Ater much hemming and hawing, I think I've decided to try and get some clothes made (suits, perhaps--but definitely pants and shirts) while we're in HK.

I have no idea how to begin that process once we arrive...or if we even have enough time.

We're there about 3 full days (and leave on the 4th)...the folks are staying a day longer. Maybe if things aren't ready by the time we leave, they can bring stuff back--or we can have it shipped? Would be ideal, though, to finish everything in 3 days, but I realize that's a tall order.

So, where do I start? Do we go to them or do they come to us? Any suggestions on what to know when we meet with one? Any great tailors to recommend for men's clothing?

Sorry for my naivete--I really don't know much about this at all.

You likely have enough time, but here is the process you should follow to make sure:

Decide on a tailor before you leave. Then send the tailor e-mail, outlining your travel plans and asking for an appointment as soon as possible after you've settled in to your hotel. The tailor will let you know if your plan is possible (it almost surely will be), and he'll confirm the appointment.

Plan on spending 2 hours for the 1st appointment. Much of this time will be in selecting material for the clothes. Don't be shy about asking the tailor questions. Also, the tailor will ask about the details of your clothes. For slacks, do you want pleats? slash pockets or vertical? cuffs? back pockets? ... etc. Again, don't be shy about asking questions if you're not sure. The tailor will also measure you and set up an appointment for a first fitting (probably the next day). Almost all tailors will also schedule a second fitting (2nd day), and the you pick up your clothes on the following day.

Search the forum for Hong Kong tailors and you'll find a wealth of information. You'll find that there are high-end recommendations (WW Chan and Ascot Chang, for example) and mid-range recommendations (Ash Samtani and Sam's come to mind).

rizzuto has given you some good advice.

I used Maxwell's (they do both men's and women's clothing). They are in Kowloon, quite close to the Star Ferry. I also recoommended Maxwell's to a friend who had a good expereince there as well.

One other thing to consider. If you have something you'd like to have copied, bring it along. I had an unusual silk top I wanted duplicated. Bringing it and having them copy it was remarkably easy! Of course, they will still measure you and make all the tiny adjustments as well as any changes in design you'd like.

You may also want to bear in mind that materials you use can really affect the final costs. Tailor-made clothings are really worth for more value-added/labour-intensive items, especially like jackets.

Agree with the others that ideally you'll need 3 fittings for suits/jackets/trousers, especially for the first-time order. 3days seem definitelly reasonable for shirts (usually 2 visits--measuring and one fitting).

The tailor can visit your hotel for 2nd/3rd fitting, but you'll need to go to his store for fabric/style selection. For shirts--it's the obvious bits--cuffs, collars, monograms etc. For suits, you'll need an idea of seasonality (light vs medium materials).

I'm more familiar with women's tailoring, but both myself and Dh are very happy with David's shirts on Kimberly Rd for shirts. Not cheap but very good quality and wide selectionof fabrics. (We have separate tailors for shirts vs suits.)

I have mixed feelings about David's shirts. The fit is indeed excellent, but the materials tend to require high maintenance. David seemed surprised when he learned that I did not have an amah to launder and iron my shirts.

I've found the shirts from WW Chan to be every bit as well made, though their selection of shirt materials is not as extensive as David's.

Mu husband uses Princton tailors. You gop to them.. The nice thing is that they come to the US once a year so you can reorder. They keep your measurments on file and double check that your size hasn't changed. I'd also recommend Rio Pearl for fabulous jewlery

Many HK tailors visit US/Europe--I believe David's Shirt does as well. It's good for a repeat order, as they keep your pattern on file. You just ask them to put you on their mailing list.
I used to use Mode Elegante, which I found was excellent for women's suits (more business or Chanel-style, less evening), though this was some years ago and I heard the two partners split so not sure of their latest credentials.

