posted Thu 14 Apr 2011 06:24 PM  

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Product: tailored shirts
Price: $89 (groupon currently for $25)
From: Marcella, The Cathay (next to Aston's)

Verdict: maybe
Why: good service, good range, well priced and convenient location, but ultimately a little light on quality

Main Review:

First of all, let me qualify myself but saying I only went there because I got the groupon and decided to try out a new tailor. For those of you who do not know what groupon is, it is basically a discount site where you pre-purchase coupons for a discounted rate on virtually anything; but that is a story for another day.

I like tailoring shirts, but as one of those guys who has begun to get sedentary and fatter, it is not always a great idea.

Marcella is opened by a local entrepreneur, and is a clever idea to place a tailor in a slightly more mass market place like The Cathay, clearly targeting a different crowd from the tailors in say Raffles Place, or the City Hall area.



I was pleased by the set-up of the shop, in a quiet corner of The Cathay (you normally would not notice it because it is past Aston's and people's attentions do not usually go past Aston's), it is sleekly designed despite it's small space, and gives you an overall trendy feel.

The service was also great. The staff was eloquent and helpful, and ready to make suggestions and observations. I found him picking out the cloth and several details such as cuffs and buttons for me.

The shop also tiers its cloths into two levels, the slightly more expensive tier being $25 more should you want slightly better materials (if you do decide to go, get the better one). The range of cloths available is very decent.

However, the most important qualities of a tailor is ultimately 2 things: quality of the cloth, fit of the shirt. I found both these things to be lacking at Marcella.

Honestly, I was very excited to try on the shirt because I had been broke for a long time and the groupon was a good way to spend a little on clothes after not shopping for like a year. The shirt I made was a disappointment.

The shirt was not well-fit, being very loose around the waist and arms. It draped over me like a curtain. That is an exaggeration but I do think that the very least a tailor could do is fit a shirt better than one off the rack. It is also true that I could simply get them to alter it, but seriously it was way off the mark, and most good tailors would get it right the first time.

The cloth of the material was also substandard. It was my own fault for not spotting it when I was picking the cloth, and my own fault for not paying me for the better quality cloths, but still, it was seriously not good enough. It was one of those shirts that if you put your hand behind the cloth you can see how many fingers you are raising. Unacceptable.

All in all however, the shirt is pretty decent, and I did get it for $25 so I am fine with it. I do think that if I paid $89 though I would be very upset.