I will be going to Hong Kong in November with my 19 y/o son. We will be there 2 1/2 days. Is it possible to have a suit made for him in that time, and any info about Sam's Tailor? He's 6-3, on the lean side. I've heard that it's not that easy to get clothes for tall men there.

Blondie, for custom-made clothing, the clothing is made for the specific person. The fact that it is hard to find ready-made clothing for tall or large people in Asia has no bearing what-so-ever on custom made clothing.

Two and a half days is quite short for a custom made suit. The rule of thumb is that you need a minimum of three fittings for a custom made suit. If Sam's is where you want to go, email them in advance and see if you can arrange for an initial consultation as soon as you get to Hong Kong. Make sure your son brings along photos of what style he is interested in. He will have to make decisons about how he wants details he has probably never noticed on a suit.

Two years ago my husband had Sam's make some shirts and he's really pleased with them. His only regret is that he didn't get more.

My husband had a suit made at Sams almost 10 yrs ago and the quality was so good - we just threw it out at the end of last year! That wasn't even made with an expensive material either.

Hello everyone. My husband and I just came back from Honk Kong. We went to Sam's tailor to get a few things done. We had heard good things about him on Fodors as well other travel guides. But I was personally very dissapointed with him. Well, my husband got a suit done, 6 shirts, 4 slacks and I got three slacks and one shirt done. (All for $1665) First, after three fittings of my husbands clothings, they came out nice. You must try everything and make sure that you like everything before you leave the store. I feel that if you were not persistent in trying things, such as shirts and slacks, you would not be satisfied with the products. I feel that their presentation on the final product is cheap. The stitching inside the lining of the Jacket looks like you bought the jacket at the dollar store. The stitching on the slacks looks horrible as well. When everything is done, they will just stuff everything wrinkled in a plastic bag and hand it to you. The order number is written by a marker on the shirts and it just looks horrible when you finally pick up the stuff. Overall, my husbands' clothes came out nice..Again, not happy with the stitching. We will find out if there are mistakes once the stuff is washed and pressed. We had 7 days in HK so the first thing we did was go to Sam's to get measured.

Now, the slacks and the shirt I ordered is a totally different story. I ordered the pants to have a modern look and I gave them specifics as well as showed them a picture. On my first fitting, they told me to try on one of the slacks, so I did. The pockets were as deep as my height. The style of the pants was something totally different from what I showed them and what I had in mind. Not even my 89 year old grandmother wears this kind of pants. As for the shirt, they did not want me to try it on and said "oh it's just a shirt, we measured you and it will fit fine" Well, I'm a very persistent and pain in the ass person when it comes to these things. I want to see the final product and how it fits me before I leave the store. So I tried the shirt on...and guys, it was embarrising what I saw...The baggiest shirt I have ever put on..I'm size 2 and that shirt was at least a size 10. So I called on Sam to look at the shirt and he tried to tell me that "It's the material and you don't want it tighter than this because the shirt will shrink and then your breasts will show" So I insisted and said "I refuse to wear this shirt..it's too big on me and it's supposed to be fitted." So then he decided to take it in a bit. I go in for the third fitting. The shirt was just as big and I felt that they did not do any work to it. The pants too, they looked like I had something in my crotch and they were not fitted pants and I have a normal body..it's not difficult to measure me. Anyway, after persisting again that I am not going to wear this pants the way they look, the tailors told me that they will fix them and they insisted to drop them off at my hotel (since I was leaving that day). But I was not about to let that happen. I wanted to make sure that my pants and shirt fit perfectly, that is the purpose of me paying $150/a pair of slacks. So finally, I go to pick them up, and one of the pair of slacks looked just as unfitted as the first time I tried them on. At that point I had enough. I told Sam that I refuse to wear this slacks. He said, well it looks fine on you. I said, you are lying and if you claim to be a tailor for over 30 years, you know damn well that this pants make me look like I have a penis. Other ladies at the store were saying the same thing that they looked horrible on me. So he was trying to tell me that well, if you had let us drop them off at your hotel, we would have fixed them. I said, you had 6 days to work on this pants, I had 4 fittings (which I insisted because normally they don't want you to have more than 2)and the only reason that he wanted to dropp of the stuff at the hotel was for me not to have the opportunity to try them on. So, he said, well, I can fix them and ship them to NY. I said, absolutely not, if you cannot fix them in 6 days and 4 fittings that I had, it does not leave me with the impression that you can fix them. I said, so I will take the other two slacks (which I was not too happy with) and for this pair, you have to give me my money back. He said that he cannot do that because I ordered the pants. So I was telling him that you promised me to make fitted pants for me and the style I want, you have done none of these and therefore, I am not happy. So I asked for the money back. He said, I can't do that...etc etc. Granted the store was full. So I pulled him aside and said, "Sam, I am not leaving this store with this pants, because they are embarrasing, especially when you claim to have over 30 years of experience. I refuse to pay $150USD for a pair of pants that make me look like I have a penis, so you either pay me back for this pair, fix them and next time I come to HK, I will stop by and pick them up and pay you the money. Otherwise, it will not look too good when I start screaming in front of everyone, especially when everyone saw the way those pants fit on me. So if you are smart, you will give me my money back so that I can leave the store without your new customers hearing this" He tried to convince me that he will fix the pants and ship them to NY so there is no reason to give me my money back. That in itself disgusted me about Sam. How are you going to keep the money for something that you have not delivered. Anyway, finally I raised my voice and asked again for him to give me my money back. Soon he realized that it did not make any business sense to continue arguing with me in front of his customers so I got the money back for that pair. He is lucky that I accepted the other two pairs and the shirt as I was not too happy with them. I just will not wear them. To pay $345 for clothes that will just sit in the closet, it's a bit dissapointing. I was very exicted at the beggining because he had a good reputation, but I left that store totally disappointed. Hopefully, I'll find someone to give the clothes to, so that they don't go to waste. As I mentioned before, the shirts and slacks/suit that he made for my husband looked fine and fitted, but as far as him being slick and trying to get paid for something that he did not deserve, I was not happy at all. The presentation and the stitching was horrible. I have been to other tailors, in other countries and they put Sam's Tailor to shame. I personally will not go back there. As far as the material and when we wash the clothes for the first time, we will find out what Sam's work will look like. Sam was the first tailor that did not press the clothes and presented them to its customers wrinkled so that you can barely tell if its a stiching problem or they just need to be pressed. I found that you only pay for the name because as far as work, it's totally disappointing. I would not recommend him at all, but especially for women's clothes. Hope this helps.

