reading up on menswear and men's style

[Note: to be updated.]

You have been buying and reading books on menswear, style, and grooming. That kind of stuff. Jiang-Hu-lookalike-Groom-to-be has asked you for a list of the books.

Online: Ask Andy About Clothes, Details Men's Style Manual Perfect Fit, GQ Style Guy, Men's Fashion Tips, The Upgrader.

[note to yourself: list the books and forums.]

on your radar: woven in japan

The days of just Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler are gone; several new brands have risen and proliferated in recent years. And there is this fascination with Japanese denim.

info: AskMen.com's introductory article.

more denim: Denimology, The Upgrader's Basic Blue Hotlist.

[update] you bought: Paul Smith, Red Ear series.

new shoes

Ongoing sale at Hush Puppies stores. 25 to 40 percent off.

You bought a pair of bluchers (open throat lacing) and a pair of balmorals (closed throat lacing).

Useful: info on styles of men's dress shoes.

look sharp! @ Mode et Creation

You are not Caucasian; you are not an expatriate; you are not a tourist -- you are just a local, white-collar civil servant who wants to dress well at work.

Thus your lousy experience with a certain tailor at Holland Village Shopping Centre really, really irked you.

Later that afternoon, you decided to visit a tailor with a reputation for good customer service. Just to get that pent-up energy out of your system. Your google-ing (Flyertalk Forums thread, TripAdvisor thread) turned up Mode et Creation as another tailor shop worth visiting. (In addition to Oxford Tailor, that is.) Address: 545 Orchard Road, #04-02, Far East Shopping Centre, Singapore 238882.

Mr Anthony Tan is the tailor at Mode. He has been tailoring menswear since 1977. It was both a breeze and pleasure to transact with him. He was patient, ever so willing so show you more fabrics, not the sort of person to hard sell, attentive to your work needs.

After much browsing and discussion, you decided to tailor two dress shirts, one maize and one lilac in colour.

Style notes: French-front (concealed buttons, as always), semi-spread collar, but barrel (button) cuffs this time (more appropriate for your work environment).

What really made your day subsequently was this: you had placed your order on December 27. Anthony told you the shirts would be ready for collection on January 5. Very reasonable, given it was the end of 2007 and start of 2008 period. You told him there was no hurry, as you were not going to dress up that often while in exile.

Imagine your pleasant surprise when Anthony had the shirts made by January 3rd. He said he wanted you to have the new shirts ready to wear when you began exile.

You thanked Anthony profusely for being most thoughtful. You will return to Mode et Creation for sure.

not the right fit, so you are now throwing a fit (well, sort of).

A colleague is getting married next June; you are helping him coordinate wedding attire. He has selected fabric for a made-to-measure suit, now it is onto choices of shirt and tie.

We met in the Buona Vista area, as he wanted to visit a tailor he came across at #03-21 of Holland Village Shopping Centre. Okay, let's do so -- you, too, were interested in seeing what shirt fabrics they stocked.

Both of you went there decked out in sports T-shirts and three-quarter length pants. You were also carrying your racket bag cos you had a coaching session earlier.

You began by telling the tailor and his wife you were there to browse shirt fabrics. He took out collections of fabrics, and asked us if we had particular designs in mind. You did not, while your colleague wanted to tailor a white shirt, if he saw a weaving pattern he liked.

You would not say that the tailor gave you a good first impression. He looked quite unenthusiastic, bored, and well, neither friendly nor welcoming.

Then three tourists -- a gentleman and two ladies -- walked in. The guy wanted to tailor a jacket. The tailor proceeded to talk, joke, and laugh with them, asking them how they heard of him, were they here upon a customer's recommendation, blah blah blah. Hmm.

You finally spotted a lilac colour fabric with a weaving pattern you liked. You asked for a price quote. "$75," he said. "Very reasonable," you thought to yourself.

But you wanted to have the shirt made in mid-Jan, so you asked the tailor if he would give you his business card, on which you will write down the fabric number.

"We would not want you to do that," he said, taking you somewhat by surprise. Okay, well, you kinda understood that he was concerned you would note down the fabric number and have the shirt made elsewhere. But hey, come on, you wanted to take down the fabric number because you did want to have the shirt made at his shop, just not so soon.

"We will write down the fabric number for you," he then said. His wife takes out a piece of scrap paper, jots down the number, but without asking for your name. Oh, and you never did receive the business card you wanted.

You started to feel quite disappointed.

At that moment, you could not help but glance at the fabric again. Fine, you were sorry you did that. Or should you not have been sorry at all?

Because, to your astonishment, the tailor mumbled something to his wife, and she quickly closed the fabric book. Wow. Top secret.

You walked out of the shop immediately. You are not going back there again for anything.

That, really, please, is not how you wanted to be treated.

look sharp! @ Oxford Tailor

Made-to-measure at Oxford Tailor (discovered via a Flyertalk Forums thread). Address: 1 Raffles Place, #04-12, OUB Centre, Singapore 048616.

Fabric design: blue and pink pinstripes; herringbone weaving pattern. Style notes: French-front (concealed buttons), no shirt pocket, French cuffs. As per your preferences.

Much thanks and compliments go to: Mr Alex Lee in particular. He was most friendly, patient, attentive to your needs, open and responsive to questions, and did not try to hardsell you anything above budget. You will definitely tailor more shirts from Alex and the folks at Oxford Tailor.