I went to Hong Kong last year and unfortunately wasn’t able to visit any tailors. I was wondering if anyone knew of any that would accept outside tailorer measurements.
recommendations?
Websites?
Phone numbers?
Names?
Stories?
I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t make something for you. Finding a trusted tailor might be tough, however, unless you get a recommendation from a friend. I believe there was an article in GQ (US edition, but could have been Esquire) a month or two back about Honk Kong tailors. Might be able to go to a Library, scan some back issues, and get a name. I have a guy in Bangkok that I can order stuff from. I was over there in August at his shop. Got some thing while I was there, and will probably order from him again. Off the top of my head, I think shipping to the states was on the order of $50 for a couple kilos, which is kind of expensive in my book. Hard to beat a custom dress shirt for $18, though, shipping or no.
The way I had it explained to me:
There really is no consistent agreed upon measurement system. Every tailor will have a slightly different definition of chest diameter, inner leg etc. For a decent tailored suit, millimeters count and you really need the tailor to measure you himself.
A good tailoring job should involve multiple fittings. The measurement is only a crude first step. You then try on the suit and any imperfections are noted and the suit is adjusted. You can only really do this in person.
What you can do though, is get measured once. They can keep your (much more detailed) measurements on file and you can order more suits or shirts via phone or mail.
A tailor that came highly reccomended to me is W.W Chan. I need to get measured next time I’m in Hong Kong.
You should also keep in mind that a tailor in the US will measure you in inches while a tailor in Hong Kong will probably be using the metric system. Not to say you couldn’t convert, but that adds an extra element of confusion/possible error.
There are a couple of tailors who travel around the US and set up in a hotel suite with a swatchbook and a measuring tape. They measure you and send the dimensions off to Hong Kong.
This is probably a spectacularly stupid question, but uh, why not just use a tailor in this country?
Tailors in Hong Kong have a reputation for providing excellent quality suits for a very low price.
As was pointed out earlier, getting a suit handmade for you is a multi-step process. You’ll have an initial visit where measurements are taken, cloth picked out, lapel styles, vents (or not), cuffs, zipper vs. buttons, etc. are discussed, but that’s only the start. You’ll need to go back for fittings to get it to drape correctly.
I’d be leery of getting one tailor to take my measurements and another to construct the suit if he’s never going to be in the same continent.
Are there even American tailors? The (much more expensive) alternative to Hong Kong that I’ve heard of is Savile Row.
Nathan’s on Main Street, downtown Richmond VA makes very, very nice custom suits and shirts.
Even some totally out of way places have tailors 
Any idea where I can find these guys?
I can’t remember their names, but the one I’m thinking of advertises widely when they go on the road, including a full-page ad in the NYTimes or the WSJ.
True, but Hong Kong is a total rip off. If anyone heads up toward Beijing-Tianjin, you can get a fantastic suit in about a week for $25 USD(material included). I have three.
As I said, I can’t remember the name of the tailor I was familiar with who was in this business. However, I found some companies by Googling “men’s suits tailor hotel traveling US.” I can’t recommend anyone, but the first link seemed to be a company that does this sort of thing.
Hong Kong has a depth of expertise very few other places have and certainly none approaching that price range. You have people there that have made suits for 3 or 4 generations. I’m sure you can get a perfectly decent suit made in Tianjin and probably quite a few mediocre suits made in Hong Kong. But for the true top end, it’s pretty much HK, London and Naples/Milan with a few isolated brilliant tailors scattered around the globe.
What about Thailand or Singapore? I’ve heard excellent custom suits for under $300 can be found there as well. Any truth to that?
I have had excellent suits made in Korea town in LA. They cost about $300 about 4 years ago. These were one coat and two pairs of pants. I imagine that this is not unique to LA. I would expect to be able to do this in San Francisco, New York, Miami or Chicago and probable smaller cities.
The big variable in the cost is what fabric you want used for the suit. They had the $200 fabric up to to the $1500 fabric.