The Role of Custom Tailors in Building an Interchangeable Wardrobe

It may be so that building a complete wardrobe especially one that consists of elegant and impeccable tailored made suits can create quite a burden on any man’s pockets. This is reason why right from the get-go, sympathetic custom tailors would advise a man especially one of limited financial means to start with the goal of a flexible and interchangeable clothing collection.

However, if you are the type of client who are quite the skeptic and may need more convincing from your custom tailors on the wisdom of building a flexible and interchangeable wardrobe, then here are three reasons for you to ponder upon:

More Space in Your Closet

Less unnecessary clothes means less cluttered in your closet. Of course, the key here is to commission your custom tailors to create for you colored made to measure suits that is classic and timeless in design and style. With those types of suits in solid colors such as charcoal gray, dark navy and black, you probably just need about two to three suits as a starting point in your career.

As for your fitted shirts, you do not need 30 shirts to create versatility in style and a different look every single day. Even if you had only half a dozen dress shirts in basic solid colors and dozen or so accessories, then you will do fine in your style.

More Money at the Bank

The frequent services of custom tailors can put a dent on a man’s savings account. Indeed, the flawless impeccable tailored made suits may be worth it in the long run, but there is no denying that they are still expensive.

On the other hand, the role of the custom tailors in building a lean yet flexible men’s wardrobe is pretty straight-forward: if a man has a couple or three elegant and excellent quality, albeit expensive, suits that drapes well on his body then he does not need to waste any more money on cheap suits trying to find in vain to find a good fit of a suit, or dress shirts for that matter.

Moreover, the high quality made to measure suit that costs you now a few hundreds of dollars will be cost effective in the long run because it would surely end up serving you far longer than a suit made of cheap fabric materials and poor work construction.

Indeed, having the expert advice of custom tailors in the creation of an interchangeable and flexible wardrobe closet may seem a bit of a luxury in the beginning; but in the long run, it is actually cost efficient and cost effective move. 

Ties for Bespoke Suit: How to Choose & Wear Them

A wrong or right kind of tie for your bespoke suit makes a whole lot difference in your appearance. A tie could either make or break your overall aim of getting that elegant and well-polished look. 

First of all, in choosing neckties that would complement your elegant and impeccable custom suits and shirts, there are three main things that you should take into consideration: the quality, the material and the design of the tie. 

One of the classic choices in neck ties and something that greatly could add fashion flair and finesse to a bespoke suit are 100 percent silk ties. Another great but uncommon tie selection is the wool knit tie. This is a wonderful choice because it is something that you do not see often in men. 

Other types of tie fabric materials include the cashmere knit ties, which can be more expensive than silk ties, the polyester tie, the satin tie, and rayon tie. The last one is considered by many as the most durable since it is machine washable. 

If you have to wear a tie, like what every man should so especially in the business world, make sure that you know how to wear it properly. Try not to make the classic mistake of many men of wearing it either too long or too short. 

As a general rule, the tie length in a properly fitted knot (i.e. a Windsor knot) should at least graze your belt buckle, or if you do not have a belt, your waist pants. Usually, tall men should go for longer ties, but to really make sure that you are getting the proper tie for your bespoke suit, there is no other way to know for sure but to tie it on for size.

Not many men have realized this, but the shape of your face should also be taken into account in purchasing a tie. Indeed, there is an art in tie selection, but it is really up to you to subscribe to it or not because, truth to tell, this is not really a hard and fast rule. However, if you just wanted to enhance a physical feature or perhaps play down one physical flaw, you can follow this advice. Stripe ties are great for strong and angular face. Meanwhile, dotted and paisley printed ties look good on round or baby face. Solid colors, on the other hand, can be worn by everyone. 

Indeed a necktie may be just a small piece of cloth that makes up your bespoke suit ensemble; however, it plays a huge factor in determining your overall impeccable appearance. So choose well and wear it properly, you’ll never know when you are being judged by your tie.

