Hello everyone, and welcome to another of my reviews. In this article, I’ll review my experience tailoring a suit and shirt from the local tailor Gentlemen’s Pursuit.
Gentlemen’s Pursuit is the newest tailor on the block, having launched just last December. It’s the brainchild of JJ, whom I previously tailored with when he was the co-founder of another local tailoring label. He recently decided to strike it out on his own and invited me to try out his latest concept – let’s see if it’s any good.
Gentlemen’s Pursuit – Consultation
Gentlemen’s Pursuit is located at 1 Genting Link, an industrial estate in the Potong Pasir/Macpherson area. It’s a tad ulu, being 1 km away from Potong Pasir MRT station. I understand the practicality of it – a more inaccessible location translates to cheaper rent, and therefore lower prices. Still, unless you drive or live around the area, be prepared for a little bit of a journey.
Once there, however, you will be greeted by a large, open-concept space with sleek white walls. It’s tastefully decorated, with a lounging area for waiting guests, a consultation area, and a small back office for alterations and garment preparation. The showroom looks like an interior designer’s office and reminded me of sightonomy’s showroom.
I loved how the showroom was bathed in natural lighting. It’s not just a vibes thing either – natural lighting allows you to judge the texture and colours of the fabrics better. The high ceilings also gave the space a spacious atmosphere, which is a breath of fresh air as most affordable tailors have relatively cosy boutiques.
Despite being a new tailor, Gentlemen’s Pursuit has a respectable range of fabrics (largely due to JJ’s existing connections with suppliers). Currently, there are three fabric tiers – house fabrics mixed wool at $688, 100% wool European fabrics (VBC Perennial, Sunny Season, etc) at $888, and 100% wool Premium European fabrics (VBC Revenge, Drago Super 130s, etc) from $1088 onwards.
While the “branded” fabrics are very affordable, I decided to opt for the entry-level fabrics since this was my first time trying out Gentlemen’s Pursuit. There’s no shame in going for the lead-in category when trying out a new tailor – sometimes it’s more prudent to test the services first before dipping your toes further.
Despite being the cheapest category, there’s quite a wide selection available, with every colour and texture available. This is not always the case – I’ve been to other tailors where the entry-level category consists of mainly solid colour navy, black and grey fabrics. I was particularly impressed with this Stylebella fabric book (pictured above), where the fabric looked and felt great.
To be honest, I was spoilt for choice. I was planning on choosing something from the Stylebella book, but chanced upon a lovely tobacco brown fabric. It’s a vibrant shade of brown – utterly different from the suits I’ve previously commissioned. I was also tempted by the VBC Revenge book at the last minute (Gentlemen’s Pursuit is currently offering VBC Revenge for under 1K, with a shirt included), but decided to save that for my next visit.
With the fabric settled, we next moved on to the suit lining. Once again, there is a myriad of linings available, from your regular polyester/viscose linings to Bemberg linings, and even VBC branded linings (the latter two require an additional premium). Since I opted for the entry-level fabric category, I decided to stick to the spirit of having a no-frills suit and chose a brown paisley lining from the regular lining book.
There’s also a bunch of button choices available. I decided to go for a safe pick, which was the amber horn buttons (pictured above, middle row right side).
As usual, I opted for side adjusters for my trousers.
Gentlemen’s Pursuit also had a good selection of shirting fabrics available. As I was previously impressed with the Stylebella fabric book, I decided to choose a shirting fabric from Stylebella’s shirting book, which had plenty of nice model photos for stylistic inspiration. We chanced upon a lovely brown and white striped shirting fabric (see picture above), which I felt would pair perfectly with the tobacco suit.
Gentlemen’s Pursuit – Measurements
With all the fabric and customisation options selected, we moved on to the measurements.
Firstly, JJ places an elastic strap across my chest, then my waist. It’s an old-school tailoring technique used by few, as a way of setting the position of the chest and waist to anchor the rest of the measurements against. I’ve recently read about this in Simon Crompton’s review of B&Tailor in Korea, so check that article out for more details on this technique.
