The hoods are used to concealed their identity when  they wear ill fitting clothes

---

Added on August 26, 2010, 1:28 pm

The  only ones available which are half decent are RTW ones from the designer brands ( Armani etc )

The "Kei" Jacket from Canali is particularly nice.

BTW a friend has borrowed mine in an attempt to have Gshen's tailor replicate it. Should be another worth while challenge for you to have ALT make something similar or even a shirt jacket since you've beaten him into total submission with your soft DB. How's that progressing?

The Armani is mine -The ill fitting Canali his. I told him that it was not a good buy but he was carried away with the euphoria of attending the opening of the boutique at KL Pavilion & was probably enticed by the attractive sales girl to do an MTM.

He probably want something robust for travel & is contemplating a shirt jacket which would probably have no canvas.

Sounds like him to be very detailed & demanding I'm sometime surprise he didn't carry an entire encyclopedia with charts & diagrams etc. Comes from his early experience as a lab rat !!

I have mixed feelings about the bespoke Brioni that he is so fond off after he abandon the Row. It seems to me that it's a lot of money compared to what's available in the market. He could have opted for Caraceni or a Gianni Campagna which is much better in terms of fit & finish . His insistence on a loose fit is probably what affects the shape of the jacket . For some strange reason he would wear jumpers underneath his jackets & an extremely fitted Jacket from the Row would have made uncomfortable Was it the Grey or Navy Brioni he used as a sample?
The Grey doesn't seem to fit as well as the Blue version  he first made. I understand that there were some issues at Brioni which lead to the departure of the former MD for Brioni as well as my friend's cutter for his initial suit.

The new cutter made modifications to the pattern which in my opinion was unwarranted.

Thanks for the tip . I will pay a visit to W Bill when I am next in London . The place is a maze of materials & one can spend an entire day there.

Be truthful: How many hours a week do you spend at Iris?

You obviously love this particular friend of yours very much beau, but I do not see why you are protecting him so militantly. Gshen's remarks were just his honest superficial observation, and did not imply any deep knowledge of your friend to make his observations an accurate reflection of his bespeaking skills.

Your response is very telling .

1. It is a fallacy to generalize & group all Asian Tailors under the same category. If you have been following this thread, Kotmj had fought hard to get his way with his tailor to the extent that he is now commissioning a fully canvassed non fused suit !!. Similarly the reputable Hong Kong tailors ( WW Chan ) would risk their reputation to take on commissions that do not accurately reflect their clients intent.

I think your mutual tailor will be in for a rude awakening if the jacket my friend is commissioning does not reflect the  understanding he had arrived at with your mutual tailor . Either there would be numerous fittings & re-cutting until consensus is arrived at or he may ask me to post his remarks with supporting pictures to express his unhappiness with the end product. If any of his request are beyond your mutual tailor's capability, it is best that this be raised at the onset & expectations set early.

2. Most of us are open to constructive feedback. However your comments do not seem to be substantiated apart from implying that my friend is confused & you did not like his Brioni suit. Given the fact that you claim to have have experience in interacting with your mutual tailor, perhaps it would be useful for you to list down in detail how you would have instructed your mutual tailor had you been in his place. The other forumers  ( both here & on SF ) have provided detailed feedback on their interactions with their respective tailors which serves as a useful guide on how to engage with the said tailors.

3. Were you fully privy to the entire discussion between the tailor & my friend? Did you have an opportunity to peruse the checklist compiled by him? Do you know what his intended use of the commission in question?

4. Would you care to share your other experiences in instructing other tailors apart from Iris? Any interaction with the big boys in HK? ( WW Chan, etc ) What about the Row ? Or any experience with the big designer names or artisans in Italy?

5. By your own admission you spend an inordinate amount of time at Iris. The feedback you have given here ( as well as SF & London Lounge ) seems to support the assertion that you either have a vested interest in your mutual tailor or have frequent commissions as part of your lifestyle or work requirements.

In the meantime we shall see the outcome of my friend's commission before pre maturely declaring it as a disaster

There's great friendship but nothing bordering on love.

I have known him through university & remained friends over the years despite having been colleagues, collaborators & competitors in the professional sense. It seems that the remarks about him were uncharacteristic.

---

Added on August 28, 2010, 10:16 am

Gshen,

Thanks for this detailed feedback. The root cause of the issue at hand is clear:-

1. He informed me that he wanted a jacket which would be used in travel around the region in warmer climates. The jacket has to have numerous pockets to carry the mobile devices that seems to be a growing part of today's life & yet adopt to situations where business casual is called for or allow him to put on a tie & look respectable in a club or restaurant with more stringent dress code. Part of his intent was communicated to your mutual tailor although the second part about the business casual use was not.

