British Textiles Tailoring Co. (Shirt Review)

Learning from our mistake last review, we remembered to pick a shirt we could assess pattern matching as well as the general fit and craftsmanship.

Overall, the general fit from the frontal view is good. Noticeably the shoulders fit well and the cut was as we requested – not excessively slim. Unfortunately, a recurring problem with our shirts are the diagonal lines that run from neck to arm pit.  Possibly a shoulder angle issue?

Side view is very clean with almost no blousing and a correct sleeve pitch.

Another clean view from the posterior. No unsightly pulls or creases but just a minimal amount of excess fabric near the shoulders.

When investigating the stitching in different locations, the result is not pretty. In full transparency, other shirts we review commonly have this issue but this case seemed especially noticeable.

Pattern matching at shoulder is correct.

In contrast to the shoulders, the pattern matching at the sleeves and side seam are lackluster.

A satisfying collar shape with a soft roll at the buttoning point.

Our impression of this shirt changed the deeper we dove. We were impressed by the fit initially but certain details left this shirt ‘incomplete’ for us. An average consumer might have left quite happy with this shirt as all appearances point towards a decent value. However, poor needlework, flawed pattern matching and the same plastic buttons you would see on a $200-300 shirt dragged this one down. In this price range though, we have yet to find a better shirt with suitable attention to detail.

+ Good fit and details in esthetic zone satisfactory

– Disappointing craftsmanship in less obvious areas

William Cheng & Son (Shirt Review)

As almost with most of our tailored shirts, one week later the shirt was ready for pick up. Upon inspection there were no major errors that needed changing so we proceeded to wash and iron the shirt for review. One factor we noticed immediately was that the fabric felt rather thin and insubstantial but we accepted that as a compromise for house fabric at a reasonable price.

From the frontal view the flaws were not too unsightly. The most obvious critique from the front would be the sleeve pitch and (minimally) longer length.

The right chest area has some bunching which can be seen at this view. Furthermore, the incorrect sleeve pitch creates some twisting at the upper arm. There isn’t any excess fabric or restricted movement though, which results in a good ‘slim’ fit.

The posterior view is clean showing no blousing. More evidence of incorrect sleeve pitch visible.

Correct shoulder width resulting in a harmonious fit. Twisting of the right sleeve fabric is ants at the picnic.

2mm plastic buttons were expected at this price range, but their 1mm MOP buttons at additional cost looked even worse.

Reasonably tidy buttonholes.

This shirt was a pleasant surprise. As our first shirt from this maker, the fit was unobjectionable. They come off as a strong contender to Lee Baron (a favorite) and they are similar in terms of construction, details, and house fabric quality (or lack thereof). Where Lee Baron tends to lean towards a ‘comfort’ fit, William Cheng delivered a ‘slim’ fit down to a tee. They are definitely a good entry-level option for bespoke shirts.

+ Well fitting shirt at decent price

– Incorrect sleeve pitch

 

 

PYE (Shirt Review)

Two weeks following our store visit the shirt was ready to be picked up. A relatively long wait time considering the size of their operation and the fact this is not a fully bespoke shirt with an existing pattern.

The same issues that plague a lot of EC’s shirts showed up in this one too – rumples down the front. From this view we could also see the shoulder width was just slightly insufficient but the sleeve length was satisfactory. Apologies for the ‘washed out’ lighting in the photo.

Quite ‘clean’ when looking from the side although there is blousing at the back.

Obvious ‘ballooning’ of the shirt from the posterior view and a complete lack of shape.

Oversized collar (which was expected from the first visit’s trial shirt).

Another view to show the lack of waist suppression in their ‘Regular’ fit.

Poor pattern matching seen at the shoulders.

Another aspect of the shirt showing a lack of pattern matching with the horizontal stripes.

Reinforced side seams to extend the ‘life’ of the shirt, often considered by many as the sign of a well constructed shirt.

Split yoke by ‘default’ in their shirts to give added comfort to the wearer. Another nice touch?

We’ll avoid talking about the fit of this shirt too much. It’s obviously not a bespoke item so criticizing this aspect seems unfair. The overall craftsmanship of the shirt is decent, but when considering the price we would say it simply meets expectations. The split yoke and reinforced side seams at face level are positive and seem to imply that PYE cares about quality, but their lack of pattern matching reveals their true colors. Perhaps these added details are included just for show. At this price ($1580) we’d like to simply remind the reader that there are plenty of good bespoke options for shirts.

+ Comfort

– Unjustifiable price?

 

 

Lee Baron (Shirt Review)

We didn’t take them up on their three business day turnaround time and we picked it up one week later. The first noticeable detail on the shirt was that the collar didn’t appear to be the one we asked for. We had requested a semi-spread collar but instead received a spread collar – we let this one slide and decided to review the shirt anyways.

