Buffalo Dandy

One of the things you hear most about traveling to China are the fabled tailor shops that can turn a custom-made suit around in a few days for $100. After doing some research while preparing for my trip, I found one of the more famous shops to be Sam’s Tailors, which boasts a vast array of celebrity visitors, but with actual customer reviews being less than favorable. We didn’t spend too much time in each of the three provinces we visited (Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai) however we were at Shanghai the longest and as luck would have it, there was a custom tailor shop right in the hotel we were staying at called Fit Well Fashion. So I got up early and patiently waited for the shop to open and began creating my shirt the moment the doors opened. The woman behind the counter was somewhat confused by some of my choices, like contrasting under cuffs, contrast button hole stitching and untraditional fabric choices, but we worked past the language barrier with some gentlemanly manners and mutual respect. After going back a few times to make sure I had all the details just right, my custom shirt was ready the next day!

I was extremely pleased with the result. I went with a spread collar, cornered cuffs and a shorter shirt length while adding some finishing touches like the European placed monogram. The fabric felt great, the quality was top notch and the fit was spectacular. One pleasant surprise was they made my left cuff larger to accommodate my wristwatch without asking, which was great! This only being my second custom shirt, I have to say I much prefer going in and getting measured as apposed to the online option. What really sealed the deal for me was the fact that the final shirt ended up costing only $60, which is a steal! The only problem now, however,  is I love the fit of this shirt so much, I’m not sure I’ll be able to go back to the off the rack options. Next trip, I will certainly be picking up more than one.