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| The Camiceria Piccolo 12-step handmade shirt. |
Q. How did you get measured/ fitted?
A. I was measured by Lorenzo Piccolo, one of the Piccolo brothers, who is in charge of their Milan store.
Q. Piccolo shirts are 8-step handmade. Did you ask for extra steps?
A. Yes I did. I told Lorenzo that my HK maker Ascot Chang routinely does hand-stitching for the bottom hem and other long seams for their hand-stitched shirts (no, not their regular shirts). He understood what I wanted and offered four extra steps for a surcharge of EUR 30 per shirt.
N.B. This is an actual question from a rival shirt-maker of Piccolo in Naples.
Q. Is it possible to order their shirts without going to Italy? How long does it take?
A. Yes. You can have a look at their webshop and they seem to allow you to submit your own measurements. In fact, my friend @bamboohkg joined me in ordering after I had been back to HK. He sent his best-fitting shirt to Lorenzo to be copied. I have yet to see the fit of his shirt, but I will update here as soon as he tells me about his experience. The making of shirts took approximately three weeks, and I think they only start making after you complete your payment.
Q. Last but not least: did you get any discount/ special favour/ paid for writing this post?
A. No. Unlike most famous fashion bloggers (notably the respected Parisian Gentleman, Mr Simon Crompton or even my friend @buzzspoke), I am simply not influential, not handsome and don't have such wide-ranging interest in menswear. Although, secretly, I do wish what you ask would happen soon. If potential vendors see this, do note that I have a proper job and I am not blogging for a living, so better give me a special, one-of-a-kind product instead of money. In this way, naturally, I have fewer things to nit-pick about your product or service.
We live in a world where instant gratification is everything. So I show you the photos before I go on with my verbose narrative.
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| The Oxford cotton shirt. The collar was too long (3.75") and I will probably choose a shorter one next time. |
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| The collar. It is about 1.25" tall (quite tall, again). |
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| The button. Lily-stitch, shanked and handmade buttonhole - just as one would expect. |
ARMHOLE: Our embroiderers' hand stitching gives this part of the shirt a truly exceptional softness.
COLLAR: As this is the most delicate part of the whole shirt, only the most expert embroiderers are entrusted with hand-stitching our collars.
GUSSET: This is the small fabric triangle at the bottom of the shirt which binds the front and back of the shirt. It is hand-sewn exclusively to ensure greater strength.
TRAVETTO: The hand-stitched embroidery which closes the sleeve vent is a distinctive feature of Luigi Borrelli shirts.
BUTTON: Expertly hand stitched using zampa di gallina (Chicken's Paw) stitching method.
SHOULDER: Exclusively hand-stitched to eliminate the tightness created by machine stitching and ensure softness and perfect fit.
BUTTONHOLE: Hand stitched by our embroiderers to last in time being flexible and resistant.
PLACKET: This eighth step involves attaching the placket using a flexible stitch which ends at the travetto obtaining a stylish and high quality embroidery.Source: https://www.luigiborrellishop.com
My shirts from Camiceria Piccolo have the following additional steps:
- the CUFFS,
- the SLEEVES,
- the SIDES, and
- the BOTTOM
Source: personal communication with Lorenzo Piccolo
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| The cuffs. |
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| The sleeves. |
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| The sides. |
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| The bottom. |
(Due to auto-white balance, I could not get the colours of the photos to match exactly. Will try to improve that in the future. Rest assured - the photos belong to the same shirt.)
The shirt was overall rather decent. The machine steps were made with dense stitches (> 20 s.p.i.). Some fine points of finishing lack behind renowned makers such as Anna Matuozzo (see this) or D'Avino Napoli - but the price charged was also substantially lower. It was also noteworthy that Lorenzo got all my measurements and special requests correct (including a 0.5 cm larger cuff on the right, which has been repeatedly made wrongly by many shirtmakers).
Some minor comment/ critique about the fit: (1) shoulder sloping not accounted for (so there were some uneven creasing on upper chest), (2) sleeves were slim (I find them sleek yet comfortable, @wongmanhoi1025 thinks they are too slim, though) and (3) the overall cut was not as "3D" as I would hope (Italian bespoke shirts normally have a more "barrel-shaped" construction, which, at times, makes shirts difficult to lay flat on a table/ ironing board - and I like this eccentricity!).
And, just let me re-play some of the photos of the Piccolo Milan store taken during my trip earlier this year:
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| Fabric... what is not to love? (I quote myself) |
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| Lovely view of the fabric collection. Lorenzo probably didn't know I love his fabric more than his shirts. (I am @shirtingfantasy, not "shirtfantasy", to begin with) |
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| Many collars. But many were quite big for Asian proportions. |
Until then, goodbye!
Shop information:
Camiceria Piccolo
Minimum order: no minimum order
Price range: EUR 160+ for house fabric
CMT service: Yes
Handmade option: Standard 8-step included in price. Additional handmade steps possible, e.g. +EUR 30 for a 12-step handmade shirt.CMT service: Yes
Mr Dino Piccolo
Naples: Via Chiaia, 41 - 80132 tel/fax +39.081.411824
Mr Lorenzo Piccolo
Milan: Via Mercato, 3 - 20121 tel/fax +39.02.89096922
Have you tried the "fully handmade" shirt by Ascot Chang?
ReplyDeleteI was told that an extra cost of HKD1,600 is required for this configuration. The total cost would then be close to a shirt from Anna Matuozzo. I think it's quite expensive.
Yes I did - if the "hand-stitched" series is the one you are referring to. Elements branch staff did take quite some time in making sure I understand that some areas cannot be handmade (e.g. top of collar and cuffs) - and indeed for those areas machine work would be neater. If my memory is correct the surcharge on my most recent one was HKD 1150 (on top of normal shirt price). The AC hand-stitched shirt features all the above steps, plus some I didn't really examine carefully. Can probably review in some coming posts.
ReplyDeleteI did not check if there is a fully-handmade one on top of the one I got. Can probably clarify with them next visit.