Be suited

Discussion Open Forum
1

Sorry if this is the wrong thread (no pun intended), but I couldn’t find the metrosexual section.

Now my preferred dress up is a sarong, Thai fishing pants or Billy Jack if I’m heading out, but the new gig requires the occasional appearance in a suit. I’ve had one made before in Vietnam - nice Mandarin collar, which I prefer since I hate ties with a vengeance, however, I’ll probably have to go the full tie crappery, maybe even cuff links, etc, the full wanker as it were. Or do I need to? Could I not buck the trend of the wankers around me and try something more my own style? If so, suggestions advise graciously accepted.

But my real question is, what’s the best way to get a suit? I don’t want to spend oodles. I live in HK and they make them here, I also frequently visit Thailand and they do them there also. But I have heard good and bad about getting them made and often wondered if it wasn’t just a load of pretentious crap. Additionally, I heard the best way to get them made is hand them an expensive suit you bought so they can replicate another xx number of them.

There are good suits off the rack in Bangkok, and I do have a jacket that is the envy of many who see it that I picked up for around NT$1,000 at a Robinsons (department store chain in Thailand) near the old airport in Bangkok.

All suggestions and advice gratefully accepted.

HG

2

I got a suit and a sport jacket made at La Elite fashions on Mody Road.

They still send me cards 12 years after, so I think they are still in business.

I paid HK$3600 for a double breasted suit, a sport jacket with matching trousers, a few ties, and a few shirts.

The shirts are long gone, but they lasted a few years with infrequent use.

The suit is still there, but a bit small.

The sport jacket is worn out.

However I got nearly 10 years out of them, and yes, you might remember me wearing that sport jacket at the old stock sweatshop.

OK, I would go there or somewere similar, and get a neutral dark grey, dark blue or black single breasted suit made. Nothing fancy, a bit conservative, if you are to use it in connection with a job in say finance. As you aren’t tall and slimm as I am, gort for one with 2 buttons in the front. I go with 3 buttons, but your need the length and the slimness to wear that properly.

Remember to get 2 pairs of suit pants with the jacket, as the pants wear out faster.

Taylormade shirts are more comfy, and you can always add 1cm in the neck, if you fear that the tie will strangulate you.

if you wear the suit more than once a week, get 2.

PM me with any additional questions.

The HK taylors are into fashions, so you don’t need to show them anything. The guy selling to me hack then did some fairly good selections.

3

Had loadsa stuff made for teaching when I was in Bangers. Couldn’t quite squish myself into Thai girls stuff… ‘Polite cloth’ and all that.

Never really found anywhere I loved. The important thing is to go to somewhere attached to a decent hotel. Pratunam is a bit hit and miss. The key is to speak Thai and let them know you live in Bangkok and have lots of friends you could recommend the place to. If they think you’re on a flying visit tailors won’t make as much effort with the finishing, so stay away from Sukhumvit.

Thai silk looks stupid in suits, they always try to sell it to tourists. Doesn’t last long and looks OTT on men. Get a feel for different fabrics. Cheap stuff goes shiny at the arse, knees and elbows.

4

I believe Lord Lucan might be able to help you regarding “wanky suit etiquette”. He certainly corrected my obviously uncalled-for use of a button-down-collar shirt, not to mention the wrong sort of black leather shoes (I think he said they had the wrong sort of soles) last time I saw him. I believe my reply might have contained the f word, although that particular night was a bit of a blur, so it’s hard to remember with much accuracy.

5

Frankly it depends on what you wish to spend, how often you will wear it and for what purpose will you be wearing it.

  1. A ‘bespoke or made to order’ with coat, vest and 2 trouser made correctly and of the right (quality) material can cover all, or most all, occasions and last many years. For this you will pay accordingly. This might be the best option as quality lasts longer than the pain of handing over the money.
  2. Go to a good tailor and buy off his rack, if he has one, and hae the alterations done there. Good quality, good fit and good price if you nose around a bit.
  3. Buy a “good” off the rack suit at a reputable outlet or mall and take it to a quality tailor and have him alter it correctly is the next step for good appearances.
  4. One I’ve done in Los Angeles just for the fun of it, Buy your own fabric and find a seamstress or tailor who will do the job. Make sure that you agree on the construction and lining. This might save you a lot of money.
    (Remember, the stripes should go up & down - not across the body)

Just some options.

I think there is a thread on here about this same topic with tailors in HK and Taiwan listed.

6

Yeah, no button down shirts with ties or suits, they are for relaxed dressing or when playing polo. And they show that you don’t know how to dress.

Note that you should ask if the little pieces which keeps the front of the collar in place is made of paper or plastic. Obviously, paper only lasts to the first time you wash it, so get it made of plastic or metal. Again, any HK taylor can sort you.

Black leather shoes with leather soles or thin black rubber soles would be a good idea. The simpler the better, IE no golf shoe like perforations etc.

7

In your case HGC, if its all about creating an impression, it won’t really matter what you wear, as long as you keep yer mouth shut.

8

Stuff and nonsense, laddie! Ye canna be besmirchin’ the sartorial perfection that is the finely-lasted brogue, och no!

9

Sorry if this offends, Mr He, but it was precicely your ill fitting shirts and the way they managed to crumple in seconds that I had in mind when I talked about tailoring going all wrong (seriously! . . and apologies . . but I did damn well tell you many, many times back in the day).

Buttercup. Thanks for that. I’ll have Ms Huang in tow should I take the Bangkok tailor option. She actually had a stall in Pratunam at one stage, so there should be no problems there.