While I’ve tailored with JJ before, that was over two years ago. Since then, it’s been clear that he has been working on his craft, as he wields the measuring tape noticeably more deftly than before. He shared with me that he went to hone his craft with the older tailors (which was also where he picked up the elastic band technique from) to ensure that he was well-equipped to run his own tailoring business. That’s commendable, to say the least.
Aside from the elastic band, JJ also used a protractor to measure the slope of my shoulders. Again, it’s a technique that’s more prevalent amongst traditional tailors like HST. You definitely won’t see such details in most affordable tailors, especially if they are run by relatively young chaps like JJ.
Like Sung Jin-Woo in Solo Levelling (sorry, been addicted to the anime recently), JJ’s skills have levelled up, with minute details being incorporated into his measurement process. The way he measured reminded me of HST and Meiko Tailor, which is high praise given that both tailors have decades of heritage and are almost double his price point.
Before I left, JJ took photos of my body posture from all angles and told me he would send them to his tailor for reference. Several aspects of fit – sleeve pitch, trousers drape, etc – depend on one’s body posture, so the photos will certainly come in handy when crafting the garments.
After a month, I returned for my first fitting session with the completed suit. Unlike the aforementioned tailors such as HST or Meiko Tailor, Gentlemen’s Pursuit doesn’t employ a basted fitting stage, which is a corner cut to keep prices affordable. On one hand, that’s a shame – the basted fitting is an experience to behold, especially if you’ve never made a custom suit before. Certain elements of the fit (such as the sleeve length, sleeve pitch, shoulders, etc) can only be altered during a basted fitting as it’s near impossible to make significant adjustments to those areas on a completed suit.
On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the completed suit fits like a glove. That’s a testament to JJ’s detailed measuring process, which certainly paid dividends here. The only alteration needed was the fit of the back, which didn’t drape as cleanly as we would have liked.
Like previously, JJ wrapped up the fitting session by taking a video of the suit’s fit from all angles. This gives his tailor a clear visual representation of how the garment fits, allowing them to make the necessary alterations accurately.
Conclusion – so the Gentlemen’s Pursuit experience “shiok” or not?
I enjoyed my experience with JJ at Gentlemen’s Pursuit. Firstly, I loved the vibe of the showroom, where plenty of natural lighting and high ceilings gave it an upscale touch. Secondly, Gentlemen’s Pursuit has a good selection of fabrics, from affordable (but still quality) house fabrics to “branded” offerings from the likes of VBC, Drago, Holland & Sherry, etc. I also appreciated how detailed JJ’s measurement process is, which translated to a great fitting suit even without a basted fitting process. Yes, the lack of a basted fitting process is a shame, but I should point out that plenty of pricier tailors (The Suited Label, Edit Suits, etc) also make do without it. If I have to nitpick, it would be that the current lead time is quite long – it took about two months before my final garments were ready.
A 2-piece mixed wool suit (half-canvassed) at Gentlemen’s Pursuit starts from $688, with 100% wool European fabrics (VBC, Drago, etc) starting from $888. For my readers, Gentlemen’s Pursuit is offering a $100 discount for 2-piece suits, a $200 discount for 3-piece suits, as well as a free shirt (worth $108) with every suit purchase. Quote “WAHSOSHIOK” while making your appointment to enjoy this (frankly fantastic) deal. Yes – that means that my suit (and shirt) only cost $588, which is an absolute steal.
CustomWelt fitting shoes are available at Gentlemen’s Pursuit too, so why not kill two birds with one stone?
To see the fit and finish of the eventual suit and shirt, read Part 2 of my review here.
Gentlemen’s Pursuit’s Location: 1 Genting Link, #08-01A, Singapore 349518
Book an appointment with Gentlemen’s Pursuit via WhatsApp here.
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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.
