I just want to let you guys know, that as someone that works in the Toronto tailoring/retail/luxury industry, it is unfortunate--though inevitable--that I must disclose that I do work on commission. I'm a tailor's apprentice, and I do get paid for my work, but for each suit, I make an average of less than $150 just for doing some general hand-assembly. It doesn't matter if you pay $2,000 or $7,500 at Brenton, I will still only make less than $150. That's just honest, full disclosure on my behalf.

I'm good at replying to everyone's queries, and providing guidance on fabrics and construction and fit; all for which I am happy to do and do not charge people for. Unfortunately, I've missed out on four commission sales now because some guys that I'm in e-mail, PM, instagram DM dialogues with will walk into the shop without letting me know in advance and buy suits off sales representatives that have a different background and understanding of what bespoke tailoring is. Whether you walk into Brenton, Harry Rosen, or Holt Renfrew, it's generally good etiquette and practice that wherever you go, you make appointments or contact the sales rep or specialist that you have an on-going rapport with.

To clarify, I do what I do because I'm passionate about making clothing and care little for the monetary rewards. As I grow in the industry towards my trajectory, I keep taking pay cut after pay cut; when I was offered an apprenticeship initially, I wasn't offered a dollar for my time, but I worked hard to become skilled in my precision and was eventually offered compensation for the quality work that I do. I am honest, I am direct and I care more about delivering great product and service than I am about making my boss more money.

Without trying to step on any toes, I want to express that the product I sell is different than what the company sells and this is why it's not only important to book through me, but more beneficial to you. I make the garments and my passion for what my fingers can do and my attention to detail will surpass anything the company sells to just anyone that walks through the door. As an example, you may walk into Brenton and speak to a sales rep that quotes you $1400 for 2-piece suit after a tug-of-war of negotiating; but bending the budget to accommodate what you're willing to spend will jeopardize the work that goes into your suit.

My CMT cost for a suit through the company is $2,000 and that doesn't include fabric. But if you're passionate about clothing, and if you really care about the details of the clothes you drape over your body, then the differences between the suits that I sell versus the suits the company sells are night and day. I hand-pad my lapels, I do all the buttonholes by hand, I do all the top-stitching by hand, lining-felling by hand. I raise all the seams for stronger and more durable wear. These are all things that the sales reps at the company may not even know anything about and may refuse to up-sell because they're just chasing commission cheques and rent bills. When they offer you discounts, they're crossing off details from a good quality garment check list. You will still get a basted fitting, you'll still get a forward fitting and you'll still get a suit that fits you well... but your lapels will all be padded by blind-stitch machines, and your buttonholes will be done by machine (which is still technically bespoke)... but it takes away from the work that I am able to do to make your garment as superior as it can be.

Tim, as someone who has commissioned MTM garments from you (and hopes to do so again in the near future) and will probably be moving into bespoke in the coming years, is there a particular style you are developing/moving towards? Also, out of curiosity, does your current employer limit you to producing garments in the "house style" or do they give you free rein to make as you/your client pleases?

 

[othertravel]

Tim, as someone who has commissioned MTM garments from you (and hopes to do so again in the near future) and will probably be moving into bespoke in the coming years, is there a particular style you are developing/moving towards? Also, out of curiosity, does your current employer limit you to producing garments in the "house style" or do they give you free rein to make as you/your client pleases?

Last time I spoke to Ira at Brenton Bespoke (which was pre-pandemic) he mentioned their house style was similar to Huntsman/Dege.

 

[othertravel]

I just want to let you guys know, that as someone that works in the Toronto tailoring/retail/luxury industry, it is unfortunate--though inevitable--that I must disclose that I do work on commission. I'm a tailor's apprentice, and I do get paid for my work, but for each suit, I make an average of less than $150 just for doing some general hand-assembly. It doesn't matter if you pay $2,000 or $7,500 at Brenton, I will still only make less than $150. That's just honest, full disclosure on my behalf.

I'm good at replying to everyone's queries, and providing guidance on fabrics and construction and fit; all for which I am happy to do and do not charge people for. Unfortunately, I've missed out on four commission sales now because some guys that I'm in e-mail, PM, instagram DM dialogues with will walk into the shop without letting me know in advance and buy suits off sales representatives that have a different background and understanding of what bespoke tailoring is. Whether you walk into Brenton, Harry Rosen, or Holt Renfrew, it's generally good etiquette and practice that wherever you go, you make appointments or contact the sales rep or specialist that you have an on-going rapport with.

