Why is "Shirting Fantasy" not called "Shirt Fantasy"? The short answer is that @shirtingfantasy actually has a greater fascination for shirt fabric ("shirting") than for the wearable shirts themselves. To avoid the perils of calling a blog or Instagram account by the obscure and perhaps erotic names of "Textile Fantasy" or "Fabric Fantasy", Shirting Fantasy emerged as a reasonable compromise between accuracy of description and appeal to the general reader.
1. The Formative Years
The story of shirt fascination began when @shirtingfantasy was a university student. Just breaking-free from the school uniform, he was eager to have something customized to his likings. Being a rather conservative person, tees and jeans were out of my equation. Custom shirts and pants were the targets.
Students being students and only had the means of students, the following tailors were tried out:
Would I still recommend these tailors to others these days? Yes and No. If one is interested in enjoying an old-HK ("老香港") experience without breaking the bank, and having a piece of garment that focuses on a traditional "dignified" British fit (rather than the soft Italian-inspired style from the younger tailoring establishments these days), then these are harmless experiences. Just bear in mind that these shops commonly exploit the information disparity between clients and trade and would occasionally claim whatever fabric they have1 as deluxe, whatever craftmanship they execute as supreme, and charge delusional prices - one needs to bargain to retain sanity.
2. The Pursuit for Greatness
As one of the essential activities2 for local university students, @shirtingfantasy was a hard-working part-time tutor for high school students. Work brings money, and money brings desire. Coupled with unhealthy Internet browsing such as this, this and perhaps more remarkably this, it was realized that what @shirtingfantasy had been getting weren't "good enough".
The considerations were simple: for about HKD 3,000 (bespoke Ascot Chang shirts made from entry-level, unbranded pure cotton were priced at about HKD 1,000 back then), one gets three bespoke shirts that the great and the famous are wearing. Self-gratification doesn't get much better than that!
Suffice to say, all the key elements of a great shirt, e.g. 2-ply x 2-ply fabric, MOP buttons, French seams, and a great fit e.g. meticulous measurements of shoulder slopes and kyphosis/ lordosis, a proper-fitting shirt, are standard at Ascot Chang. It coincides very much with the popular localsaying: 一步登頂 ("one-step to greatness"). True, Ascot Chang shirts may not be the most expensive shirts one can buy locally - a ready-to-wear shirt from Zegna or made-to-measure shirt from Isaia can easily exceed the average Ascot Chang shirt in terms of price; yet, arguably, if fabric, fit and customizations are given any serious weights in the Equation of Shirt Greatness, HKers are the most fortunate people on Earth - as Ascot Chang is at their doorstep3.
During this period, @shirtingfantasy also underwent intense "training" by @michael_wk_che and @wongmanhoi1025 to understand local sourcing and general operation of the shirt-making industry in Hong Kong. This knowledge became indispensable to the shirt enthusiast's later journey: it facilitated the effective communication between @shirtingfantasy and the various tailors he later tried out in various settings.
At this point, it is essential to highlight the advantages of having great garments made by the best possible makers - as far as one's spending pattern allows - early in one's sartorial journey:
In the coming post, the experience of a friend who was recently referred to Ascot Chang (Elements branch) to begin his bespoke journey will be detailed. There is no easy way to replicate the awe and wonders @shirtingfantasy had when he stepped up from HKD 1,000/ 4 polyester to HKD 1,000 2-ply cotton bespoke shirts - as the gentleman being referred has much better financial and mental readiness compared to the then student day @shirtingfantasy. Nonetheless, it is hoped that this and the coming light-hearted piece would allow the reader to catch a glimpse of (arguably) the bespoke experience at best shirtmaker in Hong Kong. In this manner, the personal commitment for quality on an individual's part shall bring greater good for the people...
Footnote:
[1] Say, are "Milano" or "Cistes" legitimate European fabric brands? The diligent reader is suggested to make good use of the free trademark search service (http://ipsearch.ipd.gov.hk/trademark/jsp/main.jsp). Surprisingly many locally-coined fabric brands have their names registered!
