Suit shopping, Round 1
Dec. 28th, 2005 11:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meanfreepathI went with the family to NYC this morning, where we went to Chinatown and had good dim sum with my maternal grandparents. Thereafter we poked into a custom tailor shop in Chinatown and inquired about suits. Price range: $500-$700. At that point, I was not willing to spend that much for a suit.
Some time later, we then went to visit some old family friends. This requires some explanation. My father emigrated from Hong Kong while he was in high school, and one of the institutions that was really important to him when he got to the US was the local Catholic parish, Most Holy Redeemer. Although my paternal grandparents were not Catholic, he had gotten into the best high school in Hong Kong, Wah Yan College, which was run by the Jesuits. It was through the influence of the Irish priests there that he converted to Catholicism. So, throughout his twenties, before he met my mother and moved out of lower Manhattan, he was an usher and otherwise quite active at Most Holy Redeemer. Consequently, he got to know the people there well, and when I was born, he picked two people he had known well from there to be my godparents. My godmother was from a family of Italian sisters who had never married; sadly, she passed away from complications of knee replacement surgery during the middle of my freshman orientation at Swat. Today we visited the sole surviving sister of the family. Physically, she's getting on in years, and now finds it very difficult to get out of her apartment. But a large part of it has to do with accessibility -- specifically, the poor conditions of the sidewalks in that part of New York. While she has a power chair, she doesn't feel comfortable going all that far.
So this afternoon we carried on a tradition that's been going ever since I can remember, back when my godmother was alive. When my family lived in Iselin, and my mom was working at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, we got to visit my godmother and her sisters much more often. Every time, we'd stop at Veniero's, the Italian pastry shop in the East Village, to get some of their superb miniature pastries. Veniero's itself is certainly a New York tradition; the lines there around the holidays can be ridiculous as people snap up their pastries, cheesecakes, and other Italian desserts. The cannolis and miscellaneous fruit and cream filled pastries we shared over tea this afternoon were, as usual, out of this world. But it was even more essential, urgent even, that we had the chance to fill each other in on our lives. All of Dad's fellow ushers have now departed from this life, and we don't know how much longer this sole surviving sister has.
Eventually we got home, and after dinner, Mom suggested making some more attempts on the suit shopping. I first went to Lord and Taylor's; their smallest suits were 38 S, which were too large. They suggested the children's department, but there, the suits were too small and were moreover of poor quality. I couldn't find anything that wasn't mostly polyester or rayon there, and this time I'm insisting on 100% wool. The reason, frankly, that I've never really had a good suit is because I've always had to resort to getting them from the children's department.
We then tried Macy's, where they had a 36 S. This, too, proved to be too large. The main problem seems to be the breadth of the shoulders, which unlike the length of the sleeves cannot be easily altered.
I don't know what to try now. There's a Men's Wearhouse nearby which I do want to look at. There is also a nearby Burlington Coat Factory. Failing that, I know there are menswear places at Franklin Mills (a Saks 5th Avenue?) where maybe there might be something that fits me. Might I even have to consider trying to find a seller of upscale school uniforms, perhaps in Philly? If all else fails, there will be no option other than custom, and I really don't want to spend that much money.
Some time later, we then went to visit some old family friends. This requires some explanation. My father emigrated from Hong Kong while he was in high school, and one of the institutions that was really important to him when he got to the US was the local Catholic parish, Most Holy Redeemer. Although my paternal grandparents were not Catholic, he had gotten into the best high school in Hong Kong, Wah Yan College, which was run by the Jesuits. It was through the influence of the Irish priests there that he converted to Catholicism. So, throughout his twenties, before he met my mother and moved out of lower Manhattan, he was an usher and otherwise quite active at Most Holy Redeemer. Consequently, he got to know the people there well, and when I was born, he picked two people he had known well from there to be my godparents. My godmother was from a family of Italian sisters who had never married; sadly, she passed away from complications of knee replacement surgery during the middle of my freshman orientation at Swat. Today we visited the sole surviving sister of the family. Physically, she's getting on in years, and now finds it very difficult to get out of her apartment. But a large part of it has to do with accessibility -- specifically, the poor conditions of the sidewalks in that part of New York. While she has a power chair, she doesn't feel comfortable going all that far.
So this afternoon we carried on a tradition that's been going ever since I can remember, back when my godmother was alive. When my family lived in Iselin, and my mom was working at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, we got to visit my godmother and her sisters much more often. Every time, we'd stop at Veniero's, the Italian pastry shop in the East Village, to get some of their superb miniature pastries. Veniero's itself is certainly a New York tradition; the lines there around the holidays can be ridiculous as people snap up their pastries, cheesecakes, and other Italian desserts. The cannolis and miscellaneous fruit and cream filled pastries we shared over tea this afternoon were, as usual, out of this world. But it was even more essential, urgent even, that we had the chance to fill each other in on our lives. All of Dad's fellow ushers have now departed from this life, and we don't know how much longer this sole surviving sister has.
Eventually we got home, and after dinner, Mom suggested making some more attempts on the suit shopping. I first went to Lord and Taylor's; their smallest suits were 38 S, which were too large. They suggested the children's department, but there, the suits were too small and were moreover of poor quality. I couldn't find anything that wasn't mostly polyester or rayon there, and this time I'm insisting on 100% wool. The reason, frankly, that I've never really had a good suit is because I've always had to resort to getting them from the children's department.
We then tried Macy's, where they had a 36 S. This, too, proved to be too large. The main problem seems to be the breadth of the shoulders, which unlike the length of the sleeves cannot be easily altered.
I don't know what to try now. There's a Men's Wearhouse nearby which I do want to look at. There is also a nearby Burlington Coat Factory. Failing that, I know there are menswear places at Franklin Mills (a Saks 5th Avenue?) where maybe there might be something that fits me. Might I even have to consider trying to find a seller of upscale school uniforms, perhaps in Philly? If all else fails, there will be no option other than custom, and I really don't want to spend that much money.
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hmm
Date: 2006-01-03 07:53 am (UTC)As for the suits... would it be possible for someone to take your measurements and for you to order it custom from another country where clothing is cheaper? I daresay the shipping is more expensive, but my mother once mentioned this was done by one of my relatives. Our relatives bought a really nice suit for him in the Philippines and sent it over.
When I get home, I'll check the sizes of my suits from my dad. I think they are smaller than 36S. If one of them fits you, I wouldn't mind lending it to you.