Green trim on my navy CHxxxL

As I have said before one of the best things about living in Hong Kong is having access to thousands of immaculate yet reasonably inexpensive tailors. The one I found came highly recommended by the very chic English mother of a good friend. But there is something a bit insecure about the process. You pick this fabric which looks fabulous in a flat piece off the roll, unknowing that the color will be different once the sun hits it on your body, or what the pattern will do in the folds of darts or seams. You bring a picture but the jacket will look entirely different on your shape, on your boobs, on your behind.

It reminds me so much of my days at work as a young designer - my boss would come up with general themes for the next season, I'd do sketches and we'd pick the ones we liked best in group design meetings. Then I'd do a technical sketch with measurements and swatches, number of stitches per inch, and all sorts of forgettable details. But when we would go see the finished sample in Italy, it would never be exactly as you'd expected. It might be the quality of the drawing, or the sample maker's interpretation of it. But guaranteed you'd be looking at something you had not expected.

With this last jacket, I wanted to achieve something as close to Chanel as I could without going to Shenzhen and buying a fake. My friend with the chic English mother convinced me I should go for an extravagant and exciting fabric rather than plain black which may be found on the high street. And I am so happy with the result. The trim on top of the black brading has turned out much more green than I thought, but this is making it very different, and certainly not like anything on the high street. I chose a very matte black plastic button, which actually resembles a gunmetal type of button, but again I like it. If there would be such a job, this is what I want to do when I grow up - I want to be a consultant who helps people make custom tailored clothes - because it's a challenge to figure out what's right for you if you haven't learned from experience. But once you've had something made to fit, it's just really hard to go back to the high street... I'll be wearing this jacket with a plain heather grey crew neck t-shirt and jeans, and probably just flats.

the jacket laying flat

the jacket hanging