A few observations

[Guest]

1) maxnharry, my suggestion was to look to Eastern Europe, not go to Bucharest! But if you can brave the fact that the tailors in Bucharest only speak Romanian (and I mean ONLY, not French too), and only take cash (no wires or cards), then good luck! Believe this or not, I initially got the tip about this tailor from Style Forum! His mention was an obscure reference that no one picked up on except for me since I speak Romanian and I am married to a Romanian. His name, address, and telephone are

Gheorghe Negrila (1 Constantin Exarhu 407-4425-0233)

An alternative who would need slightly more guidance in the small things, slightly less in fit and cut is

Marinescu (2 George Clemenceau w 402-1314-3239 h 402-1776-4651)

For example, he made suits without working buttonholes, which I did not notice until I had run out of time, and he used nasty foam shoulder pads. There was less handwork and his job was a cruder affair. But the cut was less "Romanian" which I can only describe as "continental without poetry."

Remember, for the suits I just received, which I judge a success, I sent fabric I purchased at Smith's and Holland and Sherry. Unless you are willing to pay OUTRAGEOUS prices for Scabal, which has a representative in Bucharest, your selection of fabrics there is extremely limited, only a few Zegnas and low-grade Barberis Cannonico, which as best I can tell is not fake but Romanian production under its label. The place that sells Zegnas has its own tailor, but I have not tried him.

2) regarding Jantzen, the key is to email and follow up with phone calls. So far as measurements, you take your own very carefully, measure stylistic things on shirts you already own like length of collar, and then you endure one or two iterations' going wrong. Once you get the measurements and style right, you ask Ricky to choose things for you rather than waste time picking things off the web, which is a truly useless exercise, for example "send me the best summer-weight white fabric you have" or "send me the best winter-weight French blue fabrics you have." I like a fairly loose fit so if you are beautifully slim and you want to show off a fine torso, you are probably out of luck. Ricky's information is

8522-570-5901 info@jantzentailor.com http://www.jantzentailor.com/

[AlexanderKabbaz]

Gallo owns DD, I believe.

Thanks for that, uppercase. Interesting story.

[BirdofSydney]

Remember, this is not a ding against shirts $50-300, it is more a reflection on how much shirt Jantzen gives for the money, provided one learns how to "milk it" like I have.

I'm curious, what does "milking it" involve? I presume you mean getting every last drop of finishing and construction out of Jantzen, but how precisely does one do this?

All the best,

Eden

[rjman]

A quick reply to AK's discussion of Pantherella and Richard James socks. The RJ socks come in several material combinations, notably 70% cotton lisle, 30% nylon; 100% cotton; 70% merino 30% nylon; and 100% cashmere. Some of the cotton lisle socks are in very fine ribs. I too have had one or two pair of those quickly wear. Those for which I've followed the care instructions -- as on the label -- cold delicate wash and hang dry -- are doing OK. I've owned some pairs for five years. I've never had a problem with the flat knits or the merinos. My impression is that RJ is not cutting corners with its Pantherella production, but that RJ simply orders certain delicate fabrics. They feel nice too. Unlike other designers, RJ socks actually come in medium and large rather than one fits all, like Paul Smith.

[AlexanderKabbaz]

RJ: That sounds like a designer doing it the right way. What you have described sounds like standard Pantherella fibre, size, and rib combinations. If this is correct, and James is merely having Pantherella adhere RJ tags and/or print RJ info on the sock bottom, then you are, in fact, receiving the genuine article. The problem arises when the less scrupulous, preying on the less sophisticated, downspec the materials and labor but use the unwwritten 'mystique' to sell their inferior wares.

[maxnharry]

1) maxnharry, my suggestion was to look to Eastern Europe, not go to Bucharest! But if you can brave the fact that the tailors in Bucharest only speak Romanian (and I mean ONLY, not French too), and only take cash (no wires or cards), then good luck! Believe this or not, I initially got the tip about this tailor from Style Forum! His mention was an obscure reference that no one picked up on except for me since I speak Romanian and I am married to a Romanian. His name, address, and telephone are

Gheorghe Negrila (1 Constantin Exarhu 407-4425-0233)

An alternative who would need slightly more guidance in the small things, slightly less in fit and cut is

Marinescu (2 George Clemenceau w 402-1314-3239 h 402-1776-4651)

For example, he made suits without working buttonholes, which I did not notice until I had run out of time, and he used nasty foam shoulder pads. There was less handwork and his job was a cruder affair. But the cut was less "Romanian" which I can only describe as "continental without poetry."

Remember, for the suits I just received, which I judge a success, I sent fabric I purchased at Smith's and Holland and Sherry. Unless you are willing to pay OUTRAGEOUS prices for Scabal, which has a representative in Bucharest, your selection of fabrics there is extremely limited, only a few Zegnas and low-grade Barberis Cannonico, which as best I can tell is not fake but Romanian production under its label. The place that sells Zegnas has its own tailor, but I have not tried him.

2) regarding Jantzen, the key is to email and follow up with phone calls. So far as measurements, you take your own very carefully, measure stylistic things on shirts you already own like length of collar, and then you endure one or two iterations' going wrong. Once you get the measurements and style right, you ask Ricky to choose things for you rather than waste time picking things off the web, which is a truly useless exercise, for example "send me the best summer-weight white fabric you have" or "send me the best winter-weight French blue fabrics you have." I like a fairly loose fit so if you are beautifully slim and you want to show off a fine torso, you are probably out of luck. Ricky's information is

8522-570-5901 info@jantzentailor.com http://www.jantzentailor.com/

Thanks for all the info-was unaware that the tailor did not speak English, so will have to ponder that.

Your Jantzen approach is interesting as well and might help one find better fabrics that Ricky doesn't post on the Web. Do you still use his online form to get started?

[Guest]

That is what I did maxnharry (use the form). But now I just ask for general categories of things. The issue is not the quality of the fabrics displayed, it is the inadequacy of a web picture in representing a fabric's quality or true color.