I just posted this for another poster, but will repeat it for you. For tailors in Hong Kong, you will get what you pay for. The days of very cheap one day tailors are gone, despite what the guys handing out brochures at the Star Ferry will tell you. For suits, you need at least one fitting, better with two. For shirts, you need at least one fitting. For ladies dresses, you need at least one fitting, and in my opinion if you can do two, that is better to make sure the finish is perfect. So if you are visiting for only a few days, make sure your tailor is the first stop on your itinerary. Do some comparison shopping for ready-made clothes before you leave so you know whether what you are being offered is a bargain. All things considered, I don't know how cheap Hong Kong tailors really are anymore. I think for men's shirts and maybe very simple women's shirts and skirts they are probably a good deal. Otherwise, you are going to pay about the same as off-the-rack at home. However, to me the advantage of a tailor is be able to choose the fabric and the design, using a very good quality fabric or a luxury fabric like cashmere and getting a custom fit. If you want seriously cheap tailoring, you need to go over the border into Guangzhou in mainland China (quality is quite poor in my opinion, however). If the following places are on your itinerary, you can probably find cheaper tailors there: Bangkok, Ho Chi Min City, possibly Beijing (although in Beijing I think you will find quality to be poor and you will be told you are buying silk when in fact you are getting polyester unless you can really tell the difference. It is very much caveat emptor in the PRC. I assume everything is fake and pay accordingly.)

Tips on using tailors:

It is advisable to make an appointment, esp with better tailors. You won't be rushed or pushed aside for other people coming in. In my experience, they all speak English; it would be most unusual to find a tailor catering to Western tourists who does not. The level of English in Hong Kong is generally excellent.

You can bring a piece of clothing you like to have it copied. They will not take the item apart to copy it. They may not even keep it, and may only take a brief look at it and take some measurements.

Tailors can copy from a picture; however they need front, back and side views; esp if it is a dress with a low back or similar feature. If you don't have pictures from all sides, be prepared to describe features that are not included in a photograph. If the picture is of a dress by a well-known designer, then just a frontal photo should be OK, they should be familiar with it (or have copied it for someone else.) You can choose to use a different fabric if you like, but do consider their recommendations as to how different fabrics will hang and wear, etc.

Some tailors require that you purchase fabric from them, others have a selection but will also work with fabrics that you bring in, but will charge you a bit more for labour than if you used their fabric. Maxwell's only allows you to use their fabric to the best of my knowledge, the others below will all either use their fabric or you can bring in your own. I have listed some suggestions on where to buy fabric in Hong Kong.

Some tailors will have a posted price list, but you can bargain, esp if you are ordering a large number of pieces. Custom work and copying from pictures or your existing clothing will cost you more than using one of their designs.

Some tailors I can recommend are:

Maxwell's Clothiers Ltd.
7A Han Hing Mansion
38-40 Hankow Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
website: maxwellsclothiers.com
e-mail: [email protected]
tel 852-2366-6705
fax: 852-2366-6658

This is a long-established tailor in Hong Kong. I have used them in the past, and many of my friends use them as well. They are in Kowloon, sort of behind the Peninsula Hotel. Maxwell's is located in the Nathan Road area of Kowloon, where you will find a ton of tailors. There is a map on their website showing their location. You have to buy fabric from them, but they have an astonishing selection. They will keep your measurements and you can order from them on-line in the future. I would make an appointment with them.

William Cheng & Son
8/F, 38 Hankow Road
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: 852 2739 7888

This is a tailor which I have not used, but a friend of mine has used a few times as he felt Maxwell’s was getting too expensive. I have seen the suits he made, and think they are very good. These tailors about at least a third cheaper than Maxwell’s. They are also in the TST area near the Peninsula. I don't know if an appointment is necessary, but it wouldn't hurt.

Margaret Court Tailoress
Flat G, 8th Floor
Block A Winner Building
27-37 D'Aguilar Street
Central Hong Kong
tel: 852-2525-5596
fax: 852-2537-0898
e-mail: [email protected]

I have used her for a few cocktail dresses and about half a dozen pantsuits and have been very pleased. Her shop, on the upper floor of an office/apartment building is in the middle of the Lan Kwai Fong bar and restaurant area, so is convenient. She has a very casual shop and staff so don’t be put off by the mess of her shop, she does good work. She has a good selection of fabrics, she will also work with fabric that you bring in yourself. She is closed on Sundays. I would call ahead the day you want to go and fix a time to stop in.

