Sir Classic Tailor

Before leaving for Singapore, a family friend, Joe Brasier, had told me by way of my grandmother, about a fabulous tailor shop in Chinatown called Sir Classic Tailor. A few days before leaving for Brunei, I set out for the shop on my own by way of the MRT (subway station). 

I had a bit of difficulty finding the shop, wandering down street after street, waving aside invitations to buy everything from pink “I ♥ Singapore” t-shirts to large fans the size of bookcases. Eventually, I found a nice businessman in a dark suit who told me to go down Pagoda Street where most of the tailor shops can be found. “But why are you looking for a tailor?” he asked me, brow furrowed. “It’s quite expensive.”

“I’m just looking,” I assured him.

He shook his head. “They don’t like you to look. They like you to buy,” he said. With his warning still echoing in my head and his friendly wave upon my retreating back, I climbed the stairs, crossed a bridge, and headed toward Pagoda Street. Just when I was about to give up, I came across a beautiful shop with a bright green sign reading “Sir Classic Tailor.” Taking a deep breath, I walked inside. 

A salesman named Silva proved immediately attentive, recommending the best of the raw Italian silks. I told him I wanted a white silk suit like I’d admired in Singapore’s central business district. As we flipped through swatches and tagged different design samples, we discussed prices. After telling Silva that I’d been recommended to the shop by a family friend and was a non-working student, I managed to get a rather good price. “I think I remember Joe,” he said. 

Silva even walked me to the ATM where he stood at a distance so I could withdraw cash. I ordered a white raw Thai silky suit, and then the seamstress, Joan, took my measurements. As I paid, I noticed a bulletin board featuring the shop’s more famous clients, among them, Bill Clinton. Only in Chinatown in a country where the U.S. dollar still trumps the Singapore dollar could I afford to be in such company!

Standing outside Sir Classic Tailor after ordering my suit.

I returned for my first suit fitting this past Friday afternoon (July 1st) after coming back from Brunei. A man greeted me at the door and asked me to wait for Joan who was in the back room. She emerged a few moments later and immediately grabbed my short white jacket. “Two people saw it before you came in and requested the same design,” she told me, beaming.

I, too, was beaming when I put on the jacket. As I had to wait a few minutes for my skirt to be delivered, I sat at the counter, and Joan asked about my trip to Brunei and offered me a Coca-Cola which I accepted gratefully. Then we discussed shirt designs and I looked through a case of handmade raw silk ties. When the skirt arrived, I tried on the entire suit and couldn’t have been happier. (Actually, Joan disagreed, insisting that a handmade shirt under the jacket would be preferable to anything I could buy in other stores. She told me she’d give me a special discount if I returned, and I agreed to think about it.)

Posing with Joan after trying on my suit. (I think I understand what she means when she says I need to invest in a nice dress shirt. Somehow my green t-shirt detracts.)

I did return the very next day with my friend, Roxanne, who wanted to do some last-minute souvenire shopping for her brothers. Roxanne was blown away by my reception when I entered the shop. “Hello,” the man who’d greeted me the day before, said as I walked inside. “How do you like your suit?” I told him I loved it and had come back for the shirt.

“An excellent idea,” Joan beamed, gathering the books of swatches.

“How was Brunei, Emily?” Silva asked me as he pulled down bolts of cloth for another customer. “Can I get you a drink?”

Roxanne was wide-eyed as I sipped my Coke. She wandered off to some other shops while I admired a new assortment of silk ties and picked out my shirt material: pink and white striped Egyptian cotton. I return for my trial fitting Thursday.