Gordon Yao

A number of us have placed orders on Yao's most recent US trip, so it will be enlightening to see how they all turn out.

My first suit is the sacrifical lamb with Gordon. I plan to work with him for couple suits and see if he can perfect it after few tries.

Originally Posted by olemungu

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My first suit is the sacrifical lamb with Gordon. I plan to work with him for couple suits and see if he can perfect it after few tries.

That's a practical assumption - i am suprised that he doesn't offer fittings which is pretty standard for custom / mtm

Originally Posted by Panzeraxe II

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That's a practical assumption - i am suprised that he doesn't offer fittings which is pretty standard for custom / mtm

He does if you are in Hong Kong. If you are based overseas, he feels its unpratical to ship it back and forth, or to have him carry back and forth a unfished suit between Hong Kong and US. Also, he is fairly confident in his initial measurements and measurements off your best fitting suit to the initial fitting that he cuold get aboiut 90% right. This is what I gathered from my conversation with him. I also requested to have multiple fittings on my initial suit this past June, but was told he could not accomadate it if I was not based in Hong Kong.
How does Chan accomdate multiple fittings by the way? If it is by shipping unfinished products between US and Hong Kong back and forth, it could get expensive real quick. For UPS , they want around $80 dollars for just 4 yards of raw material, I could only imagine how much they cost for a suit.....

Originally Posted by SuitingStyle

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He does if you are in Hong Kong. If you are based overseas, he feels its unpratical to ship it back and forth, or to have him carry back and forth a unfished suit between Hong Kong and US. Also, he is fairly confident in his initial measurements and measurements off your best fitting suit to the initial fitting that he cuold get aboiut 90% right. This is what I gathered from my conversation with him. I also requested to have multiple fittings on my initial suit this past June, but was told he could not accomadate it if I was not based in Hong Kong.
How does Chan accomdate multiple fittings by the way? If it is by shipping unfinished products between US and Hong Kong back and forth, it could get expensive real quick. For UPS , they want around $80 dollars for just 4 yards of raw material, I could only imagine how much they cost for a suit.....

I have never used Chan, but I imagine he simply carries the suits back with him for the fittings and does not send partially completed suits via UPS (who would fit the client in this scenario?). Every other traveling tailor does the same.

The part about getting it "90% right" w/o a single fitting is salesman talk - I have a hard time beliveing that regardless of the tailor's skills. I am sure Yao is excellent but I'm not certain if he's a better option than Chan or Hemrajani if he doesn't offer fittings.

Originally Posted by Panzeraxe II

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The part about getting it "90% right" w/o a single fitting is salesman talk - I have a hard time beliveing that regardless of the tailor's skills. I am sure Yao is excellent but I'm not certain if he's a better option than Chan or Hemrajani if he doesn't offer fittings.

I shall find out in a couple of months as to how my initial suit is.

What I meant about UPS was that he would send unfished suit back to me, and wait for him to come on the next tour to do the additional fitting, then mail it back to him, as he was adiment about not wanting to carry extra suits with him on tour.

I agree that if you are not looking to do CMT, and absolutely wants additional fittings, then no question Chan is a better option. Some of us (inlucding myself) chose Yao because Chan refused to do CMT and based on feedbacks here, Yao's work is on par if not better than Chan.

Originally Posted by SuitingStyle

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I shall find out in a couple of months as to how my initial suit is.

What I meant about UPS was that he would send unfished suit back to me, and wait for him to come on the next tour to do the additional fitting, then mail it back to him, as he was adiment about not wanting to carry extra suits with him on tour.

I agree that if you are not looking to do CMT, and absolutely wants additional fittings, then no question Chan is a better option. Some of us (inlucding myself) chose Yao because Chan refused to do CMT and based on feedbacks here, Yao's work is on par if not better than Chan.

Hope it turns out well. Please post pics if you get the chance.

I get my shirts from Ascot Chang for more than 10yrs, and this yr I give their custom made suit a try. I don't know is it made by Yao, but I don't like it's cutting, it fit, but don't look good, and they made a short keyhole (short than 1 inch) buttonhole at the lapel!
But the price is cheap, I got a Loro Piana super 120's four seasons below USD1,000. The cheapest H&S super 100's is just around USD750, however, the salesman don't want you to pick those cloth.

Originally Posted by Fishball

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I get my shirts from Ascot Chang for more than 10yrs, and this yr I give their custom made suit a try. I don't know is it made by Yao, but I don't like it's cutting, it fit, but don't look good, and they made a short keyhole (short than 1 inch) buttonhole at the lapel!
But the price is cheap, I got a Loro Piana super 120's four seasons below USD1,000. The cheapest H&S super 100's is just around USD750, however, the salesman don't want you to pick those cloth.

Did yao measure you himself or it was done by sales ppl in the store?

If it was ten years ago, it's not clear that it was Yao. I do have a jacket on order from Yao right now. I am going to email and ask him about the keyhole buttonhole on the lapel?

speaking of emailing Yao, has anyone been in contact with him since June (like receving email confirmations) ........ I emailed him last week and hasn't gotten any reply.

Measurment taken by the shirtmaker sales, since it is in Ascot Channg shop, not Gordon Yao Tailor.

I finally made it out to visit Gordon Yao at the Royal Garden Hotel in East TST. The location is fairly convenient and the hotel looked decent for a non-chain. The place also boasts what is rumored to be the best Italian food in HK, Sabatini's. I took the escalator up to Yao's shop on the "first floor" which as an American is always confusing. His shop is small, non-descript and looks like most other tailor shops in HK with rolls of cloths stacked up lining the walls.

After some brief introductions, the process was pretty standard for a first visit. He showed me some pieces he was currently working on, discussed the basic style and cut, picked the fabric (Scabal 130s on his rec.), decided on basic details (i.e., SB/DB, 2B/3B, vents, etc.) and took my measurements. Note that this was all done directly by Gordon, and his assistant only helped to write down measurements. It is advantageous that he speaks English very well.

Gordon is quite confident in his tailoring abilities but that also makes him seem a bit salesman-like. I asked if he had a "house cut" but his response was essentially that he will make anything you want. He was quite insistent that the cloth he worked best with was the Scabal, which I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he is not just pushing it for the price - I am getting a 2P which will end up costing more than my Chan 3P, though in VBC 130s. We did not go over many of the details which I am probably most particular about (button stance, padding, lining, stitching, etc.) which he assured me can all be adjusted in the first or second fitting. The whole process will include 3 fittings and should take about 2½ weeks, due to my schedule more than his.

why did you decide to try Yao if you had been using Chan, just curious.
Also, next time you go, can you ask him to check his email, I've not gotten response from him on my emails...... thanks

Originally Posted by SuitingStyle

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why did you decide to try Yao if you had been using Chan, just curious.
Also, next time you go, can you ask him to check his email, I've not gotten response from him on my emails...... thanks

I have no problems with the workmanship at Chan, however I was not satisfied with the cut of the suit and service. The Chan style is quite structured and heavily padded, even though I asked for minimal padding. I suppose that has something to do with the service as well, as I primarily had to work with Arnold, the young sales guy. The tailor who measured me only spoke Cantonese apparently, and it was difficult to explain what I was looking for. From the responses on this forum, it seems that Gordon is more flexible but still maintains a similar level of quality to Chan, though I am still a little apprehensive on what the final product will turn out to be. Probably post a comparison once I see how it turns out.