My sole experience with Hong Kong tailors has been with W.W. Chan from their U.S tours. So far I have purchased one suit, nine jackets and five shirts from them, and I have two jackets on order from their just-concluded U.S. tour, and I hope to get as many as three more jackets before retirement next year curbs my sartorial acquistiveness to some degree. Obviously, I am an extremely satisfied customer of theirs.

Most knowledgeable commentators on HK tailoring rate Chan, Ah-Man and Yao about equally. There is also H. Baroman. Baroman is sometimes likened to Oxxford--outstanding workmanship, stodgy, lackluster styling. I believe Baroman is somewhat more expensive than the other three tailoring establishments mentioned.

Chan regularly tours the USA three times a year--March, July and November. Yao tours with Ascot Chang although I don't know how frequently. To best of my knowledge, neither Ah-Man or Baroman tour the USA.

Most knowledgeable people suggest shunning Sam's, which is right downstairs from Chan.

As I have said, all that I know of HK tailoring aside from my personal experience with Chan is via the fora and thus hearsay, but I can recommend Chan very highly.

YC,

I'd love to have a brown flannel chalkstripe suit.  Tops on my list for next autumn.  Maybe a slightly cream colored stripe instead of bright white?  Just a thought.

I have used Chan for some 20 years with great satisfaction. I used Baroman and A Man when I was in HK as well. A Man is a difficult guy to deal with, not satisfactory in my opinion. Baroman is not recommended for reasons too complicated to go into. Gordon Yao comes to the US periodically, very nice work, but inexplicably poor fitting, and poor replication of measurements. Hard to understand. A lot of shipping back and forth, cheap buttons, no lining selection, competitively priced with Chan, but without the service or attention to detail.

I favorably compare my Chan goods to those made for me by well known high priced Made Men in NY and London.  In a  blindfold test, I think I would choose my Chan goods over the others. You will, of course, not get the hand holding, foreplay, and perceived mystical transfer of "style" of say, a Rubinacci or even Rubinstein Bros. Chan will improve upon your Western goods, if given the chance.

They didn't speak ANY English. On my second visit to HK they started work without instructions, and thus, I was unable to make changes to the pattern from the first generation order. The business has been sold in any case. They also are considerably more expensive than the other two. They prefer to work with Chinese clients.

A Man is a family business, the son, was in charge. He farms out work, as do many other shops. He left off working button holes, each jacket had a different roll, and so on. He also feels victimized by the landlord and dwells too much on his overhead problems.

WW Chan, strictly business, ethical, and they want you to be happy. What more can you ask?

No shirts from Chan, they subcontract. Fabrics are the usual suspects; their house style is whatever you want. I suggest have them copy something you like that you already have; they are not stylists, read: Rubinacci. It's your responsibility to tell them if you want, for example, three sleeves. They will do what you want. Beyond that just see them and work it out. Their Harrison's/Porter and Harding takes time for them to acquire, so you might want to choose some cloth in advance of a visit to HK

OMG, your responces are way out of line.
    I think my question was: are these guys worth the money? It was an honest question.
      I think FNB and MG's tailors are over 3 grand in price. I sure think a Hong Kong tailor should be a third less. But maybe today I have no clue. I meant no insult and given the 40% decline in the dollar since January 2001 I have no idea of what prices go for. I am simply trying to figure out a decent value for my dollar. If the answer lies in HK, I would love to know that. I think I am being accused of tastes which I do not maintain.
     If I knew of a reliable custom tailor who sells suits for under a grand I would patronize him. If there is no such person, I will settle for JPress tweed jackets and possibly some MTM firm in the states. My question really relates to the value of a custom made suit. The people whose opinions I trust on this site have a collection of horror stories. My thought is to trust Brooks MTM at this point.  But I have no idea of the price of HK tailoring these days.

Last edited by tom22 (2008-04-02 22:31:53)

and if these guys charge 3 grand a suit, screw them. you are better off trusting the tailors of the people who created this place.
     I don't know the dollars, I don't know the value. I have read all the posts on this thread. i would appreciate some enlightenment.

Yale,

HK is just a small city, from AMHC to Chan is just 15mins by underground and walk, inclusive.
Both house have a lot of tourist customers, so they used to deal with causal wear westerners.
But for better fitting, do wear or bring a shirt.
IMO, Chan may be a better choice to you if you will not come back to HK. You can always catch Patick in States during their tour.
Too bad they don't do CMT, since I know where to buy Scabal fabrics much cheaper than ordered it from houses.
As a citizens of Hong Kong, I know many tailors are craps. But those houses Yale mentions are the best tailor houses in HK. For that price, it is very diffcult to find something better.
Scabal in Chan is charing 1300+, AMHC charing more or less same price, but if I bought my own fabric and CMT at AMHC or Yao, it cost me little bit under 1000. It is a big saving, isn't it? You can have 2 or 3 shirts made in A. Chang for that saving.
Yale, go to whatever tailor you choose on the 1st day arrived in HK, take the measuement that day, ask for the 1st fitting tomorrow, then the 2nd fitting at the last day in HK, it will give you a better fitting suit.

I'm out of touch with the pricing right now.  I'll find out what guys I know paid last time they went, if you want.  I know one guy got a beautiful camel hair recently.  And I saw someone else who got a damn fine SR cut suit out of some somewhat substantial wool.  It had to have been one of the most beautifully cut suits I'd ever seen -- specifically in relation to the guy's body which wasn't exactly "model material".

Last edited by Horace (2008-04-08 01:41:36)