Hello everyone, and welcome to another of my reviews. In this article, I’ll review a new suit commission from Bangkok tailor Reign Custom Tailors.
Reign Custom Tailors was actually the first Bangkok tailor that popped up on my radar – they were featured on several prominent Youtube channels, such as William Li, TravisLeon, TravelwithChris, and more. Given their heavy social media presence, I figured I had to drop by to see if the hype was worth it.
Reign Custom Tailors – the Brand
Like the previous Bangkok tailors that I’ve reviewed, Reign Custom Tailors is also a family-run business with decades of history and experience. Today, the business is run by Ravin – who’s also the CFO of the company – whose parents ran the business before him. It’s my understanding that his mum still helps out in the shop, though the father has since retired.
Like the other Bangkok tailors I’ve reviewed, Reign Custom Tailors also has their production facility, located a stone’s throw away from their showroom in Bang Rak. It also supposedly offers factory tours for clients, though I didn’t take them up on the offer. In addition, Reign Custom Tailors has a stellar Google Rating of 4.9/5, with over 100 reviews. With such stellar credentials, let’s see how my experience went.
Reign Custom Tailors – Video
If you’re interested in seeing some hands-on footage of my experience with Reign Custom Tailors, do watch the YouTube video below:
Reign Custom Tailors – the Experience
Reign Custom Tailors just moved into a new showroom, which is located in the heart of Bang Rak.
Upon entering the luxurious showroom, I was immediately greeted by Ravin, who was sharply dressed. Interestingly, he was the only one of all the Bangkok tailors I visited who was always dressed in a suit when interacting with customers. Right off the bat, I spotted a lovely navy blue 6×1 double-breasted jacket in the showroom. Ravin suggested that I try it on, and I ended up wearing it for the rest of my time in the showroom.
As I’ve commissioned standard two-piece suits at other Bangkok tailors, I decided to switch things up here with Reign Custom Tailors. Feeling inspired by the navy 6×1 double-breasted that I was wearing, I told Ravin that I wanted something similar. Ravin suggested a classic grey pinstripe fabric, which I readily agreed to – it was going to be a Don Draper, Mad Men-esque suit, and I was all for it. To complement the suit, I decided to opt for a red paisley lining, which gives the otherwise monochromatic suit a pop of colour.
Another strength of Reign Custom Tailors is the wide range of customisation options. For example, there are over 100 choices for buttons alone. I was going to opt for horn buttons, but I’ve already done so on both of my previous Bangkok commissions. As such, this time I decided to veer away from the norm, and went with grey resin buttons instead for a tone-on-tone look.
As usual, I opted for side adjusters for my trousers. Roshan (the sales manager, and a longtime stalwart at Reign) took the opportunity to share with me some of the workmanship of their trousers.
Ravin then shared with me his special stock of hydrophobic stain-resistant white shirting fabrics, which he says sells like hotcakes at Reign Custom Tailors. After laying out a roll of white shirting fabric, he took a bottle of Cola, poured some on the fabric, and showed how the fabric promptly wicked it away. For a full demonstration of this, watch the YouTube video above. The concept/fabric is not new (brands such as Labfresh also do this) but this is the first time I’ve seen this in an actual tailor. Of course, I decided to get a white shirt as well – I know what I’m wearing the next time I have an Italian dinner!
With the fabrics for the suit and shirt settled, we next moved on to the measurements.
During my measurements, Ravin shared that he used to be a banker, and only joined the family business recently. He humorously shared that he was already used to wearing suits in his previous profession, so he took to being a tailor like a fish in the water. This includes welding the measuring tape, which Ravin does so proficiently – a byproduct of growing up around the family business.
After two days, I returned to Reign Custom Tailors for my basted fitting. This time, Ravin is joined by Roshan, who has been fitting clients for decades. With his decades of experience, Roshan took charge of the fitting, pouring over minute details, such as the appropriate lapel width, button placements, and more. These details are crucial, especially for a double-breasted suit.
Right off the bat, Roshan’s experience shone through. He immediately noted my heavily sloped shoulders, and added more padding to balance them out. This also highlights the benefits of a basted fitting – subtle details such as these are difficult to nail during the initial measurements.
My only drawback from the fitting was that Reign Custom Tailors needed two days to get the fitting garment ready, as opposed to Galaxy Tailor and Universal Tailors, both of which only needed a day. As I was only in Bangkok for three days, this meant that I was unable to collect my finished garments before I flew. Still, this was a small inconvenience as Reign Custom Tailors sent over the finished suit and shirt to my Singaporean address a week later.
Reign Custom Tailors – Suit Review
Now that I’m back in Singapore, let’s take a closer look at the fit and finish of the completed suit.
Firstly, the shoulders lie flat without any fabric bunching – a result of Roshan’s tweaks during the basted fitting. The jacket and sleeve length are also correct, ending near the middle of my palms and wristbone. Furthermore, one can see slight tapering around the waist, and there are also no shoulder divots.
Reign Custom Tailors also nailed the sleeve pitch, with little wrinkling to be seen. It’s rather impressive, and again highlights the importance of a basted fitting as perfecting the sleeve pitch is dependent on the wearer’s natural arm posture.