My husband has used Princton Tailors for years. It takes about 3 days, but the quality is excellant. The best part is that they come to the US every year and bring your old measurements with. They remeasure, then compare the two and in about one month you recieve a package with your beautiful new clothes!

iksi79 It just shows how standards drop. Sam's obviously trading on his "old" reputation. What a story! Good for you for standing up to the old swizzler!
I had the same problem with evening dresses made in Bangkok -they delivered them to the hotel as we were leaving. I could have made better fitting dresses myself! A total waste of money. My husbands suits were really good though.

Sorry to hear of your ordeal, iksi79. In general, I find it much harder to find tailors who do good job on women's clothes. (We've got more curvey figures...) Tailors who get most of their orders from men's business suits are sometimes quite clueless on tailored-looks on women's (softer) suits, and may give you just scaled-downed version of the male suits.

I recommend a couple of things: find someone with good reputation for doing WOMEN's suits, (or failing that scan through their samples, check if they have women's mode magazines/pattern books at their stores, and see if displays of customers business cards have proper % of female clients) and bring a photo or something you like you already own as a sample.

Also tailors who do good job on shirts don't necessarily do good jobs on suits (could it be different material handling, lining etc?).

I've never understood why Sam's has a good reputation among some people. His clothes and materials seem mediocre to me.

Two doors down from Sam's is Ash Samtani. They're not great, but they're pretty good, and a much better value than Sam's, in my mind.

But WW Chan is several notches above Ash Samtani, in materials, in fitting, and in overall garment quality. Chan very definitely does women's clothing, and they also make regular visits to the US. As you would expect, the price at Chan is significantly higher than Ash Samtani or Sam's.

My wife and I were in Hong Kong last summer and had several items done at Sam's. They would simply not be my suggestion for women's wear.
Men's wear is a mixed bag, mostly dependent on what you are looking for.
Shirts are done well with what appears to be good pricing. Quality has also proven to be good after commercial laundry abuse for a year. Absolutely try everything on before accepting and if the fit is not as desired make them change it.
The outcome for other tailored items (suits, jackets, etc.) is, as noted above, dependent on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a particular "cut" (higher jacket, etc. then you will probably not be happy with the outcome. They appear to be a journeyman shop turning out well fitted items of good quality and workmanship at a good price. If you are looking for "style" or that suit/fabric that will make you feel like a million bucks go somewhere else.
Good luck.

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 or more. 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