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| J. Crew |
Over the past year, I have depended on my custom-made shirts as my everyday 'work' uniform. 'Work' meaning work-for-money kinda work, 'mommy' work as in pick-up-the-kids-from-school-meet-with-the- teachers-go-to-the-family-day-kinda-work and other extras like go-to-the-mall-and-pay-in-the-Bayad Center-because-I-have-received-a-disconnection-notice kinda work. So the shirt is quite versatile right? My closet has such a frustrating selection that I even wore one to an out of town trip simply because I 'had nothing to wear'. So what if I look stuffy? I prefer it over t-shirts still. I have given up on buying t-shirts because they have a very short lifespan - they get deformed upon washing, they bore holes for I don't know what reason ( speculation : over use of fabric softener?), and they fade after a couple of uses. (ok, blame it on the househelp.)
So a year ago, I went to King Philip Tailoring, the branch near San Lorenzo Village Makati to try their services. They charge P1,500 for labor on a long sleeved shirt.They also carry a selection of fabrics but I brought my own from Fabric Warehouse.
As I have earlier mentioned, I am quite predictable. In fashion choices, I cannot go too girly nor trendy. I have long depended on polo shirts, even back when I was in college. My frustration is that women's off-the-rack shirts have collars that have a tendency to lay flat and sloppy over time. KP shirts come with collar sticks ( in plastic material). These are good because they keep the collar upright, the way I like them.
I have specified French cuffs, because I like how polished they look. Downside is, I don't get to show off these cuffs since I like wearing my shirts with sleeves folded, similar to how model wears it at top most photo sans popped collar. They work out nice since they are snug and fit right after folding, even if the cuff is kinda stiff. ( If you want to wear them long, no need for cufflinks since they come with buttons to connect them "kissing style".)
After a year, my shirts are still doing their rounds. I still like wearing my shirts, they still have the same shape, they have not faded, their collars still stand with pride. Except that...
I cringe at the label.
After thoughts:
1. Prior, I have seen David Celdran feature the legendary Hongkong tailors as well as the exclusive Ascot Chang on his show. I thought, maybe our local tailors are worth a try...I guess I expected too much. Over at King Philip's..
- Browsing through their catalogs is like a travel back in time. I swear. I should've taken pictures. Their catalog pages look somewhat like this...
Even their official receipt looks like it came from another era. Let me look for it...
- I expected a well-versed person in the art of tailoring to attend to me and answer my questions and maybe recommend the best styles for my body type , but I got a regular shop keeper kinda service.
- I wanted to choose buttons, the ones I had in mind, but in the end I had no choice but to pick the simplest and most ordinary ones instead.
- And the kicker, one shirt was misaligned.
2. This particular branch does not accept credit card payment. They have someone run out to the nearby Glorietta branch to have it swiped there. Hmm, so much for executive class.
3. I spent around P350-400 on my fabrics from Fabric Warehouse. A couple I picked were just right, the others though were not as cool and light. I have yet to discover where to find quality fabrics at a reasonable price. There are no decent white fabrics in FW if you want it for your perfect white shirt. I got my white fabric instead in KP. It was expensive ( that I had 3/4 sleeve style shirt made instead to save haha!) but the quality of the fabric is good.
Coming soon : The P350.00 Kamuning Challenge
You should write long posts more! :)
ReplyDeleteMy dad has gone to King Philip, like, forever! So I cannot imagine that you and my dad go to the same tailor! But they used to make shirts excellently (for my dad). And they probably ordered 2 million labels in 1972 because that's the same label all my dad's shirts have.
They say there is a stall in Kamuning whose tailor came from Tyler. Or maybe that's an urban legend.
You think? I edited out some parts already after publishing this post. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, your dad and I can do tailoring talk na.
They were well made, I would go back definitely. It's just that I expected to see a distinction between an established tailoring house vs. a regular tailoring shop who would not charge as much but still give a good end product ( now that I cannot set such high standards anymore considering that one shirt had a misaligned 'finishing' from KP).
LOL at 2 million labels, maybe same with their receipts!
Or maybe, the tailor at Tyler came from Kamuning? LOL
I am commenting very late as I was just searching for information on Fabric Warehouse. I agree that most Manila tailors do not do a good job, but I came across this shirt maker (http://iamdeerhunter.blogspot.com) in an article in the Philippine Star and took a good look at his blog ( see how all his checks align on every single seam?) That tales a perfectionist!). He seems very passionate about his craft and although I haven't yet seen his shirts in person, he may be worth visiting. Good fabrics are really very hard to find in Manila, mainly because the staff in the fabric stores have no idea what they are selling. Polyester is referred to as silk, and if you ask if a fabric is pure cotton, the answer is always yes even if it 65% polyester and only 35% cotton! shouldn't really blame the staff but its the owners who should be responsible for training their staff properly!
ReplyDelete@WeLoveSewing - It's true when shopping for cloth in Manila you really should know your stuff. But you would be surprised, I thought we were bad, it's 20x worse here from cloth to everything else and no one speaks English. I think that's why I'm always sick from the stress of day-to-day living. =P I know the girlfriend of iamdeerhunter and yes he seems very passionate about his craft. If you want EXCELLENT tailors, you should go to Naluzzi in (NALUZZI 811-43-52; 811-42-92 2/F Atrium Building, Makati Avenue, Makati) Look for "Boy" Naluz. He makes The Diplomat and DiploBros suits. He also makes suits for past presidents, some well dressed men in Manila and many foreign diplomats. DiploBro has a couple of suits/shirts made every time he comes home.
ReplyDelete@eyecandy I love plain tailored white shirts too! I never know about the collar stays. We always just use starch =P I've never had one made for me, because I always inherit my aunts vintage stuff (yes it's that durable aye?) Perhaps I'll have one made for me so I can finally use these cute cufflinks I have!
If you want super nice stuff, check out the above-mentioned. It's in an old building but they really know their stuff... it helps that Diplo Bro is so well versed in suits and even gives em magazines and books about it too. =P He has a thing for em.
Btw another blog related question, I always love the layout of your graphics, do you mind if I ask, what app you use?
ReplyDeleteDiplowife: hey, thanks for the info! Starch-- never thought of that, you're right that's simple.
ReplyDeletePhotoshop and Illustrator!
Hubby tried iamdeerhunter too. He is very meticulous. They had to redo the collar many times because my hubby and iamdeerhunter agreed it didn't fall quite right. Though it looked okay to me. :) I shall have custom shirts done for me too soon.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year @eyecandy :)!
cool! now i will have to check out iamdeerhunter! Thanks! Happy New Year!
ReplyDelete