To clarify, I do what I do because I'm passionate about making clothing and care little for the monetary rewards. As I grow in the industry towards my trajectory, I keep taking pay cut after pay cut; when I was offered an apprenticeship initially, I wasn't offered a dollar for my time, but I worked hard to become skilled in my precision and was eventually offered compensation for the quality work that I do. I am honest, I am direct and I care more about delivering great product and service than I am about making my boss more money.

Without trying to step on any toes, I want to express that the product I sell is different than what the company sells and this is why it's not only important to book through me, but more beneficial to you. I make the garments and my passion for what my fingers can do and my attention to detail will surpass anything the company sells to just anyone that walks through the door. As an example, you may walk into Brenton and speak to a sales rep that quotes you $1400 for 2-piece suit after a tug-of-war of negotiating; but bending the budget to accommodate what you're willing to spend will jeopardize the work that goes into your suit.

My CMT cost for a suit through the company is $2,000 and that doesn't include fabric. But if you're passionate about clothing, and if you really care about the details of the clothes you drape over your body, then the differences between the suits that I sell versus the suits the company sells are night and day. I hand-pad my lapels, I do all the buttonholes by hand, I do all the top-stitching by hand, lining-felling by hand. I raise all the seams for stronger and more durable wear. These are all things that the sales reps at the company may not even know anything about and may refuse to up-sell because they're just chasing commission cheques and rent bills. When they offer you discounts, they're crossing off details from a good quality garment check list. You will still get a basted fitting, you'll still get a forward fitting and you'll still get a suit that fits you well... but your lapels will all be padded by blind-stitch machines, and your buttonholes will be done by machine (which is still technically bespoke)... but it takes away from the work that I am able to do to make your garment as superior as it can be.

$2K for bespoke? Wow.

 

[Spaghettimatt]

Last time I spoke to Ira at Brenton Bespoke (which was pre-pandemic) he mentioned their house style was similar to Huntsman/Dege.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of that style but everything I've seen Tim make tends to be soft with a lot of volume, which I much prefer.

 

[Jamesbond1]

$2K for bespoke? Wow.

Wow as expensive? Or wow as a great value? Fabric cost is additional

 

[induere_to]

Tim, as someone who has commissioned MTM garments from you (and hopes to do so again in the near future) and will probably be moving into bespoke in the coming years, is there a particular style you are developing/moving towards? Also, out of curiosity, does your current employer limit you to producing garments in the "house style" or do they give you free rein to make as you/your client pleases?

Throughout the years, Instagram has made everything intriguing to me, and I've grown naturally curious to study the methods of the different sartorial cultures from all corners of the world. One of my biggest clients brings me all of his Rubinacci/London House, Luciano and Rota (etc.) stuff to get tailored. It's pretty cool, because you can see which companies focus on quality and which companies definitely focus more on branding than on quality; but I'm mostly interested in seeing which different methods of assembly or pattern-making other companies use for their construction. We've had some Steed come through the door, some Huntsman and some Gieves. To examine their patterns and figure out how different cutters draft different patterns for different reasons is the biggest educational aspect of it all. When I was interviewed by Reza from Akeilä this past January he asked me a similar question, but we touched more on the topic of which field of the assembly process I'd choose to focus on... which, I concluded, was all of it. In a similar way, I'm not sure if I'll find myself driven to focus on just one style of tailoring until I've tried as many as I can. My current preferences still lean towards the casual and softer aesthetics of tailoring, but as I assemble jackets and attach sleeves to armholes, I learn to appreciate a good sleeve head finishing. We had brought on another apprentice that studied under Andrew Ramroop from Maurice Sedwell, he's no longer with the company but we still remain close friends and discuss tailoring methods all the time. As you meet different tailors you learn their different methods of doing the same things. Fortunately, I just happen to work somewhere where I get to experiment all these different techniques.

Last time I spoke to Ira at Brenton Bespoke (which was pre-pandemic) he mentioned their house style was similar to Huntsman/Dege.

