WW Chan, Basic Questions

Originally Posted by Tom21

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Are you lower down the priority if we order while they are on their trips? Because it seems buying from them in HK is a matter of weeks for delivery.

Essentially, yes, we are lower on the priority list. That's the price we pay for the convenience of having Chan come to us. Also, it costs no more to get an item on tour than it does in HK. Chan handles all the shipping.

After all, we are sitting in the comforts of home merely awaiting arrival of our garments. Big difference in expense and convenience from waiting in a hotel in HK!

Originally Posted by WallaWalla

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For my first Chan suit, I'm somewhat risk adverse. Can anyone recommend some value fabrics available on Chan's current tour with versatility for DC's climate? Suits are not daily attire for me, so I would like something I could wear to more formal events/nights out possibly in a darker gray or black.

Originally Posted by JLibourel

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My advice as a veteran Chan customer would be to get your first suit with a VBC fabric, either the 110 or the slightly more expensive 130.
JLibourel, I hesitate to contradict you since I relied so much on your accounts of the Chan experience before placing my first order, but I couldn't disagree more with this advice. For me, cloth is tied with fit as the most fundamental element of a suit, and I think compromising on cloth and treating your first suit as disposable is like flushing money down the toilet. WallaWalla - while you will undoubtedly make tweaks for subsequent orders, your first Chan suit should turn out perfectly competent, provided that you are clear with Patrick about what you want stylistically. It'll be part of your rotation so make it up in a fabric that you will enjoy wearing for years to come. I recommend a traditional English cloth like Harrisons, Lesser, or Smiths. Leave the H&S - while they do some great cottons and linen/silk mixes, their worsted wool is not very highly regarded. Also avoid the high super number, shiny, lightweight Italian stuff like VBC. It will look great out of the box but will look tatty very quickly (pilling, shininess, wrinkles, etc). I doubt you will save much money anyway. A suit in Harrison's Fine Classics (the cheapest of the legit English fabric ranges) should not run much more than $1300.

Originally Posted by sellahi22

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JLibourel, I hesitate to contradict you since I relied so much on your accounts of the Chan experience before placing my first order, but I couldn't disagree more with this advice. For me, cloth is tied with fit as the most fundamental element of a suit, and I think compromising on cloth and treating your first suit as disposable is like flushing money down the toilet.

WallaWalla - while you will undoubtedly make tweaks for subsequent orders, your first Chan suit should turn out perfectly competent, provided that you are clear with Patrick about what you want stylistically. It'll be part of your rotation so make it up in a fabric that you will enjoy wearing for years to come. I recommend a traditional English cloth like Harrisons, Lesser, or Smiths. Leave the H&S - while they do some great cottons and linen/silk mixes, their worsted wool is not very highly regarded. Also avoid the high super number, shiny, lightweight Italian stuff like VBC. It will look great out of the box but will look tatty very quickly (pilling, shininess, wrinkles, etc). I doubt you will save much money anyway. A suit in Harrison's Fine Classics (the cheapest of the legit English fabric ranges) should not run much more than $1300.

I'd agree with this. The cheapest of the English fabrics, Minnis and Harrisons are only a bit more than VBC and well worth the extra cost. I'd also agree on avoiding the H&S unless there's something particular you want. I have three suits from the Target book, and while the fabrics are all beautiful, they aren't wearing as well as my other suits. I'd also recommend a fitting. I think its worth the extra time and money.

Speaking of fabric, has anyone seen Patrick yet? Has he brought the Lesser's books with him?

I have an appointment in DC on Friday. Hoping they have some Lessers on hand. They don't have Smith's Blue Riband with them on this tour.

I was quoted $1500 for a 2pc. in Harrisons Frontier cloth.

Originally Posted by hangthree

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I have an appointment in DC on Friday. Hoping they have some Lessers on hand. They don't have Smith's Blue Riband with them on this tour.

I was quoted $1500 for a 2pc. in Harrisons Frontier cloth.

Make sure to add some $ for shipping costs if you are going to request a basted fitting.

Originally Posted by taxgenius

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Make sure to add some $ for shipping costs if you are going to request a basted fitting.

Thanks. I was planning on being in HK for a week in the fall, so was hoping to get a few fittings done there to expedite the process.

btw, how much does shipping run? $75 or so?

Originally Posted by hangthree

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Thanks. I was planning on being in HK for a week in the fall, so was hoping to get a few fittings done there to expedite the process.

btw, how much does shipping run? $75 or so?

Chan tacks on $150 for the fitting, shipping and handling. (They use a legitimate customs broker which costs more.) But if you're going to be in HK, you could order in the summer, then do fittings when you arrive. I've done this and there was no extra charge.

Originally Posted by sellahi22

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JLibourel, I hesitate to contradict you since I relied so much on your accounts of the Chan experience before placing my first order, but I couldn't disagree more with this advice. For me, cloth is tied with fit as the most fundamental element of a suit, and I think compromising on cloth and treating your first suit as disposable is like flushing money down the toilet.

WallaWalla - while you will undoubtedly make tweaks for subsequent orders, your first Chan suit should turn out perfectly competent, provided that you are clear with Patrick about what you want stylistically. It'll be part of your rotation so make it up in a fabric that you will enjoy wearing for years to come. I recommend a traditional English cloth like Harrisons, Lesser, or Smiths. Leave the H&S - while they do some great cottons and linen/silk mixes, their worsted wool is not very highly regarded. Also avoid the high super number, shiny, lightweight Italian stuff like VBC. It will look great out of the box but will look tatty very quickly (pilling, shininess, wrinkles, etc). I doubt you will save much money anyway. A suit in Harrison's Fine Classics (the cheapest of the legit English fabric ranges) should not run much more than $1300.

