Taylor gets lucky with Hong Kong suit
Rapid tailoring is often suspect Quality impresses our local critic
HONG KONG— It’s not like I wear a suit every day, every week or even every month. I only own one and it slumbers peacefully in my closet.
“ No problem,” says John Chan, measuring me for my second two- piece. “ You never put it on, it’ll last forever.”
He’s a good talker, Chan. I only went into the Tai Pan Row tailors’ shop, in the très chic ifc mall to have a couple of shirts made. And here I am, signing up for a conservative dark-grey pinstripe with three buttons, two vents and no cuffs that could change my devil-maycare ( or rough- and- ready; take your pick) image forever. The mall is attached to the new Four Seasons Hotel and has every designer store you ever heard of and a few more. It becomes quite funny to see how long you have to stand around in the Lane Crawford department store before the snooty staff deign to notice you. But most of these stores have a branch in Toronto. And I don’t want designer, anyway. I want custom. Hong Kong has a reputation for “tape-measure to take- it- home” in 24 hours. Most of these rapid- transit tailors are in Kowloon. Ride the iconic Star ferry across the crowded harbour and as you step ashore, people are thrusting suit flyers at you. Walk up Nathan Rd. ( fabulously lurid at night, with neon signs climbing over each other) and try to keep count of the offers you get, both for cheap clothes and “copy watches.” Romex is a popular knock- off brand but you could probably find Pathetic Philippe and Swiss Navy, too. The problem with trusting a tailoring tout is you may wind up with a garment that fits only where it touches and starts falling apart at the third wearing. Besides, I’m not interested in a suit. Only shirts.
I ask one of the Four Seasons concierges for a recommendation. Tai Pan Row, he says.
I figure anything in the mall has to be expensive. But the prices aren’t bad. Shirts, for men or women, are 600 Hong Kong dollars ( about $90 Canadian) or three men’s for $ 1,500HK. Women don’t get the same deal because their shirts often need more tailoring. But there’s no harm ( or shame; it’s sort of expected) in asking. Chances are they’ll give you a break.
There’s a huge array of fabrics to choose from, mostly high- end Italian cotton. I choose two. Chan has me measured in no time and shows me samplestyles of collar and cuffs.
“ You can pick them up tomorrow,” he says. “ Or we’ll deliver them to the hotel.”
I’m looking casually at suit fabrics and he leaps into action, showing me this one, that one, the other one . . . no, wait, let me look at that one again. How much did you say it is? The tape measure is back in his hands. It seems I’m buying a suit, after all.
“ Come tomorrow for your first fitting,” Chan says. Ishow up 23 hours later and he hands me my shirts. I hadn’t really believed it. I figured they’d be following me home by mail. I try one on and . . . I love it. It feels good, looks better, fits great. The suit is coming along. It’s recognizable, anyway. Chan makes chalk marks on it and gives instructions over his shoulder to someone else.
“Final fitting tomorrow,” he says. “ You can probably take it then.”
Another 23 hours. It looks finished. And very nice. I could get used to wearing this. I put it on. Chan and his three colleagues peer closely at the pants.
“ Perfect,” says one.
“ I think so,” says Chan. Now the jacket. I look in the mirror and . . . “ Wow!”
Three of the tailors smile. But Chan is frowning.
“That right sleeve,” he says. The others purse their lips and nod judiciously.
“ A centimetre?” says one.
“ Maybe less,” says Chan. “ But it’s too long.”
I hadn’t noticed. And I want my suit! I’d planned to wear it to dinner tonight.
“ Wouldn’t you rather have it right?” he says. “You’ll have many dinners in this suit. You have to live with it, remember.”
I hand over the jacket sadly. But I’m impressed. They could have said nothing, saved themselves the bother and bowed me out of their lives.
I pick it up next morning. Total for suit and two shirts, $ 5,000HK. My Visa bill makes it $ 772.76. But is it really a bargain? The acid test is to take it to an experienced tailor in Toronto. Fashion editor Bernadette Morra’s father Tony Morra has been in the business for more years than he’ll admit to.
He’s seen a lot of Hong Kong suits and had to try to fix a good number of them to make them wearable . . . “ I’ve had customers come in with tears in their eyes.” He goes over my suit like a forensic scientist, looking, he explains, at how it hangs; whether the collar hugs the neck as it should; if there are “ bubbles” in the lapels, bulges in the shoulders and “ dog’s teeth” bumps around the top of the sleeves. My sleeves, by the way, have “ surgeon’s cuffs” — the four buttons actually do unbutton. And there’s a real buttonhole in the lapel. Morra likes that. His main criticism is that the sleeves may still be a trifle long but “ that’s really nothing.”
His verdict: “ You’re one of the lucky ones. The cloth is excellent, a nice, light wool worsted. There are expensive suits on the rack in Toronto right now, with designer labels, that aren’t up to this cloth. It’s a sin, vandalism, robbery. This one is very well made. It’s hand- finished everywhere with small stitches. You’re never going to find that off- the- rack. The lining is good quality. The collar is handmade . . . a very good quality job. You have too much in the pockets — don’t do that! But the jacket still hangs very well.
“ A lot of stores would charge $ 2,500 for this suit off the rack and the cloth might not be as good. Custom-made? At least $ 1,000, probably $ 1,500 more.”
This one cost me about $ 600. “ You should’ve bought three!”
I plan to be back in Hong Kong for a couple of days in January. Tai Pan Row will be on my itinerary. For shirts. What would I do with three suits? ( Don’t answer that, Mr. Chan.)