2. I understand that the swatch material booklet was not available at that material time. He prefers lighter fabrics in the 10 to 11 oz range -I have recommended him the W Bill linens & also the Harrisions both of which are good alternatives to the H & S linens .

3. He was trying to garner some understanding of your mutual tailor's capability & seems to be  comfortable with their previous dealings where she ( I thought it was a he ) has been reasonably forthright about his choice of options. The problem lies in his expectation of "soft" . He was expecting "Italian Soft" when "British Soft" would probably be more appropriate given the jacket's use. I think he has come to this realization after the recent interaction with your mutual tailor .

4. There appears to be some confusion over the "gorge" . What he wants is a high gorge but cut either in the same style as the Armani or the Brioni .I don't think he meant that the gorge position would be the same as these two jackets that was used as references. As far as cut of the Brioni is concerned his remarks are quoted verbatim:
"That gentleman never had to endure long meetings where one is expected to be fully suited. Being well tailored is one thing but comfort super cedes close fit in the final analysis"  .

5. He anticipated the potential lack of comprehension which is why he used pictures to help illustrate his point. Based on the samples he's seen in the shop  , he seems to be reasonably confident that your tailor will be able to deliver 80% of his requirements.

I think he needs to remember that he is not dealing with someone on the Row or Rome & with that in mind , I would proposed that he takes the following remedial action:-

1. Look at W Bill & Harrisons before deciding to go with the H & K Linens,
2. Provide greater detail to your mutual tailor on the use of the jacket so she acquires a better understanding of his needs
3. Clarify the issues regarding the gorge & jacket structure  . Go thought all his requirements again to ensure that there is some consensus with your mutual tailor.

There seems to be culpability on all sides but this episode serves as a good reminder that we need to be clear when instructing our tailors & the tailor's first task is to ask the client what & how he plans to use the clothes commissioned & provide suggestions .

On my part I would not mention your negative remarks about him ( with the exception of the Brioni ) least you encounter him on a professional basis. I apologize for my blunt demeanor and hard talk  - a habit picked up from attending reviews .

p.s. It is great to hear that your mutual tailor has a nice ambience much like a gentleman's club. It reminds me of the stories I've read about the late Douglas Hayward & his clients as well as my personal experiences with the smaller Italian tailors where a fitting is often accompanied with an offer of food or drinks thus adding to the congenial atmosphere.

The one thing that would most increase the perception of comfort is sufficient upper back width. Office workers slouch a great deal, and the back needs to be wide enough to accommodate this. If you do not see blades of drape at the back of the armsyce, the jacket will not be perceived as a comfortable one. This is further compounded when the arms are expected to be resting on the table in front of you. One would actually need pleats at the back for this.

The next problem to solve is the mass of canvassing , shoulder and chest padding on the front of the jacket. It makes for a voluminous obstruction to the slouch posture. Remove the volume padding and substitute the haircloth with hymo. To further allow the chest are to be compressed, the canvas should be soft, and cut on the bias. The chest pad should also not extend all the way into the armscye, but instead end an inch or so from it.

A mass of pockets adds substantially to the insulating properties of the jacket. A far cooler solution is patch pockets.

Armholes should be high to reduce the likelihood of the jacket vertically displacing itself when one is seated.

The buttoning point should be high.

Trousers should be fishtail, because with such trousers the waistband loosely encompasses the waist, allowing for the inevitable circumference increase of the gut when seated. If fishtails cannot be considered, an elastic braided belt would be a good alternative.

The trousers should be cut on the easy side, with plenty of crotch allowance.

I would not go with linen for the uses you mentioned. My first choice would be high-percentage mohair, because it is always crisp, always business-appropriate, yet is very cool especially in combination with a quarter lining in ermazine. Wrinkles fall out faster than anything I've seen. Featherweight mohair (8 oz) has all the shape retaining capabilities of a much heavier wool, so the jacket is lighter to pack. (Do you really want to pack a 15 oz linen?) Also worth considering are tropical wools from the Italians and of course fresco, but these do not have the light weight and drape properties of high-percentage mohair.

---

Added on August 28, 2010, 2:36 pmYet another feature that makes for a cool jacket is the single button silhouette with very open quarters. This kind of silhouette is one step away from wearing the jacket unbuttoned.

Sir Kotmj, mind telling me on how good is the quality of Dugdale wool fabric if compared with the other Italian fabrics.