I probably am the one who gave JLibourel the "1st Chan suit-->use VBC" advice a few years ago. Jan?

The VBC 110s is a durable and underappreciated cloth. I still have the first suit I bought from WW Chan, back when Raymond Kiang was their touring rep. The suit is closing in on 10 years and 150+ wearings, and apart from a couple of snags and pulls is in very good shape. It has not gone shiny or fuzzy. The VBC 130s is not as durable as the 110s but is a very nice cloth as well.

The value equation has changed since several years ago when Chan did VBC suits as a $730 US tour special and everything else they offered was north of $1K. However, for a first Chan commission for someone without a strong sense of precisely how they want things done, I still recommend using the least expensive cloth that fills the need.

When you are figuring out a tailor's style as well as your own preferences, I don't think it is a mistake to stick with a basic cloth. When I look back at the first couple of suits I ordered from Chan, my regrets are along the line of "I should have had them do X instead of Y," and not "why, oh why didn't I get this one in Scabal instead of VBC Revenge?"

Originally Posted by sellahi22

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JLibourel, I hesitate to contradict you since I relied so much on your accounts of the Chan experience before placing my first order, but I couldn't disagree more with this advice. For me, cloth is tied with fit as the most fundamental element of a suit, and I think compromising on cloth and treating your first suit as disposable is like flushing money down the toilet. Also avoid the high super number, shiny, lightweight Italian stuff like VBC. It will look great out of the box but will look tatty very quickly (pilling, shininess, wrinkles, etc). I doubt you will save much money anyway. A suit in Harrison's Fine Classics (the cheapest of the legit English fabric ranges) should not run much more than $1300.
I hate to be so confrontational, but this is sheer, arrant nonsense! I had Chan make me two blazers from VBC Super 130. One I received in the Spring of 2005, the other at the beginning of 2006. I have worn the hell out of them, both at work and at sundry other events. There is positively ZERO pilling or permanent wrinkling. Yes, there is a bit of shininess at the elbows from having worn them while working at my desk over a five-year period. However, this shininess is not a bit worse than what I have encountered with worsted fabrics from Holland & Sherry, Scabal or Porter & Harding. The latter's "Glorious Twelfth" was the worst in this respect--the elbows were shiny in not much more than six months. Other than the elbow shininess, my VBC blazers look just about as good as new. On another note, Chan's prices sure are skyrocketing. A 2-piece suit from Harrison's Frontier was $1227 on the November 2009 tour, $1347 on the March 2010 tour and now it's up to $1,500. I seriously doubt they're going to have anything from "legit" British fabrics in the vicinity of $1,300. I'm just glad I already have most of the Chan duds I could reasonably want or use.

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

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Chan tacks on $150 for the fitting, shipping and handling. (They use a legitimate customs broker which costs more.) But if you're going to be in HK, you could order in the summer, then do fittings when you arrive. I've done this and there was no extra charge.

and you probably need to budget another $40 for shipping it back to HK as well.

Originally Posted by retronotmetro

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I probably am the one who gave JLibourel the "1st Chan suit-->use VBC" advice a few years ago. Jan?

The VBC 110s is a durable and underappreciated cloth. I still have the first suit I bought from WW Chan, back when Raymond Kiang was their touring rep. The suit is closing in on 10 years and 150+ wearings, and apart from a couple of snags and pulls is in very good shape. It has not gone shiny or fuzzy. The VBC 130s is not as durable as the 110s but is a very nice cloth as well.

The value equation has changed since several years ago when Chan did VBC suits as a $730 US tour special and everything else they offered was north of $1K. However, for a first Chan commission for someone without a strong sense of precisely how they want things done, I still recommend using the least expensive cloth that fills the need.

When you are figuring out a tailor's style as well as your own preferences, I don't think it is a mistake to stick with a basic cloth. When I look back at the first couple of suits I ordered from Chan, my regrets are along the line of "I should have had them do X instead of Y," and not "why, oh why didn't I get this one in Scabal instead of VBC Revenge?"

I think I was making my previous post while you were posting yours. Gratifying that we're on the same page.

Yeah, your suggestion that I use Chan what caused me to go to Chan in the first place. I think it was shortly after the summer tour of 2004. I don't recall a recommendation from you to use VBC. I just went with the "special" on the November tour, which was LP 120 for $830 for a 2-piece suit. That was also Patrick Chu's first tour. I think LP occupies an even lower spot in the Forum groupthink than VBC. However, my suit seems as good as new although I only wear it intermittently.

hello all..
i had the chance to meet with chan in NY and will commission a suit, shirt, odd trousers. thought some of you may be interested to see latest pricing (and perhaps you can tell me if i have been charged normal rate) - all prices US Dollars
minnis flannel suit: $1851
minnis flannel trousers (different fabric then suit): $653
1 shirt in british fabric: $184

Well, Chan's prices are posted in every swatch book, so I am certain you got the "normal rate."

Wow how things have changed. My first suit from Chan was in 2005, a special offer on Charles Clayton Super 150s suit for $910. Not as nice as some of what I have now, but still serviceable.

i knew they were going up and up, but wow.