A Gentleman's Shirtmaker

My better half recently took me shopping for a birthday present at IFC here in HK. Hang on...should it be, in proper form, THE IFC or just plain IFC...anyways, I digress in my second sentence.

For those that know me, shopping with me is typically faster than the car in the post below...I see it, I like it, I buy it. I sometimes don't even try things on (Lanvin ;)). So it was especially surprising to me that when my better half took me shopping a few weeks ago, I couldn't find a single thing to buy.

As we were leaving Lane Crawford for like the fifth time with no purchase in hand, we passed by Ascot Chang, a well-known shirtmaker in these parts of the world. I have always been curious as to why they are so well-known and liked, so I set my heart on a few shirts, my better half took out her credit card, and boom...Andrew gets his bday present!

Some findings:

• They had a gigantic wall full of fabric swatches for shirts...the biggest selection I have ever seen.
• The minium price for a shirt was around $130 USD , 4 times an average HK tailor. You must order three shirts on your first buy.
  
• They required two fittings. My suits only require one fitting. This, of course, is to ensure the perfect fit
• Their fabrics are way better quality than some of the tailors I have been to. There is this subtle sheen to my shirts that just looks money. haha
  
• The shirts came out fantastic in fit and quality. I am a satisfied customer.
  

Rice Rocket Eater

Growing up American-Born-Chinese, my parents always said it was more nutritious to eat rice than it was to eat its Western cuisine substitutes, namely bread and pasta. Well mom, how about this mean machine?

The GT-R, the latest iteration on the famed Skyline series of cars from Nissan, undoubtedly eats rice rockets for breakfast. It eats "pasta rockets" too (ahem Ferrari, Lamborghini) and "bread rockets" (hi Aston Martin and Lotus). Here are some of its startchy stats:

0-60 time: 3.2 seconds
0-100-0 time: 13.9 seconds
480 bhp + 430 lb/ft torque
Price: Only $79,090 USD!!!

For the price of one Lambo, you could have nearly 4 of GT-Rs!

It's been a while....

The game may have changed (since my last post), but the playa remains the same...lol.

What in the material world is Andrew obsessing over these days? Well, since I am required to wear a monkey suit to work everyday, I have started to pay more attention to the various intricacies of the business-wear world. From fine English shoes to French-silk ties, to the types of buttons on a shirt, there are a gazillion ways to pimp my ride ( outfit). But perhaps the single thing that I need most now, to be pimp of course, is a new work bag.

A hold-all that isn't one of them feminine looking satchels (Bally?) that I see too many metros in this city using, I saw this bag with my gf at LC and have been thinking about it every morning, when I pack my nasty Nike gym bag for work.

Oh yeah, and an Andrew fashion-tip: Never use a bag shoulder strap while wearing a suit, carry it with your hands.

Price ~$5,000 HKD. Sorry for the small pic.

BeoComm 2

The Bang and Olfusen BeoCom 2, 80th anniversary model. I'm not usually a big B&O fan because they typically put form way over function, and price over that, but their phones are damn cool and they're really the pioneers in high-design phones. 9 times out of 10, its probably cheaper to fly over and talk to the person than to get one of these joints.

Price: $975

Louis XIII

I'm not a big cognac fan, but I know what's the shit........and Remy Martin's Louis XIII is the shit

I believe the bottle is Baccarat

Price: $1,399

LG KE850 a.k.a. Prada phone

So, once again, the krazy Koreans have beaten the "R.o.W." to the "market". "R.o.W." in this case is Apple. "Market" being that niche market of designer-cool-looking-not-boring phones.

OK, Im not making sense so how's this: How much does this above phone remind you of them I-Phone pics? It's got a nifty touch screen. And I guess the size factor is out the window these days cause this thing is pretty big at almost the same size as the I-Phone.

But since there is the Prada name on it, I guess it makes it all good.........and expensive.

Price: $780

Looking like a million bucks

If I had to look like a million bucks, i'd be decked out in an Oxxford suit. And not just off-the-rack, but the made to measure custom shit. It takes 23 hours to make one of these joints. By some American highly skilled artisan...not some 8yr old Vietnamese kid. A custom suit made of Super 200 wool and cashmere can go for nearly $20,000. Now thats a power suit.

And of course, you'd need the power shoe.....and since we're going custom, it'd be the John Lobb custom leather shoe. That's right, shit's made for your feet.

Price: $3,000-$20,000 suit

$2,000-$5,000 shoes