BESPOKE, CUSTOM MADE, MADE TO MEASURE

Global Adventure Series, Part Eight

Bespoke-Custom Made- Made to Measure
-Jackson Blair





In my earlier comments about visiting Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai I failed to mention a really mysterious situation that exists.

As most travelers know, these Asian cities are known throughout the world for their suits and sport coats. They have the finest silks and cashmeres and wools. In almost every hotel there is a shop that will take multiple measurements and ask for three fitting sessions and produce a fantastic suit of clothing in about three days.

These tailors also operate in all the major department stores and in their own establishments along the street. Their walls are stocked with rolls of the finest fabrics and designs.

What most travelers do not know is that there is a backroom in these establishments where people work 24-7 to put this fine piece of clothing together for you. I don’t know if they work in shifts or work non-stop but I do know that the hand tailoring is exquisite.

In earlier times, these hand made pieces, known as “bespoke” clothing in England, had to be sent inland in China to get the actual work done. In those days, they would ship your finished product to you.

Today, if you have three days in the city, they actually deliver the finished garment to you prior to your departure.

Of even greater interest, they keep your measurements and will send you sample materials from time to time and make your made-to-measure clothing at any time. Many of these tailors make an annual trip to the United States and set up in a local hotel in the large cities and invite their customers to come and order new clothing. I noticed that the tailor I use here comes once a year to Boston. So they are able to keep their clients through mail order or through once a year visits.

Importantly, given that the clients do change in size from year to year, they not only take new measurements when they visit the U.S. but they will hand alter the clothes they made for you previously.

Readers would be interested to know that these garments sell for about 1/3 the cost of a similar “off the rack” suit in the U.S. When you consider the quality of fabric, the hand tailoring, and the individual fit arrived at from multiple measurements and three personal fittings, it is hard to pass up purchasing clothing in this manner.

Of course these tailors also offer custom made shirts. The savings is not quite as great on shirts but for people accustomed to buying shirts and blouses off the rack, made to fit multiple people, the wonderful feel of having a shirt that actually fits you is difficult to describe.

Funnily enough, in these hot and humid climes people rarely wear suits. So these folks live in an area where the best suits are made, with the possible exception of Savile Row in London, and they have little use for them. Accordingly, one would have to label this extensive bespoke business as a tourist industry.

As you walk around these Asian cities you can easily tell the tourists. They are the ones walking around in fabulous suits and sport coats, sweating madly, and the locals are wearing thin cotton shirts, untucked, over their unlined breathable slacks.

Although I have accumulated a lot of bespoke clothing from previous trips, it is simply impossible to pass on this quality and this price. So I will return to Boston with a suitcase full of new stuff that, at my age, I will not get to use often enough. I have already suggested to the wife that she vacate one of her closets to make room for my new wardrobe.

Her response is not printable in a family newspaper.