Red Flags to Watch Out for While In Search for a Tailor in Hong Kong

Admittedly, tailoring in Hong Kong is perhaps one of the biggest tourists’ attractions in this Chinese territory. But there are some things that every man who is in the hunt for a good tailor in Hong Kong must learn.

So here are some red flags to watch out for while in a quest for a good tailor in Hong Kong. These red flags, however, are just precautions and not automatically a sign that a particular tailor is not trustworthy or reputable. It is just a guide for you to be more observant when choosing and deciding if a particular clothier has what it takes to make quality and decent looking men’s suits.

Too Much Talk, Less Buzzing Activity at the Shop

One must first realize that Hong Kong is a very fast paced metropolitan city. Practically everyone walks and talks at a seemingly fast forward mode. The same case can be applied to many HK tailors. Well, at least only to those who are truly busy and up to their neck in back orders that spending too much time on niceties and pleasantries with one particular client is almost impossible to do so.

The point is that a tailor who is seemingly nothing better else to do but engage you in too much conversation over a cup of tea should be seen as a bit of a red flag. After all, there is a presumption that truly good tailors are too busy turning our back orders to do much talking to just one customer.

Wet Behind the Ears Tailor (Barely Out of their Teens)

While it may be true that there could be young tailor geniuses out there, in general, good master tailors in Hong Kong should be already in their middle age years. After all, tailoring is one of those tradecrafts that can be truly mastered by someone only through long and hard years of hands on experience. It is not something that can be learned just by going to school. The more experience a tailor has, the likelier that he will be good at creating fitted suits and other custom tailoring clothes.

The Promise of a Suit in a Day

If you are given a promise that your custom fitted suit will be ready tomorrow, do not be glad about it. In fact, ask yourself this question, is it really a suit custom tailored to your exact size measurements and body proportions, or merely a ready to wear suit designed to appear as if it were the former?

Bear in mind that a decent quality made to measure suit should require at least one to two more fittings before final stitching could be done, and this takes at least three days or more.

Finding a good and reputable tailor in Hong Kong is actually not that hard for as long as the seeker himself knows and understands how and what it takes to create a good and decent men’s suit.

Getting the Best of Both Worlds with the Personalized Service of Visiting Tailors

Imagine this scenario if you will: you live in your own city while halfway across the world is where your favorite clothier is located. But thanks to some modern business practices that are increasingly becoming indispensable in the continued individualized service of custom tailoring nowadays, you could now have your fitted suits without having to fly out thousands of miles.

And this indispensable personalized custom tailoring service is called the visiting tailors, or also known as the traveling tailors.

Indeed, most if not all tailoring houses nowadays have some kind of affiliated visiting tailors and cutters roaming around the world to cater to the needs of their clients. In general, these traveling tailors schedule a visit in a particular city once or twice a year.

Meetings and measurement fittings with clients are typically held at a five star or business class hotels at the heart of the city. As an added convenience, these traveling tailors usually bring with them sample swatches of the latest and most popular suiting and shirting fabric materials available. This way a client can still experience a complete and personalized custom tailoring service albeit in an improvised setting.

One of the upsides of visiting tailors is that clients need not waste their time and money by travelling far, or out of the country, just to get their made to measure suits done. It is for these reasons clients who do not have the luxury of time or the extra money to spare for airfare and hotel accommodations that the concept of tailors going the distance to accommodate the needs of the clients is quite a remarkable thing nowadays.

Another remarkable thing about it is that clients need not settle for a ready to made suit in a nearby department store or a custom tailoring service from a local house just because his preferred tailor is thousands of miles away.

Regular clients are typically corporate executives who are required, or at least expected, to wear a suit in their daily business and social dealings. Business people, more than any other career men and women, recognize the importance of having impeccable and elegant men’s suits and dress shirts in order to create a good and unforgettable impression on the people they meet.

It is undeniable that clients are truly getting best of both worlds when it comes to having a personalized service from their visiting tailors.

The Indispensable Charcoal Grey Custom Suit

Custom Suits made for men

The early death of some custom suits in a man’s wardrobe is usually not the wear and tear of the threading materials as a result of repeated uses, but rather it is just only one of two things.

