Sam's In Honkers, what linen fabric

"The brute covers himself, the rich man and the fop adorn themselves, the elegant man dresses!"

-Honore de Balzac

Post Reply
offshoresa65s
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:37 pm
Contact:

Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:45 am

Hi

Forgive my irreverence re the title of my post but, I am Australian.

I'm travelling to Hong Kong in early february and have my heart set on being measured for a linen suit at Sam's while I'm there.

Has anyone been here before? I mean having Sam produce a linen suit?

I remember having a linen suit as a very young 20'ish year old man and now in my mid fifties I confess to having little knowledge of the fabric.

I would be delighted if anyone can offer some enlightenment about linen and secondly their experience with Sam's in Hong Kong?

Many thanks

O
Concordia
Posts: 2635
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:58 am
Contact:

Thu Oct 04, 2012 11:57 am

If you go to Sam's door then take two lefts and a lift ride to the 2nd floor, you will find WW Chan. They carry W Bill, as well as several other good English books of Irish linen. They will also do a nice job making it up-- although you might have to e-mail ahead to make sure that it's in stock. I'm guessing that this will be a problem with a lot of HK shops.
Simon A

Thu Oct 04, 2012 12:13 pm

Sam's are awful, don''t disappoint yourself. They do reasonable work for their Hollywood customers and appalling work for everybody else.

WW Chans will do a very competent job for you, as will Gordon Yao at the Royal Palace Hotel in Tsim Sha Shui East, about 3 minutes by cab from WW Chans. Both have good cutters and tailors with 3-5 decades experience each, based in Hong Kong. Prices fairly similar.
tchoy
Posts: 137
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:28 pm
Location: Sydney Australia
Contact:

Thu Oct 04, 2012 1:01 pm

I am follow Aussie, like the other said give Sam a miss.

You can purchase linen suiting here from The Cloth Club to take to Hong Kong. Gordon Yao will do CMT but not WW Chan. Both houses can source W Bill linen which is a good alternative.
DFR
Posts: 268
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:16 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Fri Oct 12, 2012 8:04 pm

Sams is absolutely dreadful and solely exists to rip off tourists. Don't fall for it.

Gordon Yao (Royal Garden Hotel on Mody Road not as above is excellent and will do CMT, Chan is of a similar standard but won't do that.
caldwell
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:43 am
Contact:

Fri Oct 12, 2012 8:25 pm

Consider this another vote for Gordon Yao. He has made a few LL cloth suits for me (no linens, though, as of yet) and he also carries a full line of linen from other producers.

I know that Gordon himself also travels (at least sometimes) to Australia. He's fully fluent and conversational in English, and makes a wonderful suit.

I worked with WW Chan on a couple of pieces, as well, but thought that their house style was a bit stodgy. I didn't know enough to ask, and the jackets on my armholes are very low. (Achingly British, I would say.) Atractive for what they are, but I definitely prefer higher-armholed, longer-waisted jackets. The fact that they won't use LL fabrics makes Mr. Yao a no-brainer for me when I'm having something crafted in HK.
rogiercreemers
Posts: 160
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 6:30 pm
Contact:

Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:53 pm

Was that your Brisa DB Yao posted on Styleforum recently?
caldwell
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:43 am
Contact:

Sun Oct 14, 2012 6:54 pm

rogiercreemers wrote:Was that your Brisa DB Yao posted on Styleforum recently?
Yes, post 215 and 216 are both LL Brisas and both now hang proudly in my closet. I'm really pleased by the quality of Mr. Yao's work, and I see that at least one other member must be, as well, since I saw a tweed herringbone posted in the same thread.
rogiercreemers
Posts: 160
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 6:30 pm
Contact:

Sun Oct 14, 2012 8:31 pm

It is a wonderful suit, and I must say I especially like the shape of the lapels. However, you have made my life slightly more difficult, in the sense that I had anticipated turning this PoW into a blazersuit and wear the coat as a separate. Now, your suit has sort of made me wondering whether or not I could pull it off as a DB odd jacket...
DFR
Posts: 268
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:16 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Tue Oct 16, 2012 6:24 pm

caldwell wrote:
rogiercreemers wrote:Was that your Brisa DB Yao posted on Styleforum recently?
Yes, post 215 and 216 are both LL Brisas and both now hang proudly in my closet. I'm really pleased by the quality of Mr. Yao's work, and I see that at least one other member must be, as well, since I saw a tweed herringbone posted in the same thread.
Gordon can be thoroughly recommended: I have had about 15 suits, several jackets and pairs of trousers from him over the years.
Mr Hillier
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:59 am
Location: The High Seas
Contact:

Sun Dec 22, 2013 12:44 pm

Is Gordon Yao still going?

Many thanks!
Last edited by Mr Hillier on Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
rogiercreemers
Posts: 160
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 6:30 pm
Contact:

Sun Dec 22, 2013 6:02 pm

Just picked up a Reid and Taylor deadstock PoW three piece from him last Saturday. Not a fast email responder, though.
Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 43 guests