Ze buttonz, all of them both military and civilian, haf arrivee. The military ones are gorgeoz, Hermes quality, unparalleled.

Achtung! Ze booti. Freshly arrived from ze Vaterland.



Authentic antique German navy officer buttons. Superb craftsmanship. So damned beautiful. The smaller ones are French buttons. A bit used.



The French and German navy all together.



This post has been edited by kotmj: Jan 29 2010, 08:37 PM

So are my ties...



Dang. I forgot the dimple. Bear in mind, small-timers should not attempt my knot.

This post has been edited by bloke1: Jan 30 2010, 10:54 AM

Iz that shirt bespoke?

Behspoke. 1.5inch collar band, double button. But shoulders are made a damn bit wide by MBT.

This post has been edited by bloke1: Jan 30 2010, 11:20 AM

That tie is somewhat unusual. Muted, matt, quiet. Unlike most ties which are loud and celebratory.

My Fit & Match shirt too has a 1.5 inch collar band with 2.5 inch collar points. My armholes are smaller than yours though.

The trousers of my navy DB will be cut specifically for braces. Apparently that's what you do if you have a waistcoat made, since that covers the braces. Trousers for braces are 1 inch larger in the waist -- they are loose because, um, they don't have to be tight.

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Added on January 30, 2010, 11:44 amAttention! My troops.



Aerial photo of my troops.



This post has been edited by kotmj: Jan 30 2010, 11:46 AM

What are those clips above your giant troops for?

This post has been edited by bloke1: Jan 30 2010, 11:49 AM

The buttons are meant to be removable. Richard James Weldon still sells these clips.

I like that roll on your collar.

Awaiting pictures of a db navy blazer with your newly-arrived golden army.

My navy DB will take a while. I need to get more shirts and trousers first.

I was at Ah Loke today to have trousers made. He's more communicative this time. Told me all sorts of stuff. Also, he will make me a fully-canvassed suit for a price other "upmarket" tailors would charge for a fused suit (not even half canvassed).

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Added on January 30, 2010, 7:44 pmOh, I'm kotmj.

This post has been edited by servo: Jan 30 2010, 07:48 PM

Retiring signs? Becareful.

Tie no.2

[attachmentid=1426344][attachmentid=1426346]

The interlining is so thick that it feels like a drip bag.

This post has been edited by bloke1: Jan 30 2010, 09:56 PM

Phew, just came back from a Beethoven-heavy MPO concert. It was such a nice way of spending an evening. The last time I went was 10 years ago. I should do this more often. This, really, is the highest fidelity of all hi-fi. The sound goes from instrument to ear. Instead of instrument, microphone, recording device, tapes/hard-drive, cd-burner, home cd player, home amp, then loudspeakers then ear. Live music is something very special. The conductor is good too! My favourite Beethoven conductor is the recently deceased Guenter Wand, but Kees Bakels does a very good job too.

I was with AL before the concert, and he was happy to see me. Far more relaxed than any other time I've seen him. I think he is losing his fear for me (I can be intimidating to some people). I showed him my small town grandma tailor Ku Low Foo, and we spent 20 minutes analyzing it. He was looking at every damned part of the trousers, and asked me to wear it. In typical Cantonese fashion, he was very critical of many aspects of the trousers. This will be a 1.5 inch cuffed, double forward pleated, fly buttoned, side adjusted pair of trousers with medium rise and generous width. The sort you don't mind spending 10 hours in the office sitting in. It won't cause infertility due to constricted testes.

I was wearing my Ron shirt, and his seamstress said, "It fits you very well!". AL looked at it and expressed agreement. I said the tailor told me his shoulder is better than his, and AL said, "Yeah I cut the shoulder too horizontally with yours."

In the shop were TWO navy suits waiting collection. One of them was a DB. Naturally, I was very interested in it. We discussed side vents, the amount of overlap thereof, and he said his vents are curved, so they overlap a little at the top and as they approach the bottom hem they overlap more and more. I need to check the veracity of this tomorrow on my suits.

I told him some other tailors would send the cut panels to tailors specializing in full-canvassing if the customer requests for it. I asked him if he would do this. He said yes, but there are two disadvantages:

1) It will cost about 1K (I think I can negotiate it down to 900)
2) After the first dry clean, creases will form in all sorts of places.

He believes half-canvassing is superior to full-canvassing. He said the full canvas tailors do work, not for domestic cutters, but for foreign-based ones, including those from the UK.

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Added on January 31, 2010, 1:56 amNext!

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Added on January 31, 2010, 2:24 amI also asked him why labour charges are higher for wool. He said it's because wool is more difficult to iron than polyester.

This post has been edited by kotmj: Jan 31 2010, 02:24 AM

Tell him you'd do the ironing on your own.

BTW, would you pull the trigger on a really nice NWOT Italian made PoW wool necktie which costs 50USD excluding shipping charges? Width is 3.5".

This post has been edited by bloke1: Jan 31 2010, 10:30 AM

50+ USD is too much to pay for a necktie for me.

49.90 to be exact. But it's really beautiful!

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Added on January 31, 2010, 11:52 amCom'on, I can survive on bread for a month.

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Added on January 31, 2010, 12:10 pmOn second thought, maybe not.

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Added on January 31, 2010, 12:45 pmNEW UPDATE: RM160, shipped, satin blue/white 3.7" PoW tie.

This post has been edited by bloke1: Jan 31 2010, 12:45 PM

Huh

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Added on January 31, 2010, 12:58 pmHow does it look like?

This post has been edited by kotmj: Jan 31 2010, 12:58 PM

Presto!

[attachmentid=1426993]

This post has been edited by bloke1: Jan 31 2010, 01:15 PM

Shit!