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Style Guyde: One Tough Custom-er |
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Written by Sean Krebs |
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
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I hate to admit that I’ve lived in New York City and worked in the fashion industry for nearly 15 years (where does the time go?) but I’ve never had a custom piece of clothing made for myself. Oddly enough, I did actually have a pair of custom shoes made a few years back – but they came out so hideous (through no fault of mine, I swear!) that I brought them straight to the wonderful little consignment shop in the East Village that I’ve been dropping off my formerly-loved and gently-worn items for more than a decade (I believe those shoes are still there on the shelf collecting dust as I type this).
Since I am quite tall (6’3”) with long arms and a skinny torso, I’m actually a perfect candidate for a custom shirt. Any shirt off-the-rack that fits me through the body is too short in the sleeves and too tight in the neck, while shirts that are long enough for my arms are always too big and blowsy in the body. Alex Yoo, the genius behind the Alexander West label, took my concerns (and some others that I had never even thought of before) into consideration while designing the perfect shirt made specifically just for me.
Less than two years ago, Alex left his (then) stable investment banker job behind to start Alexander West, a custom shirt business that offers its services both in-person and online at www.alexander-west.com . Like me, Alex never had much luck buying shirts off-the-rack (he has a 16.5 inch neck and 38 inch chest) and he found that many of his colleagues were in the same boat – buying expensive dress shirts only to have them shrink after one trip to the dry cleaner. Plus he was looking to start his own business, preferably something more creative than analyzing numbers. So, Alex took a few (really tough men’s wear design) classes at FIT on the weekends, researched and went through trial-and-error with a lot of different workshops in Hong Kong and finally, in August of 2007, Alexander West was born offering custom made dress shirts from $105 to $150 (which really isn’t all that much more than those places at the local mall).
Alex uses a subtle approach to asses each client’s needs – he devotes at least one hour for the initial consultation and says that looking through his seemingly endless selection of 80 to 140 thread count cotton fabrics alone takes at least half of that time. He asks you the questions you’d expect, like “do you want a shirt for the office or for the weekend?” and “are you trendy or more conservative?” And he also asks fun stuff like “what do you think about the color pink?” Plus he takes measurements, a lot of measurements (at least 9, if not 10, different ones). While doing all of this, Alex is quietly observing you and your physical features - so that when it comes down to picking out things like the spread of a collar or the placement of a monogram, he’s already formed a definite opinion about both for you.
I was surprised when he strongly suggested that I go with a wide spread collar since my face is narrow. Alex felt that proportion would be best for me – he pays attention to proportion but says that overall fit is the most important element of an Alexander West shirt. That’s what’s going to keep me coming back for more – and after only an hour, I already trust him. It happened to Will Smith (who has worn Alexander West shirts on numerous occasions) and Vincent Kartheiser (who plays Pete Campbell, the guy we all love to hate on AMC’s “Mad Men”), so I’m pretty sure it’ll happen to me. I just have to wait until my first shirt arrives in 3 to 5 weeks to see for myself!
Here’s hoping that the winter is truly over and we can all stop worrying about chapped lips, slushy sidewalks and losing our favorite Gucci leather gloves (I still think that horrible coat check girl actually stole mine!). But even if chapped lips become a thing of the past, we still need to keep them hydrated and (most importantly) kissable all year long, right?
Well, Alexandra Zanella and Melissa Shabinsky from Revolution Organics say that we can actually do both of those things without any annoying chemicals or artificial ingredients (like those found in so many other beauty products available on the market today). Revolution Organics only makes products that can proudly carry the “certified organic” seal of approval from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) – which means that at least 95 percent of the ingredients are all-natural, grown without certain pesticides or fertilizers, and produced in a way that respects and maintains the integrity of the environment. And when they were creating Revolution Organics Lip Balm, Alexandra and Melissa thought long and hard about how what goes on your lips actually goes into your body as well - so, only USDA food grade health-promoting organic ingredients like nourishing shea butter and olive oil were used in its production!
The first 10 entries (with a valid e-mail, home address and telephone number) to e-mail us at
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with “Revolution Organics” in the subject and telling us in 100 words or less about your fondest winter memory of the past year will win a 0.5 oz. tube of Revolution Organics Lip Balm (a $24 value). Only one entry/winner per household please.
To read more about Revolution Organics – be sure to check out their website at www.revolutionorganics.com !
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