mhron

[QUOTE=rjh;7633810]Well, for shirt recommendations, I guess you can start by looking higher in this thread. It mentions several sources. Are the ones mentioned here not suitable for some reason?

i am not to familiar with hong kong i am looking for one that is close to my hotel shanri-la kowloon.

linesforeyes

has anyone ever heard of "Tai Pan Row Men's Tailors"? Any reviews about their suits or shirts or any other products?
http://www.taipanrow.com/index_main.html

christep

Taipan Row are very good in my experience. I had all my current suits and formal shirts and tux done there. Not the cheapest in town but very happy to spend time and effort to get the fit just right. Personally I always take multiple fittings over a couple of weeks rather than trying to rush everything. Nothe that if you shop in their IFC branch then the prices are a little higher than at the other branches - presumably to offset the higher rent.

pbarnette

Any thoughts on HKG vs BKK? Planning an Asia trip into HKG and out of BKK and want to know where to get my tailoring done. Mostly looking for some really nice shirts. I rarely/never wear suits for work (unless you count jeans as a suit), but would like to get one or two really nice ones, so that my mommy can tell me what a handsome boy I am.

Probably looking for Nordstrom-level quality (or better). Since I am only buying one or two suits, saving $50 a suit isn't a big deal. Besides, anything is cheaper than CPH, but I'm not looking to break the bank either. Anybody know of places that carry a nice selection of suit linings - think Paul Smith?

Also, what about the ladies? The Mrs surely won't let me leave dressed to the nines, unless she gets something too. Besides, she actually does have to wear a suit every day.

wideman

Hong Kong quality is better by far, both for quality/choice of fabrics and for tailoring. Even the mid-level HK shops (Sam's, Ash Samtani) get you better quality shirts & suits than anywhere I've tried in BKK, and the better HK tailors (WW Chan and David's for shirts are the ones I've used, but there are sevaral others) are miles above anything in Bangkok.

Louhk

Does any of you have an idea on where to find good fabric in Hong Kong. I have my own tailor outside HK but she does not have a wide variety of fabric...mainly cheap and not too good.
Thanks.

yace

Hi Wideman, could you tell me David's address? I cannot find it in previous posts. Thanks a lot.

broadwayboy

You can find David's Shirts at the shopping arcade of Mandarin Oriental HKG Central (NOT the Landmark one!)

If you need to reach David by email, his email is [email protected]

bug_me_not

Yikes....I recently got back a shirt I had made by William Cheng and Son (Hankow Rd) and the quality is utter (you know what). I went based solely on the recommendation on this thread and am very disappointed, but I guess you get what you pay for. The fit is good, but the everything else is utterly pitiful. The buttonholes being machine-made is to be expected, but loose threads on every single one? Plus every other button has loose threading, not to mention the other random loose threads here and there throughout the shirt. Also, the stitch count is very low and on some obvious areas like the collar, the stitching runs unevenly with the border of the shirt. Additionally, the collar and cuffs are fused and are as hard as cardboard. I can't believe I paid $30 for this - I was warned about the state of HK tailoring on styleforum, but this is really ridiculous. As I understand it, many places actually use the same low-standard factories to get their shirts made. This is definitely true of the Indian tailoring places with the touts. Guess I can at least use this to wear around the house.

Haven't checked out David's Shirts, but if it takes $100 to get a decent shirt made in HK, sign me up!

christep

You expect a decent handmade shirt for US$30? I would expect to pay US$50+ even for an everyday workshirt at somewhere like Taipan Row.

nologic

I am a regular customer at WW Chan on the Kowloon side and Dyon Chan at TAKLY'S on the Hong Kong side (attached to the Mandarin).

Both are outstanding. Bother are 2-3x the price of most HK tailors, but your 100% get what you pay for.

Dyon at TAKLY's is more high service and has an exceptional eye for detail. His shirts are more expansive than WW Chan, but his suits and blazers are on par on price. He started as a shirtmaker, and is located next to Ascot Chang. You can see the difference in the details, including the buttons and the trimming of the threads.

The difference in the cost is all about the man-hours in the workmanship. Otherwise the fabrics are the same, as long as they aren't using glue to fuse garments (which gets back to man-hours). The fabrics are all the the same raw cost to the tailors, and I suspect their mark-ups are comparable. But only 3 or 4 of them actually employ their own tailors: the rest use common factories in China.

bug_me_not

Generally, no. But anyone w/o prior knowledge of HK tailoring, like I, would think so by reading this thread.

There were two other tailors I tried, both of whom were able to provide decent quality shirts, suitable for everyday work-wear, for around US$40. For an additional $10, their stuff is a bargain compared to the garbage produced by Wm. Cheng.

elitetraveler

Also a couple doors down from David's try James Chen for suits and Mayer's for shoes and briefcases! ^^^^

liteswap

I'm off to HK for the first time shortly - and since this is my first post here (thanks for the tolerance) - I'd like to ask how easy it might be to find the right fabric. I'm after a wool-silk mix - would most tailors mentioned here carry this sort of stuff?

Thanks again.

wilheldp

I, too, am heading to HK for the first time next week. I am not as well versed in fine clothing as many of you appear to be, but I am planning on having a suit tailored for me while I am over there. I will be there for the better part of 7 days, so I should have time for the measurements and several fittings. I do have a couple of potential problems though. For one, I will be working from 8 to 5 every day, and staying on Lantau Island (just south of the airport). That could make it difficult to make it to a tailor before the shop closes, and would probably make them less likely to visit my apartment, no?

My father was in HK several years ago (2001, I believe), and he had a suit and sport coat tailored by James Chen in the Mandarin. Dad highly recommends Chen, as I see a few of you do as well, but I am curious as to his latest prices. For the suit and coat dad bought, he only paid about $500 US. I'm sure prices have gone up from there, but how much I do not know. I am looking for at least one suit, shirt, and tie, and a ballpark figure would be much appreciated. Also, does anybody have an email address or website for James Chen? I would prefer to not make a long distance call to set up an appointment with him.