Australian Members

Originally Posted by meister

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Ditto I have some a mate gave me and it is great stuff.

Definitely in for Saphir some cream and waxes if this goes ahead.

On the travellers apparrel question: its worth stopping by their collingwood store if you have a chance. Last time I went there the lady there offered me $600 for one of their suits which includes any alterations. Verdict; decently cut suits, all fused, materials vary, but overall good value for people starting out in their careers. Ask for a deal if you are buying more than 1 suit. Im sure you will get it (considering you don't act like a douche or a sucker)

As far as I know they do Goodwin Charlie, Farage, Saba, CR and Calibre suits. Not Herringbone as those are made in China.

Originally Posted by fxh

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Whats the big cost with Saphir?? Postage? How much does it cost? I've got some friends who live in France and come back and forth - should I be getting them to bring in jars in their hand luggage and then I could sell it to wriggly and meister for a big profit?
Shipping is certainly not cheap. I did a group buy for myself and a few friends and we paid about 10 Euro each in shipping costs from France, or about 50 Euro in total. For that money, we each got several tins of polish and several jars of cream per person. Obviously, the cream adds a fair bit of weight, given that it comes in glass jars. The list price for a jar of Saphir Medaille d'Or polish from Valmour was 4 Euros (after VAT was subtracted), but given the "degressive" nature of their pricing system (the more you order, the less you pay for each item), we paid 3.30 Euro each (after VAT was subtracted). The same with the cream - the list price was a bit over 8 Euro per jar, but we paid 7.30 Euro per jar. Another reason to order from Valmour is that they also stock flat, waxed shoelaces, which are excellent and are highly recommended.

Ought some body take Tony Jones aside and have a chat with him about how he dresses?

^ Typical tent you see on TV presenters a lot these days. Traveller's Apparell outfitted Don Lane back in his Don Lane Show days. Some useless trivia there for you all

I'd like some Saphir waxes and whatnot too, count me in.

Ok - Plal has very little stock in handgrades (i.e. not the ones I want or the second or third options I had in mind)

Either does Pediwear.

Herring shoes doesn't sell C&J.

Any other sites I could pick up a pair from?

Originally Posted by Journeyman

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Shipping is certainly not cheap.
I did a group buy for myself and a few friends and we paid about 10 Euro each in shipping costs from France, or about 50 Euro in total. For that money, we each got several tins of polish and several jars of cream per person. Obviously, the cream adds a fair bit of weight, given that it comes in glass jars.

The list price for a jar of Saphir Medaille d'Or polish from Valmour was 4 Euros (after VAT was subtracted), but given the "degressive" nature of their pricing system (the more you order, the less you pay for each item), we paid 3.30 Euro each (after VAT was subtracted). The same with the cream - the list price was a bit over 8 Euro per jar, but we paid 7.30 Euro per jar.

Another reason to order from Valmour is that they also stock flat, waxed shoelaces, which are excellent and are highly recommended.


Are Saphir stuff really that much better than say the Grison stuff you can buy locally to justify the shipping and all the hassle?

Originally Posted by appolyon

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Ok - Plal has very little stock in handgrades (i.e. not the ones I want or the second or third options I had in mind) Either does Pediwear. Herring shoes doesn't sell C&J. Any other sites I could pick up a pair from?
Bodiliey's?

Originally Posted by tobiasj

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If I can interject with a quick Q: anyone know anything about 'Brando' shoes (allegedly they are made in Italy)? Would an SF member be seen dead in them?
Mostly bonded-sole, cheaper Italian shoes.... sold at ridiculous markups at department stores, presumably with the high prices justified because they are "Made in Italy"...

Avoid.

Originally Posted by appolyon

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Does anyone get the JH Cutler email? If not, here is an excerpt from today's email.

$100 for a Dormeuil tie is not outrageous... but for $250 the Stefano Ricci ones had better be spun from gold and rocking horse poo.

Originally Posted by __PG__

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I know what you mean. Faceless shop assistants in huge shops is one thing, but two guys that own their own shop is something else.

Especially when I know them. I did my PhD with Sebastian's nephew. Most of the time when I go in there I don't get out of there inside an hour without a detailed analysis of the latest Formula One race...or a discussion about neopolitan tailoring...or why he stocks English welted shoes as opposed to Italian ones.

I've been in there about six times over the past two years. He always says hello and gives me the time of day..and the only thing I've ever bought from them is a belt. Once I spent a late Friday evening after work trying on endless suit after endless suit (D'Avenza, Castagnia...the works). He knows I can't afford them...but he also knows I'm interested and I appreciate what he sells and where he is coming from. It was only a phone call from my tired and pregnant wife demanding to know where I was that stopped us...otherwise we could have been there all night.

So whilst I may be guilty of tire kicking at David Jones (or Henry Bucks, or Ralph Lauren...or even McClouds)...I can't do it at American Tailors.

Agreed.

They're really nice, decent guys.

Once heard them trying to advise a client that what he'd chosen AND wanted to purchase did not look good on him... that 's integrity for you.

Originally Posted by Prince of Paisley

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Bodiliey's?

Bodiliey's doesn't have them in stock either! Gah we're suffering through an international Crockett and Jones shortage. How will we survive?!

Originally Posted by Prince of Paisley

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$100 for a Dormeuil tie is not outrageous... but for $250 the Stefano Ricci ones had better be spun from gold and rocking horse poo.

$100 is heaps plenty for Dormeuil ties. I was in their Richmond warehouse and saw some knit ties they had. Spoke to the woman that I was dealing with and as they were the last they had in stock she gave them to me for $40 each.

Originally Posted by TheWraith

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What I found more interesting was that he's secured space on Savile Row to meet clients there. He's interested in expanding the business into the UK in a bigger way than he currently does. As good a tailor as he is, I'm not sure he's really going to make much of a dent to the others on the Row and throughout England.

I had thought that Cutler had a very good international reputation - in fact, he's probably better known on the Row than he is in his homeland.

That said, I think you have a point in that he might find it hard to break into the Row's customer base.

If Sator is lurking he would likely have some valuable insights.

Thanks PoP.

Hi guys, I'd appreciate the opinion of anyone with knowledge of made-to-measure suit tailoring on this:

A certain offshore MTM company who will remain nameless made a suit for me. Leaving aside any other aspects of the result, the shoulders turned out to be a full centimetre wider than they were intended to be. The representative claimed that the tolerance on the measurements of the final suit was 1cm (which I knew beforehand).

Now a tolerance of 1cm should mean a maximum variation of plus or minus half a centimetre from the precise measurement aimed for. Being out by 1cm implies a tolerance of up to 2cm.

So what I'm wondering is, is this par for the course with offshore MTM? Is a (true) 1cm tolerance to be expected and acceptable? Would a deviation of 1cm off the intended measurement (2cm tolerance) be considered unacceptable to most? (it is to me).

Obviously not all offshore MTM outfits are created equal, but I'm now wondering if at the price point I'm looking at (sub $1k) I'd be better off getting decent RTW and getting it altered.

Thanks for any insights.