Posts Tagged ‘wardrobe’

Surely not, Zara is a full fledged fashion label producing hundreds of new line and model creating trends every seasons in and out. Muji ? Hardly, we usually go to Muji for all sort of needs, stationary, domestic needs, and other necessities. But one rarely go to Muji for fashion items, and deservedly so, because in terms of originality, Muji clothes are offering not much. So what the hell am I doing here, comparing Muji with Zara ?

Yesterday, just mere yesterday, I happened to visit one of the Muji store in Plaza Indonesia, Jakarta. It was casual visit, not a purposeful shopping. But what we’ve witnessed yesterday and what were eventually purchased were saying otherwise.

Look at the two short sleeve shirts that my friends finally acquired, one in pale navy blue, the other is light whitish grey, with linen like texture, both reasonably priced at IDR200k something (USD25), way cheaper than Zara, or G2000, except when both were in sale seasons, in which finding your size is an ultimate challenge.

The other tempting stock, is two button light brown sport jacket in cotton, cut slim and tight, with working cuff button, a detail usual found in bespoke or high street brand. Needless to say is the jacket will also work as a perfect combination for your linen like shirt, short or long sleeve alike, and this only comes with a price tag of IDR700k, way cheaper than any comparable items I found in Zara, or G2000.

If that is not enough, refer to a brown or navy blue lining less linen jacket, priced at IDR800k, roughly quarter of my bespoke navy blue linen jacket that takes 2 months to commission.

All I’m saying is, regardless what the store looks like and other products that are being sold in the same store, Muji clothes and dresses are worth to look, the materials are nice, and the detail and workmanship looks ok (haven’t got a chance to have one my self). And much importantly, is affordable and not a cent overpriced.

If you think Zara is awesome, try Muji !!!

A good friend of mine is about to get married next week, and being honored as well as excited as one of the groomsman, I contacted my two tailors, one to commission a black two button suits the other is to order a pair of white dress shirts.

As you are well aware, I’m not a first time customers for both tailors, and knowing their past performance I allowed myself plenty of time margin to mitigate any contingency. Alas, even with level of experience that I have, sometimes few weeks of time margin is still not enough. These are what happened with my two projects.

The Black Suit
After went through a successful first fitting, the final results comes with a lot of disappointment, first the trousers is too loose on the leg, the shoulder too wide and bulky, and the arms an inch too long. Not happy at all with this I asked for iteration, addressing the above comments. A week later the result finished, and I’m still not happy. My tailor loosens one surface of the shoulder pads, shorten the arms and tighten the trousers. Unfortunately this is not enough, the shoulder is still to bulky, and the trousers pocket standout rather weirdly.

The Dress Shirts
The shirts were commissioned through a phone call, with rather simple instructions. Two order of shirts, in white, using the same material as my current shirts-which still in their possession, with French cuff and no breast pocket. The results ? Wrong material and comes with the breast pocket. This is not acceptable, and I have to refuse the shirt as it nowhere near my request (except the white part and French cuffs part). With only one week left, there is no way I can have the shirt ready on time, and hence I have surrender my desire to wear the new dress shirts to the wedding.

Obviously, the mistake comes from the tailors, whom for whatever reasons, producing the wrong results. But I should be able to mitigate this. For example for the suit, I should have sample jacket and sample trousers  shown to the tailor at the first meeting, ensure that he gets what I mean. And as for the shirts, I have 3 weeks to check on the first results, but I procrastinate, hence when the error is identified, I’ve loose any opportunity to fix it on time.

Regret always come to late, and if I have any advice to you, “Do not take any chance”.

This is just a teaser, wait for the full report soon !!!

My new oxford - goodyear welted

My new oxford - leather lining

My new oxford, emboss on the sole

My new oxford, the 5 eyelets

My new oxford, side view

My new oxford, simply gorgeus

One of the frequent advice that I gave to my fellow in terms of suit acquisition was when you can afford it get it tailored. Now comes to think of it may not always a sensible advice when it comes to those who lives in Jakarta or Indonesia in general, because tailored suit not necessarily more expensive then of the rack suit and not necessarily better. In that sense, there is no easy answer, and at the end it lies on your budget, your situation, preference and how sophisticated you are in terms of your sartorial decency. Lets examine our option.

Say if you are a college graduate, you need suit because you are going to apply job, head to interview and of course make an impression on whoever wants to hire you. There will be time range of 2-3 month between your graduation and interviews, and since you don’t have your own income, the good bet is that your budget will be limited too say between IDR1-1.5mio for a suit. Take all this into account, and here what I thought.