[2] The list of essential activities for local university students, unfortunately, doesn't currently include making a bespoke shirt. If it did, the world would be a more peaceful place.
[3] Arguably, with Ascot Chang branches in Shanghai, Suzhou, New York and Manila, people residing in those cities are also very fortunate. But as will be explained in the upcoming post, they are not nearly as fortunate as their measurements must be transmitted electronically to the local Ascot Chang factory before their fitting/ actual shirts can be made.
[4] This is exactly the other point @shirtingfantasy was trying to make regarding greatness. In this capitalist society, there is no greatness without correspondingly great price tags. Yet if the true enthusiast is willing to save up a significant portion of his/ her disposable income to experience greatness, the precious experience may end up saving him/ her many misadventures.
[5] The pleasure of having discreet quality recognized by people in-the-know is arguably lowly, filthy and should be condemned. But isn't this what sartorial enthusiasts in the iGent era are after?
Shop information:
Ascot Chang
https://www.ascotchang.com/
Minimum order: three shirts
Price range: HKD 2,195+ for Thomas Mason fabric
CMT service: Yes. HKD 1,200 - 2,000 (depends on yarn count of fabric).
Handmade option: Yes. Surcharge of HKD 1,150, including handmade buttonholes, hand-attached collar and sleeves, long seams side gusset.
Nevertheless, mentor and friend @bamboohkg once acutely commented,
"It's perhaps true that you like fabric more than shirts, but your fondness for shirts... is already a number of standard deviations from the population mean..."
And I don't deny.
In case anyone ever wondered how @shirtingfantasy started his shirt journey, here is a "brief" account. |
| Mr Ascot Chang, a name no shirt-lover can afford to disregard. Photo from their front page at https://www.ascotchang.com/en/home. |
1. The Formative Years
The story of shirt fascination began when @shirtingfantasy was a university student. Just breaking-free from the school uniform, he was eager to have something customized to his likings. Being a rather conservative person, tees and jeans were out of my equation. Custom shirts and pants were the targets.
Students being students and only had the means of students, the following tailors were tried out:
- Manning Company (https://www.manningcompany.com/)
- 光興洋服 Kwong Hing Tailor (No official website. Link to a forum post)
- 先華洋服 (No official website. Link to YP page)
- 永華洋服 (No official website. Link to interview by HK01)
- 祥興洋服 (No official website. Link to Tailor M portal page)
Would I still recommend these tailors to others these days? Yes and No. If one is interested in enjoying an old-HK ("老香港") experience without breaking the bank, and having a piece of garment that focuses on a traditional "dignified" British fit (rather than the soft Italian-inspired style from the younger tailoring establishments these days), then these are harmless experiences. Just bear in mind that these shops commonly exploit the information disparity between clients and trade and would occasionally claim whatever fabric they have1 as deluxe, whatever craftmanship they execute as supreme, and charge delusional prices - one needs to bargain to retain sanity.
2. The Pursuit for Greatness
As one of the essential activities2 for local university students, @shirtingfantasy was a hard-working part-time tutor for high school students. Work brings money, and money brings desire. Coupled with unhealthy Internet browsing such as this, this and perhaps more remarkably this, it was realized that what @shirtingfantasy had been getting weren't "good enough".
 |
| Tony Chang, second generation of the Chang family in a 2011 interview by Apple Daily. |
The considerations were simple: for about HKD 3,000 (bespoke Ascot Chang shirts made from entry-level, unbranded pure cotton were priced at about HKD 1,000 back then), one gets three bespoke shirts that the great and the famous are wearing. Self-gratification doesn't get much better than that!
 |
| Mr Raymond Choi, branch manager of Ascot Chang (@ascotchang) Elements, Hong Kong. He is the person who measured and fitted the first AC shirts for @shirtingfantasy. |
During this period, @shirtingfantasy also underwent intense "training" by @michael_wk_che and @wongmanhoi1025 to understand local sourcing and general operation of the shirt-making industry in Hong Kong. This knowledge became indispensable to the shirt enthusiast's later journey: it facilitated the effective communication between @shirtingfantasy and the various tailors he later tried out in various settings.