Stu. But we know what a pretentious twat our dear Lord can be. Can you possibly imagine how insufferable he would be if he ever earned anything akin to what he could spend? Personally, I thought a French cuff was a previously unheard euphemism for condoms until he set me right.

TC. Thanks for the tips. I think failry frequently, well at least certainly more than the odd wedding or funeral.

Aiyo, it’s such a bloody diffcult thing . . . By the way, I’m a Libran, and indeed I do like things of beauty - like Vietnamese girls in ao dais on the back of motorcycles - but of course, the flipside is I can never make up my damned mind.

Erh, actually, that advice about keeping yer mouth shut is a good one, Sandy.

HG

10

But I’m a Libran and I don’t like Vietnamese girls on motorbikes.

11

On bicycles? :s

HG

12

HGC, for work it’s really simple. Navy blue or black (not grey, 'less you want to look like an accountant). Single breasted. How big are your balls? Pinstripe will really do the biz if you can muster sufficient gravitas to pull it off. If you don’t think you can, don’t go that route. Personally I think you could wear one. Slimming, too. Plain black shoes, the best you can afford. Leather soles. Laces. No fucking loafers or buckles.

Dark silk tie. Self-coloured suit gets a heavy cream-coloured shirt. Pinstripe gets a plain white one, again, best quality material you can afford. No cufflinks unless you’re getting French cuffs (which you should be). Single cuffs with links will make you look like a twat.

Don’t stint. A cheap suit is a cheap suit wherever you get it from.

13

If you want to go “full wanker” get a Paul Stuart. Nothing beats it. Not Barney’s, not Seville Row…

I’ve gotten some good bespoke suits at some reasonable prices, but I always go back to the Paul Stuart.

14

HGC, my shirts were bought on the cheap, by the time I started to work in the sweatshop, the original ones were all worn out.

15

Edit reply to HGC, here.

Nope, not even a little bit. I do have a deep appreciation for the young Thai men who operate longboat ferries on the islands, though. :slight_smile:

Oh dear, everyone will think I have an Asian fetish.

Anyway, sorry to off-topic things. We have a naked white man, here, folks. Argh! My white fetish!

16

[quote=“Elegua”]If you want to go “full wanker” get a Paul Stuart. Nothing beats it. Not Barney’s, not Seville Row…

I’ve gotten some good bespoke suits at some reasonable prices, but I always go back to the Paul Stuart.[/quote]
Or even Paul Smith. He makes nice suits, too. :wink: I have a couple, but they’re a bit flirty-looking for work, though, I’d have thought. And I can’t imagine getting one for less than 40k or so, which is a bit more than HGC is prepared to pay I think.
Or how about Hugo Boss? A lot of money, but worth it, IMO.

17

Nothing says ‘twat’ like coloured cufflinks.

Edit Sorry, i’m not even a man, I think I have tourrettes today.

18

[quote=“sandman”][quote=“Elegua”]If you want to go “full wanker” get a Paul Stuart. Nothing beats it. Not Barney’s, not Seville Row…

I’ve gotten some good bespoke suits at some reasonable prices, but I always go back to the Paul Stuart.[/quote]
Or even Paul Smith. He makes nice suits, too. :wink: I have a couple, but they’re a bit flirty-looking for work, though, I’d have thought.[/quote]

Yes, I do like Paul Smith, but I think you have to be of a certain body type to look good.

BTW, a nice gray pinstripe or nail head with a pastel shirt does not look like an accountant. :raspberry:

One of the more interesting suits I got made for me was a nice Chugn Shan Zhuang with one pocket taken off in dark blue. Nice Dr. Evil effect with a high mandarin collar. The purple silk liner means it is strictly NSFW

19

[quote=“Buttercup”]Nope, not even a little bit. I do have a deep appreciation for the young Thai men who operate longboat ferries on the islands, though. :slight_smile:

Oh dear, everyone will think I have an Asian fetish.

Anyway, sorry to off-topic things. We have a naked white man, here, folks. Argh! My white fetish![/quote]

Not in the slightest. We (the Queen and I) are delightfully reassured we can see eye to eye on this. I mean I too fancy those lithe brown bodies manfully directing their craft, erh, it’s alright, I’m on the right bus, believe me! But beauty is as beauty does, and is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder. Although mine are still a little blotchy form the excesses earlier in the week.

You’re proving extremely helpful in this. But not even those little blue ones made of some sort of rigid cloth in a knot? i quite like those.

I presume a silver tie clip is out? As too the belt that does up around the underarms and the mystery chain connected to god knows exactly what near the belt? Oh dear, I fear I’ve been in this part of the world too long!

Thanks folks, but I’m even more confused now. Perhaps the very best thing I could do is call Ms Huang and say, “sweetness, if you could be such a dear, would you mind . . . ?” Would that be a bad thing? She has good taste, i mean after all she’s with me . . .

HG

20

[quote=“sandman”][quote=“Elegua”]If you want to go “full wanker” get a Paul Stuart. Nothing beats it. Not Barney’s, not Seville Row…

I’ve gotten some good bespoke suits at some reasonable prices, but I always go back to the Paul Stuart.[/quote]
Or even Paul Smith. He makes nice suits, too. :wink: I have a couple, but they’re a bit flirty-looking for work, though, I’d have thought. And I can’t imagine getting one for less than 40k or so, which is a bit more than HGC is prepared to pay I think.
Or how about Hugo Boss? A lot of money, but worth it, IMO.
[/quote]

I hate Hugo Boss. Bleetch…

Great bowler. Nice suit…but I’m not a fan of dark shirt - it seems the sleeves are too short …

Where did you get the shoes? they look $$$$