adamgottschalk
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 405
- Location
- NewYork/Florida
It took me a while to actually find Mr. Hemrajani. I hadn't bothered to check exactly where he would be at the Portland Hilton. Just sort of figured the all-knowing concierge would know. Well, I'm sort of old school; I don't use a cell phone. So, this conundrum entailed me calling my non-net-savvy mother in NYC collect, hoping she'd be home, and asking her to look up mytailor.com and give me the 800 number. Got it. Turns out, he was in another building and I needed to go use the house phone over there to talk to him directly in order to get his room number. Top floor, farthest room from the elevators--which, by this point, is really talking a task for someone as mobility challenged as I.
Nevertheless, upon arrival, I was pleasantly met, by a kind man and a room chock full of fabric samples. I quickly made myself busy looking around, though I had decided what I wanted exactly; leaning toward the "fiscally conservative" side of things, there wasn't much chance I'd budge. When it came to me talking about my wants--a sportcoat and two shirts--I was enthused to find someone extremely knowledgeable and gung ho and able to make sense out of not much.
I had brought pictures and descriptions and sample jackets (which Joe looked at), wore my best fitting shirt, etc., but he didn't need or want much. It seemed like I needed to say only a word or two and he was already two steps ahead. At one point I said, "Small arm holes." to which Joe replied, "High arm holes?" "Okay," I said.
I'm getting a single-breasted, two-button, narrow peak lapel, half-lined (I said, "Quarter-lined," he said, "Half-lined?") jacket in "90s year-round wool worsted" in "Charcoal Brown," which looks almost black. Asked for the minimum shoulder padding. Also got two shirts in single-ply cotton. The shirts will have "rounded point" collars, which I'd never seen (they're on the web site) but which I like a great deal from the looks. They'll also have "convertible" cuffs, which Joe spoke highly of; button them or use cufflinks (can't quite picture how this works yet, but I gave it a whirl). Also, shoulder pleats. No pockets.
Joe pulled a couple of jackets out of the closet (I wouldn't be surprised if they were his) for me to try on after he'd taken measurements. We talked about various attributes of the jackets and how they differed from the one I'd get. He had an SB peak lapel, for example; his lapel was 3.75", I think, while mine will be 3" (at the peaks).
Several times, regarding both the shirts and the jacket, we discussed my wanting a "slim" fit, which he kept referring to as "taper" for both the jacket and shirts. Both the jackets he had were with high arm holes; I noticed it was a great deal easier putting them on with his help (a finesse when alone I'll learn, rather quickly, I assume), and they looked really good, very not baggy, very un-American. At one point he asked how I liked the fit of one of the jackets in my mid-section; I went to say I thought it could be even tighter; he showed me what tighter would look like and said, "No, I don't think so," with which I agreed.
One relatively major point he changed me on was the vents on the jacket. I hadn't thought about vents. At first I said a single rear vent. Then he showed me that his peak lapel jacket had double/side vents on back. Somehow, that seemed to go well with the peak lapel thing. Anyway, I thought it looked good on me (I don't have any such jackets now), so I went with that.
Two fitted all-cotton shirts (faint lavender and French almond) and an unusual custom wool sportcoat: $562, which includes the duty/fees coming from Hong Kong. 4-8 weeks. I'll post pics as soon as it gets here. I found it to be a positive experience, though I did feel a tad rushed. Assuming the stuff comes out right, they've got a lifer here.
One amazing thing to me: the sketch I brought of a narrow peak lapel jacket, which I found online, had a western styling to the front. I removed that with Photoshop so it was a plain front (though I wanted two darts as on a sample I brought him). I thought, "OK, now it just looks like a plain jacket." Joe took one look and said, "That's a western jacket, but I'll make it the way you want it." It didn't look to me like there was a trace of "western" left, just a guy in a suit. Maybe he'd seen the picture before? Quite possible I suppose. Also amazing to me that he didn't blink an eye at a single one of my requests; on the contrary, mostly it was him teaching me more about the world of tailoring. Great fun, great guy, and what a bargain (I hope).
Nevertheless, upon arrival, I was pleasantly met, by a kind man and a room chock full of fabric samples. I quickly made myself busy looking around, though I had decided what I wanted exactly; leaning toward the "fiscally conservative" side of things, there wasn't much chance I'd budge. When it came to me talking about my wants--a sportcoat and two shirts--I was enthused to find someone extremely knowledgeable and gung ho and able to make sense out of not much.
I had brought pictures and descriptions and sample jackets (which Joe looked at), wore my best fitting shirt, etc., but he didn't need or want much. It seemed like I needed to say only a word or two and he was already two steps ahead. At one point I said, "Small arm holes." to which Joe replied, "High arm holes?" "Okay," I said.
I'm getting a single-breasted, two-button, narrow peak lapel, half-lined (I said, "Quarter-lined," he said, "Half-lined?") jacket in "90s year-round wool worsted" in "Charcoal Brown," which looks almost black. Asked for the minimum shoulder padding. Also got two shirts in single-ply cotton. The shirts will have "rounded point" collars, which I'd never seen (they're on the web site) but which I like a great deal from the looks. They'll also have "convertible" cuffs, which Joe spoke highly of; button them or use cufflinks (can't quite picture how this works yet, but I gave it a whirl). Also, shoulder pleats. No pockets.
Joe pulled a couple of jackets out of the closet (I wouldn't be surprised if they were his) for me to try on after he'd taken measurements. We talked about various attributes of the jackets and how they differed from the one I'd get. He had an SB peak lapel, for example; his lapel was 3.75", I think, while mine will be 3" (at the peaks).
Several times, regarding both the shirts and the jacket, we discussed my wanting a "slim" fit, which he kept referring to as "taper" for both the jacket and shirts. Both the jackets he had were with high arm holes; I noticed it was a great deal easier putting them on with his help (a finesse when alone I'll learn, rather quickly, I assume), and they looked really good, very not baggy, very un-American. At one point he asked how I liked the fit of one of the jackets in my mid-section; I went to say I thought it could be even tighter; he showed me what tighter would look like and said, "No, I don't think so," with which I agreed.
One relatively major point he changed me on was the vents on the jacket. I hadn't thought about vents. At first I said a single rear vent. Then he showed me that his peak lapel jacket had double/side vents on back. Somehow, that seemed to go well with the peak lapel thing. Anyway, I thought it looked good on me (I don't have any such jackets now), so I went with that.
Two fitted all-cotton shirts (faint lavender and French almond) and an unusual custom wool sportcoat: $562, which includes the duty/fees coming from Hong Kong. 4-8 weeks. I'll post pics as soon as it gets here. I found it to be a positive experience, though I did feel a tad rushed. Assuming the stuff comes out right, they've got a lifer here.
One amazing thing to me: the sketch I brought of a narrow peak lapel jacket, which I found online, had a western styling to the front. I removed that with Photoshop so it was a plain front (though I wanted two darts as on a sample I brought him). I thought, "OK, now it just looks like a plain jacket." Joe took one look and said, "That's a western jacket, but I'll make it the way you want it." It didn't look to me like there was a trace of "western" left, just a guy in a suit. Maybe he'd seen the picture before? Quite possible I suppose. Also amazing to me that he didn't blink an eye at a single one of my requests; on the contrary, mostly it was him teaching me more about the world of tailoring. Great fun, great guy, and what a bargain (I hope).
