Posts Tagged ‘bespoke’

The Gentlemen’s Wardrobe The first ever modern bespoke service has finally return in town

The first ever modern bespoke service has finally return in town. The Gentlemen’s Wardrobe (TGW) offers a bespoke shoes, that means a pair of shoes made based on your personal wishes (hence bespoke).

Needless to say, it’s handcrafted, using the finest material there is. Look no further, check out the tgwhouse.com for a pair that is uniquely yours.

A good friend of mine is about to get married next week, and being honored as well as excited as one of the groomsman, I contacted my two tailors, one to commission a black two button suits the other is to order a pair of white dress shirts.

As you are well aware, I’m not a first time customers for both tailors, and knowing their past performance I allowed myself plenty of time margin to mitigate any contingency. Alas, even with level of experience that I have, sometimes few weeks of time margin is still not enough. These are what happened with my two projects.

The Black Suit
After went through a successful first fitting, the final results comes with a lot of disappointment, first the trousers is too loose on the leg, the shoulder too wide and bulky, and the arms an inch too long. Not happy at all with this I asked for iteration, addressing the above comments. A week later the result finished, and I’m still not happy. My tailor loosens one surface of the shoulder pads, shorten the arms and tighten the trousers. Unfortunately this is not enough, the shoulder is still to bulky, and the trousers pocket standout rather weirdly.

The Dress Shirts
The shirts were commissioned through a phone call, with rather simple instructions. Two order of shirts, in white, using the same material as my current shirts-which still in their possession, with French cuff and no breast pocket. The results ? Wrong material and comes with the breast pocket. This is not acceptable, and I have to refuse the shirt as it nowhere near my request (except the white part and French cuffs part). With only one week left, there is no way I can have the shirt ready on time, and hence I have surrender my desire to wear the new dress shirts to the wedding.

Obviously, the mistake comes from the tailors, whom for whatever reasons, producing the wrong results. But I should be able to mitigate this. For example for the suit, I should have sample jacket and sample trousers  shown to the tailor at the first meeting, ensure that he gets what I mean. And as for the shirts, I have 3 weeks to check on the first results, but I procrastinate, hence when the error is identified, I’ve loose any opportunity to fix it on time.

Regret always come to late, and if I have any advice to you, “Do not take any chance”.

No alibi, no defense ad no particular reason that I can offer to explain my absence in the last 3 weeks of so. I’ve been complacent, and my activities in the last couple weeks have left me spiritless in terms of doing anything that requires brain activity after hours.

That doesn’ mean I dont have anything to update though. One minor projects on the pipeline involving navy linen odd jacket, and one major involving shoes. There is also an update on the wedding tie, something that I will follow up soon, as well as some interesting magazines that I would like to share with you guys.

All in all, despite all the business, February has been good. And the seed that I planted will definitely come into fruit in March, so keep your visits, and I’ll keep you posted. Cheers !!!

This is very quick, short, and yet a very pleasant news indeed.  Mario Minardi custom made shows is now available under TGW brand and it takes approx. 1 month for each order to complete, and each pair will be accompanied by  fabrique shoe bag and wooden shoe tree. For an appointment and queries, kindly direct your email through tgw@tgwhouse.com.

Understandably the price tag might be slightly over your average shoes, but in my opinion, this is one kind of investment that worth every penny. And those who understand sartorial necessities, will acknowledge that the price tag is nothing if compared to the comfort and benefit that you will experienced in a long term as a proud owner of the custom made shoes.

Needless to say, this is an opportunity for us who lives in Jakarta, and Indonesia to experience a quality workmanship that our counterparts in developed countries has experienced with only fraction of price.

One month, two weeks, and one day has passed ever since I’ve got my feet measured at Mario Minardi. One and a half month, is nowhere near the instant satisfaction that you get when you acquired your shoes on the shoe store. But it is also nowhere near the amount of time that you need to wait when  you order your shoes from the famous Graziano & Girling.

One thing that I can tell you my dear readers, that every single day, hour and minutes that passed, it  was all paid off, when I laid my sight on the new black caped toe oxford that is neatly packed in the printed carton box.

To say the shoes are good is gross understatement. They are gorgeous, elegant, almost as  perfect as the picture I have in my imagination, on every single aspects. The best of all, it fits me very well, and it feels, really, really, really good.

It was a really strange feeling, when I slid my feet in it, tied the laces and felt the leather draped around my skin. It is even stranger feeling, when I started to  walk, and heard the crisp tapping sound of the heels, and felt the my muscles stretched but very well accommodated on the roomy space of the shoes.  This becoming more eventual, as I started navigating my office, moving from one point to another, one surface to another, I almost felt that I wear one size too big, because frankly, I didn’t not feel any pressure, tediousness, and slightest pressure on any part of my foot. But the truth its not, the shoes were made based on my size, the length and the wide, and the height was not drastically different then those that I got off the rack. But the difference persist, that’s because for the first time in my life, I owned shoes that understand my left side as much as it understand my right side. Needless to say, this feeling is addictive.

The visual look of the shoes is even more riveting. The shape are gorgeous, the lines that flows from the heel to toe bend flawlessly, highlighting the shape of your feet and give that expensive look that many of the more expensive brand offered. The stitches are clean and neat, it flowed naturally, shaping and accentuating the contour of the foot rather nicely. The leather are supple and soft, and the inner leather lining, gives extra comfortable and sense of fit that feels very pleasant. The finishing is excellent, the darkish embossing on the sole gives an aura of exclusivity and personality that some other brand just don’t have. Even if you spent hours looking at it, without really close observation, you can and may not be able to differentiate it with USD500 shoes that carried designed label.

This is the  shoes that are made especially for me, it may be made locally, in the grim factory that hide in between of Jakarta’s sky scrappers. It also may not deserved to be called bespoke, it is a made to measure at the best. But the details, quality and aura that it presents are something that is  more than 99% of the shoes that walking around Jakarta’s surfaces difficult to match.

This is one of the shoes that can match a gentlemen breed. Too bad, at least for now, I’m the only customer who experienced the true potential and quality that Mario Minardi can unleashed.

A shot of my shoes can be observed here