Ambrosi of Naples Pant Pictures

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

-Honore de Balzac

dopey
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Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:02 pm

. . .
Last edited by dopey on Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
dopey
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Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:03 pm

Where have you been Terry? Master G has told us this tale once before.
tteplitzmd

Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:07 pm

Evidently without as much free time as others.
edhayes
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Sun Apr 08, 2007 5:25 pm

when is he coming back?
smoothjazzone
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Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:42 pm

Not sure

I gave him a trouser to copy

My order is being mailed to me without a fitting

When I ment him -- he assured me that what they make will be identical in terms of fit
edhayes wrote:when is he coming back?
smoothjazzone
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Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:55 pm

Incidently, one of the best fitting trousers I have were made by W.W. Chan. Since they were made with my fabric, they cost $185 delivered (includes shipping and customs). Plus the fabric was an additional $15 ($5/yard!!!).

Unfortunately, WWC will no longer work with customers own material. tteplitz may know more of the story but some customer asked for thousands of dollars in compensation when he did not like the suit they made for him.

With WWC, you have to be very specific about what you want -- and they usually deliver. What they made for me is not their standard trouser. What was remarkable was their ability to work their magic based on a couple of phone conversations and emails -- followed by one fitting in NY. Plus, unlike some NY based tailors that have a problem with consistency from garment to garment, WWC garments turn out to be identical nearly every time.

Its not Savile Row or Naples quality construction -- but its not Savile Row and Naples prices either. And its not far behind any other mostly machine made trouser out there. Only my trousers from Henry Poole (which are quite amazing) and latest trousers from A&S compare -- both cost considerably more.
masterfred
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Sun Apr 08, 2007 7:03 pm

Smoothjazz - what distinguishes your Chan trousers from those which don't fit so well - and how did you instruct Chan to deliver them as such?
smoothjazzone
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Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:38 pm

masterfred wrote:Smoothjazz - what distinguishes your Chan trousers from those which don't fit so well
Some of these problems are related:
Pleats that do not close
Trousers too tight at the seat and the thights
Back seam that does not fall straight and trouser bunches in the back just below the seat
The tailors desire to make me very narrow trousers that are completely out of proportion
- and how did you instruct Chan to deliver them as such?
Note that I am big and trying to avoid looking bigger -- the jist of my instructions to them were:

Wide cuff (22") -- may be wide for most but are in proportion for me

Very deep pleats (3" for the first pleat, 1" for the second pleat) -- for clarity, a 3" deep pleat will be 1.5" deep if you are measuring by insering a ruler into the pleat; for the record, most tailors make very narrow pleats that make them non functional; also contrary to popular perception, English pleats (facing inwards) that are appropriately deep and close properly are more slimming than continental pleats (reverse pleats).

Pants that have a moderate taper and fall nearly straight down to the ground -- results in fuller trousers (which I like) that are likely to avoid some of the problems mentioned above

2" cuffs -- again -- in proportion

Curved side seam -- the side seam is straight until approx 10-12" from the waist and then curves in moderately

High waisted -- trousers come up to my natural waist which is comfortable, attractive to look at (longer trouser line, just see any old film), and allows me to wear jackets that are cut away

High back that is a few inches higher than the front (cant't tell right now with the trousers on me)

Overall impact is one where suit trousers in particular mesh better with the jacket in giving one a longer line that looks good. And they are so comfortable to wear.

The Poole trousers are even better -- except the pleats are less deep. They also have better construction -- but also cost considerably more.
tteplitzmd

Mon Apr 09, 2007 1:35 am

I am just back from California, and was discussing COM with one of the owner's at Anto's, an established custom shirtmaker in Beverly Hills. It comes up especially when you have cloth that they don't or can't get.

re: Chan, I am not privy to all the facts. I used my own material with Chan since 1990, with only one minor problem. Patrick advised that there were a number of problems of late, with COM: some defective material, some material of uncertain composition (they use different trimmings, collar linings, etc., with some cloths), no recourse when their cutters make mistakes (this happenned to me once with them, ironically with their cloth), but most importantly they cannot fix something to a customer's satisfaction (viz. Mr. Smoothjazz's reference). I thought originally this was primarily a financial issue, but on hearing them out, I think they want, as Patrick put it: "To be able to control all aspects of production." Now, the good news is that they are now the exclusive source in Hong Kong for Harrrison's and Porter & Harding, filling a large gap in their sources. Also, they now have most of the Charles Clayton suitings.

It is unfortuante that they will absolutely not accept COM now. I have dozens of trousers from them, especially "novelty" items: Corduroys, linen, cotton, that I would not want to pay "retail" for bespoke trousers on. I concur with Mr. Smoothjazz, they do a very fine job: it is a bit of a game though. You want hand stitched outseam or pockets, you have to ask for them, otherwise you'll get machine stitch. They balked at first on copying my Ambrosi closures, 6 or 8 buttons? But, Patrick took photos, and we got rid of the metal closure, and everyone is happy.

re: COM, I think the customer necessarily forfits some rights when you go this route. I actually think it works to the tailor''s advantage if things go wrong: witness Maestro Nicolosi's butchering of some very nice milled worsted suiting cloth of mine. All I can do is hope that Mr. Ed Hayes would like to buy it from me, since the suit was apparantly made on his model, not mine.
masterfred
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Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:26 am

Thanks for the responses.
alden
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Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:16 pm

Mr Ambrosi will be in NY April 26,27 and 28.

Would our NY contingent be kind enough to suggest a good and inexpensive hotel for the visit. Thanks

Michael
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