"Call Me Jonno Please."

Alright, I will! ;) 

Jonno was actually referred to us by an incredibly tall and stylish friend of mine (I'll leave the name out -- but hopefully I will get to write a blog post on him too, one day soon.)We made him a luxurious Super 150's wool slim-fit suit for the upcoming wedding he'll be attending as well as other subsequent suit-appropriate occasions.

It was Jonno's first custom suit. It's his first--but I believe it will not be his last because he looked pretty darn happy about it:

We're standing by the counter, chatting. I notice Jonno is hugging his suit that I'd already wrapped up for him in a suit bag. It looks like it's slipping away from his grip. 

"Is that heavy? Here, let me hang it up for you while we continue this conversation." 

"Oh, no. It's okay. It's not heavy."

10 mins later.

"You sure you don't want me to hang it up? You look sort of uncomfortable and you're crushing your suit. I'll give it back."

"No. It's fine really." *Steps back*

"You really love your suit, huh?"

"YEAH! I love it!"

:P 

I'm glad you do. 

Sentimental Vintage Brocade

This is the brocade tuxedo jacket that I designed for our customer. 

One of our customers asked us what she could do with several pieces of her late mother-in-law's precious silk brocade. She didn't want it to just sit in a wooden chest where the moths could get at it. There was one particular piece that stood out from the rest--that I personally really liked. This cloth was a lustrous powder-ink silk speckled with old Chinese script.  It definitely was a very feminine style of brocade.

The customer didn't want to have a piece made that she could only wear on very rare occasions because then it would just sit in her closet most of the time--meaning it would be no different than just having the original piece of brocade cloth sitting in the wooden chest. The precious cloth needed to be worn and shown off!

I thought: She needs something versatile and fun so she would be comfortable wearing it and not feel too overdressed since brocade is such a luxurious and ornate kind of material. An idea popped into my head: Tuxedo-style Jacket! That's fun, very chic, and super versatile. She could wear it as a statement piece paired with some nice jeans or with a black skirt forming a girlie skirt-suit or with a pair of dressy shorts and heels. The possibilities are endless really. :)

So here it is: A one-of-a-kind brocade tuxedo jacket! The only one in the world too!

Is Your Son A Popular Kid At School? What? No? Read On!

Star-spangled pockets! Nothing says "Hip!" better than gold star badges.

The odd colour button. It's a new trend. Don't ask, just follow. Grown up guys can wear this too!

Shoulder tabs with chirping birds. Tell me that's not awesome.

Glittering gold cuff buttons. Wow!

It's not often that we get requests for custom-made children's clothes. Most parents would rather buy cheaper off-the-rack alternatives for their kids (because they know their darlings grow like lovely weeds) than splurge on expensive clothes that would only be worn for several months.

But when parents have that extra cash kicking around in between their kids' growth spurts, they might choose to satiate their fantasies of dressing up their little ones in luxurious apparel.

Whatever the reason you have for wanting to make your kids look super adorable, stylish and popular in school, we're ready to give you a helping hand!

Don Approves!

A little while back, a man named Don came into the store. I have to admit, I was a little intimidated by him. He had this stern voice and an authoritative attitude to go with. He also had sort of a half smile which made it confusing for me to judge whether he was genuinely in a good mood or it was just the way his lips were shaped.

His request was to have us tailor a shirt for him. Following his request, he said something like this, "You do this for me and if I like your work, I'll bring in more."

A couple weeks later, he showed up, tried on the shirt and we received a nod of approval.

In my head, I was like "YES!"...and "Phew."

The next time Don came in, I was able to smile without beads of perspiration tumbling down my forehead. I knew that since he had chosen to come back, that meant he liked our work.

To our surprise, Don had trusted us enough to ask us to make him a suit!

Although he gave me the jitters, I was confident that Balsam Tailors had the skills to make him look really good.

4 weeks later, he came and tried on his suit. To judge our success, I used the smile on Don's face... it went from a half smile to a full blown mile-long smile! We did it!

Don's a cool guy. He really is.

Lesson here: Never judge a book by its cover, but do judge a man by his smile ;)

Love the brown loafers!

Good Evening, I Would Like To Dance The Night Away With You Under The Moonlight

Everyone, this is Ethan. He's a nice boy. He's also the owner of that handsome dinner jacket in my previous post. He likes long walks on the beach, classical music, brandy, dogs and a full night of slow waltz.

You believe me? Peut-être.

Actually, the last time I asked, he's into soccer and has plans to attend college in North Carolina. He's even got a scholarship to go play there. I doubt he likes brandy or waltzing.

Thank you Ethan. Good luck on all your future endeavors.

60's Shawl Collar Dinner Jacket. Yes, Another Retro Piece.

I am so absolutely in love with this dinner jacket. My knees buckled when I arrived into work and saw this handsome piece of art hanging on our door. It is a collaboration between our talented seamstress and tailor. What a nice surprise to walk into.

Okay, it wasn't really a surprise. I knew about it but wasn't expecting such stunning craftsmanship. You could tell a lot of love was put into this one. Retro shawl collar, hand-made covered tux buttons. What a beauty.

This is a piece commissioned by a young man with discerning taste who will be attending his highschool prom this Saturday. Whoever will be on his arm is certainly a lucky girl.

I can't wait to see this jacket on its new owner!

Custom Made Dinner Jacket: Labour Only $450 + HST

David, Our Retro Hero!

Meet our new face for this month's suit modeling competition. It's David Hahlen for Balsam Custom Tailors versus all the other Vancouver males out there.

When it comes to men's style, David is like a breath of fresh air. He's got a unique sense of style coupled with a great personality. He came in with ideas inspired by vintage suits he saw online. VINTAGE! I. Love. Vintage. Anything!

I immediately spotted in this guy the potential to look amazing! Even though David had his ideas, he was still open to our suggestions about what would look best on him. He wanted a classic 3-piece suit to wear for his wedding (that is to take place next week--congratulations again!) and plus fifty other more weddings he'll be attending this year.

We like David. I like David. David is a great guy. If today wasn't the Federal Election Day but the Best Dressed Man of the Year Election Day and David was a candidate, he'd be getting MY vote ;)

I would also like to mention that I was absolutely blown away with David's modelling skills. He just got into position, at the snap of a finger, hesitation-free. If you're a modelling agency and you're reading this, David is your MAN!

In our eyes, David had already won first place. We presented him this little humble gift of retro cufflinks. I thought they matched his style perfectly. Actually, we gave him these because he had walked in with flapping French cuffs. I thought he looked really silly. He'd fractured his precious glass ones unfortunately.

Thank you David for letting Balsam Tailors share you with the world! We hope to see you again soon. :)

Custom 3-piece Suit: $1060+ (HST not included)

Website in the Making (Part 3)

What a busy Sunday afternoon for the Balsam crew! Everybody pitched in to help make this photoshoot happen. Thank you so much for all your effort guys!