The back is also relatively clean, which isn’t easy as I have a concaved back. It’s not perfect, but given the quick turnaround time (and the affordable price point) I would say Reign Custom Tailors did a decent job.
However, the most impressive aspect was how well the trousers draped – it’s beautiful, with little to no wrinkling to be seen. Out of all the trousers I’ve done in Bangkok so far, these take the cake. The length of the trousers is also perfect, just lightly brushing the tip of my Customwelt double monkstraps for a lovely quarter-break look.
Let’s now turn our attention to the aesthetics of the suit. Firstly, I love the wide peak lapel – it encapsulates the Peaky Blinders vibe I was going for perfectly. Furthermore, the 6×1 pattern elongates the body, allowing more of the lapel to be visible. When paired with a pinstripe texture, it gives the wearer a flattering silhouette, allowing me to appear taller than I am. I also like the pick stitching, which adds a handcrafted dimension to the suit despite its affordability. Laudably, the pick stitching is done not only on the lapel (like most tailors), but even down to the jacket edges – that’s remarkable for the price. Lastly, I’m a fan of how the tone-on-tone grey buttons turned out. It’s a subtle touch that doesn’t detract from the pinstripe texture of the jacket.
Given its affordability, I didn’t have very high expectations of the finishing of the suit. As such, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Reign Custom Tailors paid great attention to the details. A key example of this is pattern matching. As you can see from the above photo, Reign Custom Tailors consciously matched the pinstripes of the breast pocket to the rest of the suit. That takes extra effort to accomplish, given that the breast pocket is sewn on separately. One can also see pattern matching between the sleeves and the main body of the jacket, where the pinstripes are largely uninterrupted. Props to Reign Custom Tailors for putting in the extra effort – not an easy feat at all, especially given their high sales volume and relatively quick turnaround time.
Reign Custom Tailors also do functional sleeve buttonholes. Also known as surgeon cuffs, functional sleeves are a hallmark of quality tailoring, and are often only seen at higher-end tailors.
I was also impressed to see that the buttons were hand-shanked, which provides the fabric space to drape in when buttoned. A sign of quality workmanship that increases the lifespan of the buttons, hand-shanking is usually only found in more expensive tailors such as HST.
Due to Singapore’s humid weather, I chose to have the jacket quarter-lined for better breathability. If you’re wondering about the red paisley lining that I chose, fret not – it’s still visible, being used to line the sleeves and inner pockets. It provides a dash of colour without overshadowing the beautiful pinstripe pattern.
Traditionally, a double-breasted jacket should always be buttoned, even when seated (unlike a single-breasted jacket). However, I don’t believe in strictly adhering to fashion rules. As long as you feel confident, there’s nothing wrong with bending the rules. In that regard, I found myself experimenting with leaving the jacket unbuttoned, which gives the suit a slightly oversized look. It also dresses down the outfit, making it appropriate for date nights without looking like you just got off a shift on Wall Street.
Overall, I love this grey pinstripe double-breasted from Reign Custom Tailors – the suit fits like a glove, with quality workmanship and sartorial details. Note how the lapel is strategically cut to accentuate the lapel roll – the suit is full of details that punch above its price point. They paid great attention to getting the details right, and it shows.
Conclusion – so Reign Custom Tailors “shiok” or not?
Compared to the other Bangkok tailors that I’ve previously visited, I found Reign Custom Tailors to be more stylistically adventurous, making them perfect for those who dare to be different. I’ll admit – I had my doubts about whether an affordable Bangkok tailor could pull off my atypical request for a 6×1 double-breasted suit. I’m very happy to report that Reign Custom Tailors has quashed my worries, delivering a stunning suit that looks and feels like a million bucks. The only negative is the relatively longer lead time – they were the only tailor I visited during my recent Bangkok trip that took longer than three days to deliver the suit. Still, this is a minor issue, especially if you’re in Bangkok for longer (5 days to a week) or are comfortable with them shipping the finished garments over to you. One could also argue that the longer lead time allows Reign Custom Tailors to pay attention to nailing the details, instead of rushing through orders.
Suits at Reign Custom Tailors start at 10,000 Baht/~S$375, while shirts start at 2000 Baht/~S$75. My specific suit costs 15,000 Baht/~S$562, while the hydrophobic stain-resistant dress shirt has a price tag of 2500 Baht/~S$94. Those interested in commissioning a suit from Reign Custom Tailors can quote the promo code “WAHSOSHIOK” or flash this article in-store to enjoy a free 100% cotton shirt and a free tie with every suit purchase. I’m very happy with my suit – it’s one of my favourite pieces currently. I also want to give a shoutout to the stain-resistant dress shirt, which has allowed me to avert disaster more than once. If you’re searching for an affordable tailor who pays attention to details, I highly recommend Reign Custom Tailors.
Book an appointment with Reign Custom Tailors here.
Reign Custom Tailors’ Location: 14, 16 Decho Rd, Suriya Wong, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand
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P.P.P.P.S Shiok is a common word Singaporeans use to express admiration or approval. As of 2016, you can find the definition of the word in the Oxford English Dictionary.