Jesus. Yeah right. Regarding 'house style', that's exactly where it becomes more beneficial to you to book your consultations through me. I'm not going to throw around names like Huntsman or Dege or Rubinacci. That's the exact salesman behaviour I don't tolerate. There is no 'house cut' and I can guarantee no sales rep at the shop has ever even seen a Dege or Huntsman suit in person, or tell you what features make them unique from other houses. If you want a soft shoulder with a loose drape, we can do it. If you want heavy padding with no side body, we can do that too.

Keep in mind that $2,000 is a CMT cost. So, with fabric, it can surpass $3,000 easily. It's not a bad price point at all for bespoke. Goes to show that lower-than-expected is always too good to be true.

 

[KWang94]

Throughout the years, Instagram has made everything intriguing to me, and I've grown naturally curious to study the methods of the different sartorial cultures from all corners of the world. One of my biggest clients brings me all of his Rubinacci/London House, Luciano and Rota (etc.) stuff to get tailored. It's pretty cool, because you can see which companies focus on quality and which companies definitely focus more on branding than on quality; but I'm mostly interested in seeing which different methods of assembly or pattern-making other companies use for their construction. We've had some Steed come through the door, some Huntsman and some Gieves. To examine their patterns and figure out how different cutters draft different patterns for different reasons is the biggest educational aspect of it all. When I was interviewed by Reza from Akeilä this past January he asked me a similar question, but we touched more on the topic of which field of the assembly process I'd choose to focus on... which, I concluded, was all of it. In a similar way, I'm not sure if I'll find myself driven to focus on just one style of tailoring until I've tried as many as I can. My current preferences still lean towards the casual and softer aesthetics of tailoring, but as I assemble jackets and attach sleeves to armholes, I learn to appreciate a good sleeve head finishing. We had brought on another apprentice that studied under Andrew Ramroop from Maurice Sedwell, he's no longer with the company but we still remain close friends and discuss tailoring methods all the time. As you meet different tailors you learn their different methods of doing the same things. Fortunately, I just happen to work somewhere where I get to experiment all these different techniques.



Jesus. Yeah right. Regarding 'house style', that's exactly where it becomes more beneficial to you to book your consultations through me. I'm not going to throw around names like Huntsman or Dege or Rubinacci. That's the exact salesman behaviour I don't tolerate. There is no 'house cut' and I can guarantee no sales rep at the shop has ever even seen a Dege or Huntsman suit in person, or tell you what features make them unique from other houses. If you want a soft shoulder with a loose drape, we can do it. If you want heavy padding with no side body, we can do that too.

Keep in mind that $2,000 is a CMT cost. So, with fabric, it can surpass $3,000 easily. It's not a bad price point at all for bespoke. Goes to show that lower-than-expected is always too good to be true.

If there's one thing I think we all appreciate from you, is your honesty.

 

[othertravel]

Wow as expensive? Or wow as a great value? Fabric cost is additional

Great value!

 

[hysteria]

Does anyone have go-to locations that they trust to wash and press their dress shirts in Toronto? Dry cleaning for other items would be nice, but I'm trying to find a trustworthy location I can go just for my weekly shirt washing and pressing.

 

[WildeMan]

I go to Snow Cleaners at 3210 Yonge Street, north of Lawrence. They charge 4.80 (incl tax) for shirts on hangers.

They do shirts every day --- some cleaners don't --- so I can drop off and pick up the same day.

You don't say where you live, so perhaps that's not convenient. Harry Rosen staff recommend Del Monte Cleaners on the Queensway, but I haven't been there in years.

WM

 

[Jamesbond1]

Great value!

Indeed! Even a Tom Ford from the outlet for the same price is no comparison. TF is all machine work with the exception of one buttonhole! Here you get a suit that is handmade with the way you want it to fit!!

 

[stephentakesatrip]

I just want to let you guys know, that as someone that works in the Toronto tailoring/retail/luxury industry, it is unfortunate--though inevitable--that I must disclose that I do work on commission.
...

A bit disheartening to read, I appreciate the candour and wealth of information about your profession that you have shared. In Bespoke: Ripped & Smoothed, Richard Anderson noted that he took a pay cut to move from a retail job to apprenticing on Savile Row. So you are in outstanding company.