By the way, Jack at Monet is now making me 2 suits and 4 slacks using the measurements he had on file with slight adjustments due to eating a bit over the past view years. I had a tailor locally to make the neasurements not just of the waist but 2 others that Jack said he needed and I selected Canali fabric from 6 swatches he sent me and I will have suits at 25% the US price . I could not afford to buy a Canali 200 Superfine wool suit in the Us for less than $21000$2400.

In my experience with Bangkok tailors in general and Jack at Monet in particular, fabric quality is mediocre and certainly inferior to the fabrics at Hong Kong tailors -- both mid-tier (Ash Samtani et al.) and top-tier (WW Chang et al.). Bangkok tailors seem to be extremely well-supplied with fabric labels, and the labels represent the actual content about as well as the brand names on street market watches.

That's not to say that a made-to-measure suit from Monet il Sarto or other BKK tailors aren't a reasonable value -- they are, but don't confuse the quality (esp fabric quality) with the genuine article.

rizzuto; I am not sure just how you made such a blanket statement. I wore 1 of the suits Jack made of Canali 200"s Superfine when I was shopping in Sak's several months ago, by chance. The salesman whom I know from prior dealing commented on my suit and I gave him the story of it's origin. He felt the fabric on the leg where there is no lining and then asked if I would remove the jacket. I was more than happy to because I to was interested in his opinion if I have actually been getting the "real deal". He said this is the definitely one of the fabric Canali uses and it was either 180 or 200 Superfine and he thought the jacket was tailored,i.e. stitching, as well or better than the rack suits from Zegna or Canali. While he is not the worlds expert on fabrics he has been at Sak's mens suit dept. for at least 12-13 years that I recall. That is a far cry from a Patpong Market watch. Do you have your facts correct, or is it an opinion????????

I have a sport coat, several pair of slacks, and several shirts from Monet, and the same from Raja's Fashions (Soi Nana). <i>All</i> of the jackets and slacks have fabric labels, and I believe none of them to be authentic.

Apply a bit of common sense, Stan. Jack cannot get imported fabric at a price that's substantially different from the price that a US-based or Euro-based tailor pays. Do you really believe that 75% difference in price is just the difference in labor cost, overhead, & profit? If so, let me know, and I'll quit my job tomorrow and open up a tailor shop.

There's absolutely no comparison to the suits I've had made at Monet (or Raja) to those I've had done at WW Chang in Hong Kong. The materials, and the workmanship, are in an altogether different league. (And price.)

ekscrunchy I have the name of the Hong Kong tailor for you .

Eric Lam at Tai Pan House cell / mobile phone +85291869118 , shop A, Level 1 , Admiralty Centre , Tower 1, 18 Harcourt Road Hong Kong .

My friend found them when living and working on the island.I have seen some examples of their work and have been friends for 14 years so trust his recommendations about these things .

On holiday and shopping.
We ended up at a very large tailors in Bangkok as part of a tour.
There was definitely a hard sell going on and an unpleasant dispute over prices quoted (vs final price). Not relaxing.
I had a minor query about the location of a temple relative to the shop and no one could answer as none of them were from BKK but were from India?

Remember that traffic in BKK is like hell on earth at times.

We wasted over 3 hours travelling to and from our hotel for a fitting (hilton). The idea of several fittings travel time plus the time in the tailors all adds up to a very significant amount of time.
IMHO travelling half way round the world to shop like this is not my number one preference. Thankfully my wife was only getting fitted shirts.
The quality of tailoring and fabric didn't impress me.

Do what you desire, only you can decide if the money savings? are worth the time spent.

rizzotto; There are a few surprising situations I have found in in Bangkok and recently in jakarta. IIn BK I purchased 3 pair of eyeglass frames: One was a S.Dupont and 2 were Fred's both French designers. They came with international waranatees. I purchased them from aone of a chainof of about 6 eyeglass stores in BK. I was not 100% sure there were 18 carat gold frames and by the "real deal" but they were nice, the stores were authorized by BK's Dept. of Tourism and they ranged between $200-$320 a pair.I bought all three. My local optomotrist was going to put in the lenses and confirmed they were genuine and indicated that certain items such as frames at the price I paid were slightly below his cost. The above can well apply to fabric.

Stan, if you're happy with your purchase, then good for you. As I said before, I found Monet Il Sarto to have mediocre quality/fabric compared to other BKK tailors I've also used (Maxcoco, Raja's), and enormously inferior to top HK tailors (WW Chan). I don't know what other tailors you have used, Stan.

I did find an interesting discussion of BKK tailors in general and Rajawongse (a BKK tailor with a good reputation) in particular on the Ask Andy forum, which to my knowledge is the most authoritative web resource for men's clothing. In that discussion (http://tinyurl.com/2u5fuyt), here is the key comment on costs and on fabric:

"The bang for the buck here is amazing, providing you do your homework and go in with your eyes open. Thailand's labor costs are low but its fabric costs are nothing special on the low end and are atrocious on the high end. Real high-end cloth - dormeuil, holland & sherry, scabal, etc. - has a luxury import duty in Thailand and costs about 2x more than it does in the USA or the UK....If you are buying Super 180's cloth off a bolt longer than 5 meters in Bangkok then it's almost certainly bogus."

rizzuto; I suppose reasonable men may differ. Though it was interesting that the vast majority of the comments of any substance on the site you shared with me are betweem 3 and 6 years old. Raja received a boost in 2008 from a fre lance editor whose article was in Conte Nast magaize but surprisingly no comments from then forward unless, I missed them, which would give us an idea if either of their shops are as good in 2009-10 as they were in 2006-7.
Let's call it a draw. I do not go to HK any more other than as a connection point so tailoring there is not in the cards.

i agree with don (R)... the fabrics are not fabulous, but for the price they are way better than readi-made garments in usa from medium priced stores, and they are custom fitted...

