After my suit making experience last year, I was all geared up to make my wedding suit this year. As it turns out, my wife and myself are not going the typical route of engaging a bridal studio. Not going to explain too much about this – let’s just say we prefer to get our own vendors who are definitely worth our money.
Initially, I thought of looking for a reputable tailor to make my suits. However, upon knowing that my wife’s gown designer – Ted Collection – does suits as well, it seemed like a logical choice for them to handle my suits. After all, I would not have to worry too much about the design aspect, and how to match our outfits etc. Logistically, it would be definitely be easier for us when it came to our fitting sessions.
The only stumbling block is the slightly higher prices. Of course, it depends on how you see it. The money spent is for two made-to-measurement, custom-designed, one-of-a-kind suits in this world =)
Having settled the suits, the only problem was the need to find my own shirt and cravat-tie. The cravat-tie isn’t exactly common to find and buy in Singapore. Lucky for us, I could simply borrow them from Dickson Menswear because I made a suit with Mr. Wong last year. He has a pretty good selection too! For the shirt, it is almost impossible to buy shirts of the colour I want off-the-rack.
The hunt for my shirt led us to many tailors, partly because the colour of the fabric I was looking for is pretty difficult to find. We pounded the pavements and hit the jackpot – Marcella at The Cathay. Wanting to confirm that the fabric colour was indeed correct, we decided to get a fabric swatch from Ted Collection before making the order with Marcella. Happily, we noted down the fabric’s serial number.
As our luck would have it, we headed back to Marcella the following week and was told by the store that they have decided to revamp i.e. cut down on their fabric selection. Yippie. The fabric was no longer available. What a letdown (at that point in time)!
That very evening, we hit the jackpot again – Clothesmith at 111 Somerset. I have to say that Clothesmith deserves a special mention here as we were pleased with the service, the fabric selection (they had the colors we want) and the advice they gave regarding matching the colour of my shirt to my skin-tone etc.
Overall, Clothesmith gives off a good vibe. Having said that, the steep price was the only reason why we put it on hold. In the event we really couldn’t find the fabric was want elsewhere, Clothesmith will be our backup choice.
By now, it was a do-or-die situation. Our last hope lies with Peninsula Shopping Centre, where a crazy selection of tailors exist. One fine day, we dropped by the shopping complex, and went into each of the more popular and recommended tailors.
After all the effort put in, we located the fabric with the specific colour we were looking for! One tailor arrogantly proclaimed “No tailor here would have this colour! You’ll have to buy it from Chinatown and bring it here!” *laugh*
Dreamland had fabrics that are of a similar colour to what we want. Tessuti Collezioni’s fabric swatch was the exact one we saw at Clothesmith, but at a lower price! After a short decision-making process, with some last minute Google-ing on reviews on Tessuti, we were satisfied and decided to confirm our order with Tessuti.
David – Tessuti’s tailor – is a more quiet guy in general. He was the one who took the measurements and assisted in the design of the shirt. As I mentioned that I’ll be wearing a cravat-tie, he suggested that the collar to have a wider spread so that the details of the cravat-tie can be seen. Settled on a double-cuff, slim-fit shirt with matching buttons for the shirt.
June, on the other hand, is a more colourful character. Chatty and fun to be with, although I think her brand of humour/sarcasm may not rub off the right way with everyone. Nevertheless, my wife and I had no problems with that and enjoyed her company.
Payment was a deposit of 50%, and another 50% on collection. Three weeks later, I returned to try on the shirt. It was perfect. The fabric was sleek and smooth in a satin-like manner. The shirt fits perfectly, and the colour certainly wow-ed everyone who saw it on that day.
Verdict : Great service and workmanship (I checked the seams at the inner side of the shirt) from Tessuti.
Suit
Ted Collection [ Yap | Don | Alice ]
Address : 277 Balestier Road
Tel : 6227 9577
Website : [
click here]
Shirt
Tessuti Collezioni [ David | June ]
Address : 3 Coleman Street #03-17, Peninsula Shopping Centre
Tel : 6337 2320
Honorable Mention
Clothesmith [ Clifton ]
Address : 111 Somerset Road #02-10
Tel : 6235 9767
Website : [
click here]