At this point, it is essential to highlight the advantages of having great garments made by the best possible makers - as far as one's spending pattern allows - early in one's sartorial journey:
- Their service and product serve as good benchmarks. Too often, the mass-market is filled with under-qualified and self-proclaimed professionals. If even it is not possible for a sartorial enthusiast to wear these bearly-affordable4 garments on a daily basis, these cherished garments and the fading memories of interactions with the real professionals still allow one to better evaluate the value of service and product provided by more affordable makers at 90%, 80% or even 20% of the price.
- The products are useful templates to achieve good-fit. While ethically controversial, copying well-fitting garments is the fastest way to achieve a useful, decent fit for makers with lesser ability to achieve good fit "from the scratch". When @shirtingfantasy grew frustrated with some certain maker, say, when a few poor-fitting shirts were made despite painstaking tuning and communications, the last resort was often "Please, copy this shirt from Ascot Chang".
- The commitment allows other makers to view you as a serious customer. It was with fond5 memory that @shirtingfantasy remembers how @wongmanhoi1025 (casually) remarked that "Oh, so your shirt is from Ascot Chang..." when measuring @shirtingfantasy for the first time. Good makers view good makers with respect, and if they know a client has spent significant personal resources for a quality product, they take the client more seriously 😉.
In the coming post, the experience of a friend who was recently referred to Ascot Chang (Elements branch) to begin his bespoke journey will be detailed. There is no easy way to replicate the awe and wonders @shirtingfantasy had when he stepped up from HKD 1,000/ 4 polyester to HKD 1,000 2-ply cotton bespoke shirts - as the gentleman being referred has much better financial and mental readiness compared to the then student day @shirtingfantasy. Nonetheless, it is hoped that this and the coming light-hearted piece would allow the reader to catch a glimpse of (arguably) the bespoke experience at best shirtmaker in Hong Kong. In this manner, the personal commitment for quality on an individual's part shall bring greater good for the people...
 |
| @shirtingfantasy personally never knew deciding on the right fabric was such a painful process for the non-fetishist. The initial visit lasted a total of 90 minutes and at least 45 minutes were spent discussing the colour, pattern and weave of fabric for three bespoke shirts. |
Footnote:
[1] Say, are "Milano" or "Cistes" legitimate European fabric brands? The diligent reader is suggested to make good use of the free trademark search service (http://ipsearch.ipd.gov.hk/trademark/jsp/main.jsp). Surprisingly many locally-coined fabric brands have their names registered!
[2] The list of essential activities for local university students, unfortunately, doesn't currently include making a bespoke shirt. If it did, the world would be a more peaceful place.
[3] Arguably, with Ascot Chang branches in Shanghai, Suzhou, New York and Manila, people residing in those cities are also very fortunate. But as will be explained in the upcoming post, they are not nearly as fortunate as their measurements must be transmitted electronically to the local Ascot Chang factory before their fitting/ actual shirts can be made.
[4] This is exactly the other point @shirtingfantasy was trying to make regarding greatness. In this capitalist society, there is no greatness without correspondingly great price tags. Yet if the true enthusiast is willing to save up a significant portion of his/ her disposable income to experience greatness, the precious experience may end up saving him/ her many misadventures.
[5] The pleasure of having discreet quality recognized by people in-the-know is arguably lowly, filthy and should be condemned. But isn't this what sartorial enthusiasts in the iGent era are after?
Shop information:
Ascot Chang
https://www.ascotchang.com/
Minimum order: three shirts
Price range: HKD 2,195+ for Thomas Mason fabric
CMT service: Yes. HKD 1,200 - 2,000 (depends on yarn count of fabric).
Handmade option: Yes. Surcharge of HKD 1,150, including handmade buttonholes, hand-attached collar and sleeves, long seams side gusset.
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