100% cotton also does not always mean that either....i find that with my shirts....some are certainly not 100% and you can tell this by the static electrity created in the dryer with some of them...

i also do not like jack's stiff collars....i prefer a more natural collar like brooks brothers offers and then starch the hell out of it...

John: Thanks so much for providing the name and contacts for Eric Lam.

Just wondering--if one does not like stiff collars why can't you ask for a collar without the interfacing?

you probably can

Oh you can but I have alway thought that interfacing is what backs the outer fabric between it and the lining especially on the front facing of the jacket .It is what gives the body to the suit / jacket to hold its shape .

If it is not properly used the end result if it is dry cleaned is the risk of bubbling / ripples appearing and marring the clean lines .I had that problem with cheaper suits I had made in Bali and Singapore .Might be a reason why dry cleaning is suggested as a once a year thing and spongeing / airing the fabric seen as a better means of care

Now if you prefer unstructured jackets such as Dior , Armani and Zegna pioneered it is perfectly acceptable to have no interfacing eg on linen / cotton.

Don't confuse Tai Pan with Tai Pan Row who are a completely different crew .

Will get us all the name of the custom shoe make as well .All nice conservative styles with a personal last made and resonably priced .

I am going back to Royal Tailors in Bali in about a month to have a suit made from fabric I bought from them 2 years ago but had no time to have tailored . Good name at the Galleria in Kuta .

Oh you can but I have alway thought that interfacing is what backs the outer fabric between it and the lining especially on the front facing of the jacket .It is what gives the body to the suit / jacket to hold its shape .

If it is not properly used the end result if it is dry cleaned is the risk of bubbling / ripples appearing and marring the clean lines .I had that problem with cheaper suits I had made in Bali and Singapore .Might be a reason why dry cleaning is suggested as a once a year thing and spongeing / airing the fabric seen as a better means of care

Now if you prefer unstructured jackets such as Dior , Armani and Zegna pioneered it is perfectly acceptable to have no interfacing eg on linen / cotton.

Don't confuse Tai Pan with Tai Pan Row who are a completely different crew .

Will get us all the name of the custom shoe make as well .All nice conservative styles with a personal last made and resonably priced .

I am going back to Royal Tailors in Bali in about a month to have a suit made from fabric I bought from them 2 years ago but had no time to have tailored . Good name at the Galleria in Kuta .

My old HK tailors were Princeton in Kowloon Road ( harris and donegal tweed suits )and Belle Homme off Nathan Rd ( dinner suit ) and Johnston Dong who made a mink cashmere overcoat and Hermes silk scarf into an evening waistcoat for the dinner suit rG. I still wear them after 30 years .

Thanks, John. I think there are different qualities of interfacing and the cheap tailors most likely use cheap fabric for that, too. There are also details like buttons and even thread to consider. Crappy plastic buttons are not going to improve the look of even custom shirts.

Since I am female, much of this is not in my sphere, but I will say that the experiences I've had with custom tailoring in Bangkok and in Vietnam have enforced the old saw that you get what you pay for. I've had lots of items made and most of them are certainly wearable and some even look pretty super. But they are not going to be giving Charvet, or Shanghai Tang any anxiety!

the interfacing we are talking about is in shirt collars, not on suit jackets, where it is of course essential for a smooth lay of the fabric

I do apologise rhkkmk. I missed that distinction . Had a similar problem with buckling on shirts because of poor interfacing but not , I might add , those made by Rajawongse which have been very good after a lot of wear .

ekscrunchy I agree .What these good HK tailors do is automatically provide for handstitched finishes / detail such as opening button holes on the jacket cuffs .

Rajawongse did that for me but I had to especially ask and pay extra .

Likewise hand stitched collars are truly that when good tailors make for you but lesser tailors now have machines which can replicate the look .

Got all enthused at the prospect of a visit to HK now .

Me, too! I want to go back there right now!

I agree with you about the details like the working button holes. The problem with much of this custom work (not talking here about fine HK tailors ) is that while it may fit, it never looks really fine. Some of the women's clothes just do not drape/hang correctly because the tailors do not want to waste fabric by cutting on the bias. Small details like that that you often do not think of when you place the order but that are all too obvious in the finished garment. It depends on what you want/need. Some of the fabrics in those custom places look really cheesy to me. If you are fortunate enough to live there, and able to test various places and establish a relationship, and go back for many fittings, your chances of success are probably much greater than the average tourist who is pressed for time.

I will open up this conversation again.

I have the option of stopping in Hong Kong or Bangkok with Cathay on my way to Laos. I want to have some clothes made and now that I see my layovers in Hong Kong could be long, perhaps I am better off to stay there for a few days instead of Bangkok to get some clothes made.

Any reccomendations on womens clothes and which is better, HK or BKK? I want a couple of suits and jackets made.

Thanks.