I told them my time limitation and asked if they could take my order. Once they promised I expect that they live up to it. Crown delayed my first fitting by 2hrs. They called my hotel 30min before my scheduled fitting to delay. Otherwise I would have been able to do 1 more fitting around 6pm that evening. This time round I simply couldn't do a second fitting after their delay as I'm on the 9am flight.
Not intending to find fault, but I think they really overdid the adjustments by a huge margin. I'm not sure now if I'd wear them as I can feel a strong pull at the elbow area with even a slight angle of about 30 degrees? I've dumped them for washing and see how it goes after. Not sure if I'll need to condemn the shirts or can keep until next trip for them to alter. Don't appear to have slack cloth. In fact I compared against shirts from Pinky and Boss. Crown's sleeves are shorter by 0.5-1". There's no alteration whateverso for this. Couldn't detect this during fitting due to missing cuff.
Problem this time is simply the lack of time. The trip was rescheduled and was limited by other constraints that I have (need to reach Singapore before early evening otherwise would have taken the evening flight out).
Last trip didn't include the weekend and have no idea the tailors do not work in Sunday (Boss shop remain open for measurement though). I won't be wearing the short sleeve from Pinky as well until I get them altered next trip. Too long to tuck out. Sigh... This trip is not so positive.
Anyway will be busy until mid next week so I won't take a close look at the shirts. Loosened the ducts and put them into washing first. Hope the shrinkage will not make things worse. I will try to put up some photos to pick out all the faults so that people know what to look/insist for.
Anyway while I was loosening the duct for Crown's, I can see the attention to detail that they put. The ducts were made using a finer thread so less visible. They were conscious to avoid auto unraveling from repeated wear/washing so they ran the ends a couple of times to make sure they were "sewn in dead". Together with the full flat felling, can see the level of workmanship and extra effort that they invested.
Pinky is really a mass production shop catering to a lot of Singaporeans and uses variety to gain business. Hard to beat their fabric selection. They are probably the "top tailor" for Singaporeans. Probably no other tailor get as much Singaporean business. The problem is also this. Singaporeans are not so picky/knowledgeable like Caucasians who are used to better quality stuff who know what to look out for in a quality tailor.
They do not do full flat felling, the ducts were using thicker thread (not that it's bad, just that brought down by Crown) and were left fraying. Other than these, think they are quite decent. In fact, the way the cuffs are done I feel the workmanship is a notch above Crown despite that they are different designs - fundamentals remain.
Oh, I really believe the 1500b fabric that I have is the same quality as the 850b from Boss. I think design also plays a part in how Pinky price their fabric. Not purely on quality. Felt a bit "chopped". My impression of Pinky came down a bit with this trip. But then again, I'm please with that 1500b shirt. Quite sure Boss will not pull it off like Pinky did for me.
Boss is not a "great" tailor. Although as an overall package they are "ok", I can find a number of issues that will put them in a lower class. The cutting is not really straight. The alignment leaves much to be desired. But can be overlooked so long as the price is low enough. Good enough for daily wear (if can last).
Pinky has:
- 1000b (60/40-70/30 blend)
- 1200b (80/20 blended)
- 1500b (Egyptian 100% cotton)
- 1800b (High quality cotton 100%)
- 2000b (Italian 100% cotton)
- 2500b (Italian 100% cotton)
Not sure which are 2-ply. The price for the last 2 range may be wrong, and up to 3500b? Did not pay too much attention as not within my budget expectation. This trip I got 3 from the 1000b range.
Crown has:
- 1000b (60/40-70/30 blended)
- 1200b (80/20 blend)
- 1500b (100% cotton - not necessary Egyptian)
- 2000b and above range
This trip I got 2 from the 1200b range over the 1000b range due to choices available.
Boss has:
- 850b (blended, not clear on the ratio)
- 1400b (100% cotton, no further details)
This trip got 2 from the 850b range.
So in fact I've got "cheap" shirts from Pinky as well. That aside, the workmanship should be the same regardless of the material costs. Unless of course their more highly skilled tailors only do more expensive fabrics? JFYI, the Pinky shirt that is made too tightly is from the 1200b range. Maybe is cut too small? Maybe the tailor so happen to sew smaller? Who knows?