Tailor for Quick Turnaround Bespoke Suit
 

I will be in Tokyo for a week at the beginning of June and was wondering if anyone knows a good tailor who can turnaround a good bespoke or semi-bespoke suit in about a week? I know that is a very tight timeline, but I would imagine some tailors are capable of starting the suit on day 1 and maybe doing a fitting within a week then shipping the suit home to me upon its completion.

I'd love to hear your experiences...budget +/-$1500. I know Hong Kong may be more the place for this and my money may go further, but I have also read about some reputable HK tailors spending time and offering their services in Tokyo.

A week is going to be tight. Looking at some of the better known names in that space around these parts, Eikokuya takes eight days from order to fitting. Ginza Tailor takes ten. I am not sure about Azabu Tailor.

I am really wondering why any short term visitor would buy a bespoke suit in Japan! Are they special in some way?

I've always wanted a bespoke suit and the price in Asia seems to be considerably cheaper than in the US and there are some very good tailors in the country...I believe making suits by hand is a dying art.

I don't see what being a short-term visitor has anything to do with it. I'm not travelling to Japan specifically to get a suit, but if there is a reputable tailor who can make one for a great deal and only take a few hours of my time, then why not? However, I realize the fitting process at reputable tailors that I have read about in Tokyo generally takes 3-4 tries and may stretch out close to a month, hence my original question.

I know this is a "thing" for short term visitors in HK, but I have never really heard of it as a good buy in Japan.

"Asia" is awfully big.

I've heard of a few exceptional tailors in Tokyo, but they all have long wait times. Yes, HK is definitely the place to go, but just looking for any personal experiences with Tokyo tailors as I don't have much experience with the city. If none exist who can do what I am looking for, then I won't devote much more time to seeking one out, but I figured I'd ask...

No great deals...no great tailors.....and not quick. Japan is not the place to go for bespoke suits unless you want something mediocre and high priced.

It is a dying art.... actually very few really great tailors left in HK either.

The turnaround time you requested is going to be really tough.

Last time I ordered a custom suit in Japan, it took 2 weeks from initial consultation to final fitting and that was a "rush" job. After saying that, it was the best fitting suit I had ever owned.

If you go to Shanghai, you can get a custom suit in 3 days delivered to your hotel room and it is inexpensive. While the quality of the cloth and the stitching to be, at the onset, without problems. My suits just don't seem to last as long as my Japanese custom suits.

Given that I need to also order a new suit soon, probably will have it made in Japan again.

I'd be worried about a Japanese tailor underestimating the amount of "breathing room" I need in a suit - As Alphaville explained: "Oh, when you're big in Japan, tonight, big in Japan, be tight"

In general, Japanese tailors are not so experienced with non-Japanese body types.

The thing about China is that it's always YMMV there. I ordered a couple of shirts from a reputable tailor while in Shanghai, and had them shipped to Japan. One of the shirts came out with a totally screwed-up pattern (stripes going in one direction on one side of the collar and in the other direction on the other side) and the sleeves on both were about half an inch too short. After that experience, I would think twice about dropping money on a whole suit there.

As far as body types, I will submit that unless you're >2m tall or morbidly obese (and maybe even then), a decent Japanese tailor has probably dealt with your body type before. There are tall, short, fat, skinny and muscular people here, and for that matter the high-end places get a positive non-zero number of gringo customers.

Reputable no more.

My grandfather had some shirts made in Yokohama. He said the quality was great and they were extremely cheap....

I think that must have been shortly after the depreciation of the yen in the early 1930s.

Which reminds me, there is a typical industry not at all far from Tokyo for hand made garments that has been popular with foreigners for at least 60 years:

Yokosuka souvenir jackets, Dobuita street is the Savile Row equivalent for these garments.
I understand you can order a bespoke version if there's a particular design (or size) you wanted.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...0/DSC_1018.JPG

I understand they are currently en vogue with the fashion conscious.

Sounds like Tokyo may not be the best place to get a good, but cheaper bespoke suit. Looks like I'll skip trying to fit that in to my agenda while I'm there. Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

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