"Can I get you a 7-Up or a beer, please?" Sam murmurs as we walkin.
Greg shows Sam a jacket and sweater his wife wants copied. Samis also showing fabric samples to Tom. And he's asking me what I'dlike to buy.
If this seems like a lot for one tailor to be doing at once,there's an explanation: Sam is actually three people - the originalSam who came from India and opened the shop in 1957, and his twosons. To maintain the family mystique, perhaps, the Sams decline togive me their real names. (Guidebooks report that father Sam is namedAsh Samtani, though one of the Sams told me that's not so.)
Sam's is crowded. Tom is being measured for a suit, a man istrying on trousers in a corner alcove (sorry, no dressing room), andGreg and I are looking at more fabric samples.
One of the Sams tells me there are 12,000 tailors in Hong Kong.His shop employs 42, turning out 30 suits per day. He says about 85percent of Sam's business comes from repeat customers.
Having come here only to observe, I am now getting caught up inthe excitement. I am looking at samples of ultra-suede; I've alwayswanted an ultra-suede blazer.
As I admire a light gray, one of the Sams cuts a corner from thesample and tapes it to an order form. He asks me to sign. As I'mcrossing the "t" in Jonathan, he shows me fabric samples for a shirtto complement the jacket.
A Sam tells me his shop does no advertising. "One customer willbring five . . . they will bring 25 . . . and they will bring 100."
Business cards and photographs of customers crowd the counterand walls of the shop, on the ground floor of Burlington Arcade,92-94 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.
Richard Nixon shopped here; so did rock star Sting. Alsoposted is a photograph of actor Peter Graves being measured by Sam.Graves is decked out in his boxer shorts.
Before we call a halt, Greg has ordered a blazer and a shirt, aswell as the jacket and sweater for his wife. Tom is buying a suit,two pants and two shirts. I'm getting the blazer and shirt.
The days of the "24-hour suit" are long gone, so I must returntwo days later for a fitting.
The half-made jacket is slipped on me. Sam inspects the fitand, in Cantonese, instructs one of the staff tailors to make thejacket just a little longer.
On my last day in Hong Kong, I return for a final fitting. Thejacket ($150) is perfect, and I'm so pleased with the shirt ($18)that I order three more, to be mailed to my suburban Chicago home.
Almost more important than the price, I can now proudly displaythe jacket label: "Specially Made for Jonathan Lehrer."
I can also show off my "J.L." monogram, which Sam's embroideredon the shirt pockets at no extra charge.
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