kotmj

Blimey, a customer came in wearing an OP Date from the 1970's. I like this form factor very much. Very, very much. In feel, this is the opposite of contemporary watches. Where contemporary watches try to be chunky, substantial, massive and solid---brutalist---this watch tries to use as little steel as necessary. It is light, small and thin. I can definitely see something like this in my future, perhaps a previous generation Air-King at 34mm, just like this watch.

So far, without trying much, I sold four Alumos. 2X Soyella duecento, 1x soyella, 1x supraluxe.

I almost forgot how Dugdale's New Fine Worsted feels like until my recollection was refreshed by the arrival of the length above. It feels like vintage cloth. P.Johnson used to offer the NFW as their basic cloth; I wonder how that was received by the market. They've since transitioned to a more rational option IMO---VBC Perennial. There's nothing wrong with the NFW. It's just that it's a niche cloth. A mainstream car is your typical family sedan. That's the VBC Perennial. The NFW is like a pickup truck, or a station wagon.

Apropos EPF being a Ponzi scheme, this article just came out today: http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/epf-ceo-joins-astros-board I thought Astro must be a huge pain in EPF's neck for its super busy ponzi CEO to go sit on its board. And indeed, look at how well EPF's 8% of Astro has faired: That 8% is worth RM670 million today. But they probably bought it at double that. This loss is not reflected in EPF's earnings.

There is a place in this world for light entertainment.

Neighbour's puppy. My taman perumahan is 100.0% Chinese, and nearly every house has a dog; some houses like mine have several. The violent dogs, of which there are several, are perpetually chained, while the non-aggressive ones are allowed to roam freely. This one came up to play with me this morning. It is good friends with my dogs.

Received new bunches from H&S

Oh, I just fully understood this. She's very aware of how bad the stitching is. She says she's embarrassed to show them to me. Her husband discouraged her from showing them to me. I'm glad she did it anyway.

I need to hire their copywriter. Too good.

Today, the distributor for Alumo came to the shop to pass me these. The best copywriting I've seen in a long time

More like bad hand-eye coordination. Eventually, she'll get it. If she doesn't, it's because she gave up or was prematurely fired.

I was sent this picture by the finisher. The couple nice buttonholes were examples made by me. Hers are quite bad. Obviously, we have something of a problem. But! At the beginning, it's the effort and perseverance that matters. She dropped by the shop just now so I could diagnose her problem.

Neighbour's dog. I think it is a border collie, supposedly one of the most intelligent dogs known to man. It is a beautiful thing---it looks very different from regular dogs. This one, however, is not personable. I tried touching it and it gave me a warning bite. That is, it tried to bite me, but missed. Dogs don't actually miss when biting---their survival depends on it. So it was a warning bite. It communicates: "Don't touch me!". It also lacks a sense of play that both my dogs have. In fact, in demeanour it is what I imagine a German shepherd to be. It's a serious dog---it doesn't frolic with other dogs. Its movements are slow and thoughtful.

I just Googled "Hwa Seng Textiles" in order to get to their web shop to order some supplies when I saw this review. It chronicles the making of RM2400 fully canvassed mixed wool suit. Here in KL, fully canvassed does not just mean the type of construction (non-fused) but that it is a premium, handmade garment made with all the technique the makers are in possesion of. In other words, it is something special. In Singapore, this is clearly different. https://www.wahsoshiok.com/suit-review-my-hst-tailors-experience/ https://www.wahsoshiok.com/suit-review-hst-tailors/ This suit has benefitted from the know-how of two fitters, one young one old. I admire what they try to do---to make suits affordably. Given the price constraints, one should not expect too much. Yet, I am itching to point out the serious flaws in the jacket alone. Just the front of the jacket. The sleeves, the back, and the overall level of make I shall not comment on. The entire front is hanging askew. The front dart is not even remotely plumb/vertical. Because the front is hanging askew, the underarm seam (second arrow) is very visible from the front. It's also true what the customer was told about having a disproportionally long torso---you see the dreaded crotch, giving the prematurely truncated look. I've produced my share of these prematurely truncated jackets for customers with long torsos. Nowadays the solution I adopt is to make a long jacket if their torsos are long. I tell them: See, you have a long torso so I make a long jacket. But if you are willing to accept a shorter jacket with the compromises that entails, I'm happy to make that too. There is a certain pervasive sense of lumpenness to the jacket, as opposed to sharply, precisely tailored. I admire the tolerance HST's proprietor has towards his staff. It is also the right way to run a scalable business. I don't have this tolerance. I would have fired both fitters. I just can't work with such people. "But, Jeremy, the price! The price!" Maybe one should not make a suit below a certain price.