And both could have been easily avoided if the man had only exercised good judgment and due diligence right from the beginning.

Simply put, the early death of his supposedly beloved and expensive tailored suits could have been prevented. The suit would have enjoyed a long and distinguished life if not for the wearer’s lapse of judgment.

The first lapse of judgment which may cause the early demise of one fitted suits could be attributed to a combination of a man’s overindulgence in food and a sedentary lifestyle, which simply means that he is not getting enough vigorous physical activity to burn off all those excess calories.

As a result, his expensive investment of a custom suit, which he had initially thought would be worth its exorbitant price since it would serve him elegantly well for many years, will have to retire early simply because it does not fit him anymore. The extra poundage is simply too much that no amount of tailoring alterations could salvage the suit.

A quality made fitted suit jacket or trousers can be usually let out or can be tucked in just few inches, perhaps maximum of 2 inches along the waist area or the sleeves. In some areas of a suit jacket like the shoulder yoke, it can be quite difficult to make even some minor adjustments without compromising the overall fit.

The second lapse of judgment that could be attributed to the early death of a man’s custom suit is merely a matter of fashion preference. Preference, that is, for being too caught up in fashion trend that one tends to forget that trends come and go. What might be in and hot right now may just as suddenly become outdated and passé a few months down the road.

And indeed, what would a man do if he finds himself with a tailored suit in a loud designs or colored patterns that was all the rage a season ago but is suddenly not ‘too cool’ to wear anymore. That is one of the dilemmas of having a too conspicuous design or too an avant garde style in one’s suits instead of opting for classic and timeless design and in solid staple colors.

 

Certainly, there is nothing wrong when a cosmopolitan man would sometimes go with an avant garde suiting style for as long as he understands that he may have to put to an early death, so to speak, this particular custom suit –no matter how much it had cost him to have it made.

Indeed, the often cited causes of the early demise of some custom suits in a man’s wardrobe are easily avoidable if the man wanted to. Both were just a matter of choice right from the start.

Good Custom Tailors Spell the Difference

There is a fine line that a man threads upon between exuding stylish confidence and being dull and uninteresting especially in the way he dresses himself up. And the fine line is all about having a bit of a help from custom tailors as opposed to merely walking to the nearest department store and randomly selecting one’s clothing attire.

A good custom tailor in your area, or trusted and proven visiting tailors from another city or country, whom you can rely upon to fill up your wardrobe closet with men’s suits; suits that are not only handcrafted excellently with good quality suiting and shirting material but, more importantly, would fit your body like a glove.

Only when these two criteria are basically satisfied can a man truly exude stylish confidence, which essentially comes from knowing and ‘feeling’ that he looks darn good in his choice of clothing attire. The admiring glances from onlookers and compliments from work colleagues can only add more boost in one’s self esteem.

The reason why a good custom tailor can spell difference between a good fit of suit and a suit that is maybe a designer brand, but nonetheless an off the peg one (read: mass manufactured by machines) is that a good custom tailor would be able to tweak the fit and shape of the suit according to the exact and precise size measurements and figurations of the wearer’s body. Read: tailored fit to your body.

And that small tweaks to your custom suits do make the difference in having that stylish confidence and to being dull and lackluster because of a shabbily made suit and dress shirt.

On the other hand, it is not uncommon practice for a man to buy a ready to wear suit, which is in some cases like branded ones can cost almost as much as the custom tailored ones, only to realize a little too late that they needed to take it to a local alteration shop to get that decent enough fit.

In certain cases, an alteration job does the trick especially if the pants are just an inch or two too wide or too tight. But more than one and a half inch adjustment jobs can already get a little tricky, if not unlikely already.

Indeed, sometimes ready to wear suits may be cheaper and easy to acquire –one just goes to the nearest department store-, but in the long run off the rack suits are actually expensive and more stressful because of all the needed alterations and the workmanship quality.

In the end, good custom tailors is the fine line between a good suit and bad one, a man who exudes stylish confidence and one who is looks dull and uninteresting.