Our first impressions of the shirt fit were very good, especially when considering the price. The shirt was slim but not too snug. Exactly what we wanted. When looking at the shirt from the front there were still some diagonal rumples running down the shirt but this was not too unsightly.

The lateral view shows clean shoulder/sleeve transition. There is also no excess fabric at the shoulder blades. The sleeve length is good and the sleeves themselves are not too baggy or tight.

From the back we can see a nice shape born from the waist suppression. There’s no pulling at the armpit area which also means there’s sufficient room in the upper back for movement.

A decent shirt length allows for less un-tucking during movement. There’s clear tapering out from the hip area to account for the buttocks.

Pattern matching is satisfactory with only a slight mismatch from one shoulder area. Some loose stitches are visible which is similar to our shirt from Jantzen but nowhere near as extreme.

Satisfying pattern matching with the sleeve placket, an improvement from previous Lee Baron shirts.

We noticed they changed their button stitching from a parallel stitch to a cross stitch. Judging from this and the improved craftsmanship, we suspect that they may have changed workshops.

To put it simply, we liked this shirt. We liked it even more when we remembered how little we paid for it in comparison to some of the more expensive tailors. It satisfied all of our criteria when it comes to fit and craftsmanship – at least to our personal standards. If we had to nitpick, the only mistake was the collar style (which is still an easy fix). Starting at a mere $280, they beat the competition with quality, service and efficiency. Lee Baron may not be the Styleforum sweetheart anymore but it won us over with this shirt.

+ Value for money

– Prone to mistakes

Sun May (Shirt Review)

Exactly one week later (as promised) the shirt was collected. The condition in which it was delivered was so stiff it could have served as a frisbee. Hoping one round of washing and ironing would help the fabric look and feel a little better led to…just disappointment.

‘Drapes’ un-aesthetically. Creases running diagonally across the entire shirt with added prominence on the right side. Wrinkles on the sleeves are just from wearing.

Relatively clean from the side profile. Sleeve length and width are good. Creases from the front still visible.

Posterior shot shows no excessive fabric and no tugging/pulling near the armpits. Sleeves look tight which is likely due to the lack of measurement at upper arm. Not as uncomfortable as it may look.

Can’t help but criticize the poor quality of fabric and craftsmanship. Extreme puckering of the fabric at the placket and the back seam.

Irregular cuff shape show low level of care during cutting.

Collar is poorly defined and again shows inattention during cutting of the fabric. Lack of overall shape and finish is unsightly.

A comfortable fit could not make up for the fact that the fabric’s characteristics were lackluster. The price of the shirt was low and the value of the fabric and finished product matched it entirely. While comfortable, the shirt does not look pleasing due to the diagonal folds running down the front (any ideas why?). This shirtmaker is a difficult recommendation – for the same price range we’re going to try Lee Baron and see how they fare.

+ Fits comfortably

– Third-rate craftsmanship, crude fabric

Chiu Ah (Shirt Review)

The tailor working the store was vague about the turnover time but indicated an approximation of just under one week. The result actually exceeded our expectations, especially considering the haphazard atmosphere of the store and the lack of communication between the tailor and ourselves.

Overall good fit. Slimming but not constraining. Billowing sleeves which don’t fit the slim nature of the shirt.

Clean from the sides. Sleeve length a touch too long, but satisfactory.

May be considered loose fitting at the posterior shoulders but this slight excess allows for good range of movement without pulling.

Tapered out from the waist and good shirt length accounting for large gluteus maximus ass.

Collar is spacious but nothing compared to the first collar Brown’s tried to make JL accept.

Visible lines that affect the aesthetic of the shirt but not the comfort.

Decent pattern matching on one side. Can be said for one side only.

Undeniably baggy sleeves.

A man of few words, but he let his work do the talking. He was able to deliver a shirt of good fit but the old-school tailoring shows, namely in the sleeves. If we went back to correct the sleeves, the shirt would score very highly in our books. All things considered, out of all the shirts we’ve tried so far this was the closest to a ‘perfect’ score without further alterations.

+ Comfortable and reasonably well fitted

– Sleeves are too ‘classic’ (read: blousey)

Brown’s (Shirt Review II)

When we returned to Brown’s for the shirts, we found that JL’s shirt was strangely ill-fitting. Not only were the sleeves over an inch short, he could fit an entire hand in the collar. Surprised that this was the fit they produced, we simply had to insist on changes. Here are the results after adjustments were (begrudgingly) made.

Same issue with lines pulling from collar to armpit.

Clear lateral lines visible from posterior neck area towards the shoulder.

