Progress of a Sort

I have been using Hong Kong's W. W. Chan for warm weather clothing these past two years, but that practice was temporarily discontinued when I was notified that the cloth I had ordered was unavailable. Without a backup plan I suppose I might have waited for the next time they came to town to make another selection, but the firm has done well enough by me (my only complaint to date being that they seem to have no idea where buttons for braces are to be placed on trousers, attaching them consistently too far to the sides) that I elected instead to commission the tan W. Bill 14 ounce Donegal tweed in the photo along with a tattersall odd vest. In some not fully functioning part of my mind I rationalized that this saved a few dollars, Chan being less expensive than the Europeans of my acquaintance, though obviously it saved not nearly as much as ordering nothing would have.

At any rate, the product of that weird logic hangs in my closet now, awaiting Chan's visit for what is supposed to be a forward fitting but will not be.

It may be that I am the only non-Hong Kong customer to request a forward from the firm, whose usual practice is to provide a basted fitting if they provide any kind of fitting at all. But they have made three jackets for me already, and I thought my pattern was unlikely to need the major changes that are the reason for a basted. I asked for a forward with the idea that I could confirm that some of the smaller but important details are right, such as the placement of the pockets. Better luck next time.

You see, the problem with my concept is that the current state of this jacket is merely the basted fitting with the basting thread replaced by the regular stuff. Pockets are not marked and I cannot see any way in which the state of the jacket is advanced otherwise. So my forward fitting is going to be a basted fitting with the caveat that if we do need to make a change it will be more difficult for the tailors.

Oh well, these things happen. I like the cloth. I like the price. And it is progress of a sort.