Fashion Altering Company
Shop 215
2nd Floor
Melbourne Plaza
33 Queen’s Road, Central
Tel: 2868-1713

These ladies have done alterations for me for about the last 10 years and have recently copied a few items for me which I think were done very well. They charged about US$70 a piece for the work, not including materials. I think they would be very good a copying an existing item you have, I am not sure about whether they can design items from scratch. The shop is in Central, quite near the Pedder Building and the bottom of Lan Kwai Fong. They do not have anything in the way of materials, so you should bring your own, or go to Western Market first and buy materials (see below.) They are closed on Sundays. No appointment is necessary.


Fabrics

For fabrics, IMO the best place to go in Hong Kong are (i) Western Market and (ii) Chinese Arts and Crafts. Western Market is just west of Central on Hong Kong Island and has about a dozen fabric stalls, see one I have used, below. Shanghai Tang in the Pedder Building in Central also has silk, it is fairly expensive, take a look at http://www.shanghaitang.com/shanghaitang/index.jsp. For Chinese Arts and Crafts, there are various locations around town, the one near the Star Ferry pier on the Kowloon side has a pretty large selection of silk and cotton fabric. Go to http://www.chineseartsandcrafts.com.hk. Another place which probably carries fabric is Yee Hwa Chinese Products Emporium, they are like a down-scale version of Chinese Arts and Crafts. They have various locations in town, their biggest shop is in Kowloon right on Nathan Road, go to http://www.yuehwa.com/yh/english/hkallstore/p2_2k4.html for locations. Both are open every day.

A textile shop in Western Market to try is:

Yau Fat Textile Company
Shop 105&106 Western Market
323 Des Veoux Road Central
Tel: 2850-5169

They are open every day I believe, but call ahead for Sundays to make sure. This stall is about the second stall on the right as you come up the stairs/escalators. The woman in the shop I have generally dealt with is Rowena, but there a Chinese gentleman there who is quite knowledgeable as well. They have a very very big selection of material. Silk and wool run about HK$280-250 a meter (roughly $35-44 a yard), not sure how that compares to US prices.

All of the advices given (specially Cicerone) will become extremely useful as the amounts if tailors in HK could be overwhelming. Just returned from HK & will like to add my two cents to this discussion.
My DH got 1 suit, 1 sports jacket, 2 linen sport pants & 4 shirts made to order for a very reasonable price. Went for a tailor my son used in 2000 & were quite satisfied with the final product. Took around 2 hours to select the fabrics, most of it were in a sample book, others were in stock. Went for 2 fittings & everything was ready in three days.
I"ll like to make a point here & please someone correct me if I got the wrong impression of how the "tailoring system" works in some places in HK. We went to a store front located in Kowloon where the owner (I do not know if he is a tailor) showed us the fabrics, took measurements & made the first fitting.
On this first fitting I was extremely attentive & picky about some details (I am in the garment business & have some knowlege of fabrics as well as fashion) that needed to be corrected, which were politely accepted by him.
On the pick-up day we got to the store & was told that the tailor was on his way. He arrived, did personally the second fitting & just a minor alteration.
Later on I found out that many stores in HK use "wokshops" with its favorite tailors that are located on back allys & not on the stores' premises as many more expensive stores do. I figure the prices of the garments will vary depending of fabric selected, tailors reputation & the place where the store is located. It's not the same store's rent at the Peninsula or the Mandarin Oriental than the Kowloon hotel or street locations on Nathan Road & those expenses has to reflect on garments prices.
I do not know if this is important to know or will make any difference as we we were highly satisfied with the chosen tailor performance & the final products.
Hope this will add a little more info for your search as it always wise to have the most possible information.