With IDR1.5mio you can get a decent quality material tailored suit. But as I have mentioned in many of my earlier posts, having a suit is all bout having a fit. And finding a tailor with that budget range and suits you is a challenge. Additionally, since this is your first suit, I sincerely doubt that you know what you want and what to expect. Hence plenty opportunity for things to go wrong.

Your old man, naturally should come into rescue, with his age and experience, he should by now ready to guide you to enter the period of sartorial adulthood. And by that recommended 1-2 two tailors that he has been using all this time. This is great, since then you can avoided trial and error, and you have to trust your old man judgment. His tailor of choice may not be readily suitable to your taste, but good thing about tailor made suit, that  if its not satisfactory at the first fit, you can ask for an adjustment. And three months is quite plenty of time to do so. As long as your the tailor willing to listen, and you are willing to contribute. And if this is your case, its pretty much settled for the time being.

Unfortunately not everyone that lucky, in fact most of our old man probably have little or no conscience of the sartorial decency. In which case, you should look at the ready, off the rack suit.

There are plenty of brand within that budget range that you can choose. My primary choice will be Zara and G2000. Some other brands like Carthago and Arnon Brook can also be found in your average Department Store (Sogo, Metro and Centro) and they offer various cut and materials.  I urge you try window shop and try every possibilities, you’ll surprise on the difference that each brand can offer in terms of fit and materials.

With this “budget” brand of course, you don’t have much say in the quality. These suits are machine made, and the materials are average,  in-depth bespoke details like working cuff buttons, stitched canvas, and hand stitched inter lining us out of questions. That said, with proper care, the suit may last for years before it ruined itself from weather and usage.

Hence when buying this suit, only consider three things. The first the type of suit that will flatter your figure (two-button or three-button, side  vented or centre vented), the material (make sure that its comfortable for you to wear it for a full day, and doesn’t make you itch) and lastly the fit (make sure than you can move, stand and sit comfortably in it.

Now you have to trust me on these thing, as much as you think the suit fits you well, it is not, unless you have a body like a pro model or a mannequin, there is going some room for improvement, maybe on the sleeve lengths or waist fit.  To that affect, bring it to any decent tailor that you can find, and have it adjusted, it will cost you few hundred thousands extra, but its worth it. It’s also a good way for you to find your own future tailor.

And so its on.

As I’ve mentioned during my first visit to Mario Minardi, I  have intended to commission my first bespoke shoes at Mario Minardi. So after a week of delay get caught up in the busy office, I managed to get an appointment for measurement  yesterday.

The process was swift, after ushered to Handiman’s room, he laid down two piece of A4 size paper. He asked me to put my right food first on top of a sheet. Then he draw my foot shape with thin marker, follows every side of contour. Next, Marco pulls out a measurement tape, and he measured three things, the ball and instep circumference, and finally, the foot length. These were applied for both foot.

My foot print, notice that the right foot is slightly larger then the left ?

As it turned out to be, my right foot is slightly larger then my left foot. They explained, that most if not all people will always have different size of foot between the right and the left, this is due to different size of foot muscle. The right handed men, like me, will naturally have larger right foot, and vice versa.

And so I asked, so when you put you shoes on the store, will they actually have different size ? “Of course not,” he added, “the shoes that you find at the store will have similar size between left, or right.” But yet, oddly enough when we buy the shoes off the rack we fill that both side are just perfect fit. Thinking about it, I guess its pretty much self suggestion of convincing our self that the the shoes are good fit.

Now to be completely honest, and fair to all master shoe makers in the world, the shoes that Mario Minardi will commissioned for me, is not of bespoke breeding. Bespoke, required individual last to be made based on the customers food, this last will then be used as a template to ensure that the shoes skin and surface will perfectly draped by foot. Bespoke will also means that all process of the shoe manufacturing will be worked by hands. My shoes to be, will go slightly different way, instead of building a new last for me, Mario Minardi will try to find a last that closest to my measurement and use this last as template before making the necessary adjustment. Hence we agreed the correct term for that should be made to measure.

John Lobb Oxfords (courtesy of www.johnlobb.com)

Surely, by now you are curious on what shoes that I intend to make. In my words, its nothing fancy nor difficult, it’s a simple black capped to oxford, in calfskin. With the incoming holiday season, I might have to wait a little longer than I would have expected, but 2 weeks is nothing compared to months of time required for bespoke. Still, I can’t wait to get it done and ready.

By the way, this article will be the first of  the My First Bespoke Made to Order Shoes series. Wait for the update soon !