Familiar creases at the armpit. Difficult to keep shirt neatly tucked with short length.

Comically short shirt length.

A longer collar length was requested but as the height was not adjusted accordingly, the result was collar flaring reminiscent of the 70’s.

Collar fits snugly now after revisions.

Significantly tidier buttonholes compared to EC’s shirt.

We had to stand strong on our revisions at the fit appointment in order to get the changes we wanted. Felix had advised both of us that the short sleeve lengths were trendy (?) and seemed adverse to revising to the length proportional to our arms. Furthermore, when we wanted changes to the spacious collars, he educated us on giving a more “precise” collar size when we came in for measurements – a lesson he felt necessary because the collars had to be remade in their entirety.

+ MOP buttons at no additional cost

– Tried to persuade us to accept a shirt that was ill-fitting even by RTW standards

 

Brown’s (Shirt Review I)

This shirt took a long time. A call came in 11 days after our store visit, just as we were wondering if they had completely forgotten all about us. If the effort they put into the shirts could match their store’s interior design efforts all would be forgiven though.

Our initial results were far from satisfying on our fit visit, so after our comments and another 21 days (which brings us to 32 days total), these were our results.

Frontal fitting view showing diagonal pulls leading from collar to armpit. Initial sleeve length was short by one full inch, revisions improved length but still short of showing cuff with a jacket.

Side view showing a close fit when stationary.

Right armpit shows obvious crease.

Loose fitting collar.

Tension of the stitching causing some bunching after just one wash and iron.

Nice thickness of the MOP buttons at 3mm.

Sloppy button holes.

High armhole placement causing a lot of restriction during movement (again).

The time it took for Brown’s to make our shirts was bordering on the ridiculous. Whilst the fit for the finished product looks reasonable enough, the overly high armhole placement ruined it. The revisions and the sheer amount of time it took to produce left us underwhelmed. For one of the more handsomely renovated tailoring stores in Hong Kong, the final product was disappointing.

+ MOP buttons at no additional cost

– Time time time

P.S. Review of JL’s shirt from Brown’s coming soon

Simpson Sin (Shirt Review)

Eager to see if the finished product from Simpson Sin would be as good as their service, one week later we picked up the shirt. To cut a long story short, either someone was not honest about the number of jelly donuts they ate over one week…or the shirt was cut far too tight.

Severe tugging at the shoulder initially. Noticeable improvement seen after refinement (brighter photo is the before shot).

Tugging more clear from the back. Again, significant improvement can be seen after refinement.

Small imperfection in the front piece of the fabric. Looks like random stitching.

Shirt is fairly tight, most evident in the armpits. Twisting of the fabric in the upper sleeve restricts movement.

Bunching around the armhole.

Distinct diagonal lines leading from the middle of the back to the right armpit due to the high armhole placement.

Shirt did not account for the size of my gluteus maximus butt which leads to obvious pulling at the lowermost button and also diagonally from chest to waist.

Some specific requests we gave seemed to give them trouble. The buttons on the shirt were wrong as despite specifying both sleeve buttons and MOP buttons we came away with neither. Another point to note was that during the store visit we discussed an unfused construction for the collars and cuffs, again the final shirt had neither. In conclusion, a shirt that was finished too slim which needed fixing and some misses in terms of construction. Not to say that we wouldn’t go back, their friendliness and openness to errors we pointed out made it an easy working relationship – a necessity for finding a good tailor.

+ Improvement following refinement

– Completely missed out certain features we asked for

Jantzen (Shirt Review)

After a week’s wait and one fruitless visit to the store, finally the shirt was received and tried following a washing and ironing. At the first visit we had specified a ‘moderately’ slim fit shirt and the result was close to our expectations.

Slim but pulling especially at the armpit. Good sleeve length. Clean shoulder lines.

High armhole placement with tugging seen from the front. Excess (?) fabric seen from the back.

Excess fabric in stark contrast to the frontal view. Enough fabric to cause blousing near the waist.

Distinct lines leading to the armpit.

Posterior shot of the fabric pulling near the high armholes.

Snug but comfortable collar.

Thin and unappealing buttons.

Loose and spaced stitches (low stitches per inch) .

Tight cut and pulling from the posterior leading to highly restricted (and uncomfortable) arm movements.

Very narrow cuffs means you can’t raise your arms without testing tensile strength of buttons.

Overall, a shirt showing a dichotomous fit which left us scratching our heads. The combination of the tightness at the armpit and the narrow cuffs meant you can’t raise your arms past the shoulder. The poor construction and fit is consistent with pricing which means not amazing value for money but acceptable. If you don’t need to raise your arms.

+ Collar and shoulders fit

– Inconsistent – excessively slim in areas but ‘blousey’ in the back and waist