The New Yorker

I doubt if The New Yorker has ever considered itself a consumer finance magazine but the 1998 publication of a piece titled My Father's Closet in that magazine arguably saved me more money than anything else I've read over the years.

The author was John Seabrook, whose father was anointed one of America's best dressed in Esquire's first list, published around 1960. He wrote that his father's city clothes were made in New York and London, but his country clothes were made in Hong Kong.

At the time of publication I had been a Turnbull & Asser bespoke shirt customer for some years and had no complaints about the shirts. I did develop a serious complaint about the valuation of the U.S. dollar which was on its way to a 50% decline in value against the English pound. Then a light went on in my head.

This light eventually led me to the hotel suite of Joe Hemrajani, a principal of Hong Kong tailors MyTailor.com. http://www.mytailor.com/

Joe proceeded to copy the measurements of one of my bespoke shirts and promised to copy the construction in return for an extra charge that seemed more than reasonable to me. He didn't have T&A's selection of Sea Island cotton cloth in varied stripes and checks but his Thomas Mason fabrics more than covered the basics I was looking for.

My first order was for a variety of semi-solid fabrics including a light gray twill, tan nailhead and a navy on blue glen check. No pocket, of course. And each with my initials monogrammed in maroon inside the collar where the label is located on a ready to wear shirt.

Two months later my sample shirt arrived. As did, some weeks later, the balance of my first order. For 35% of what I'd have spent on Jermyn Street.

Dozens of shirts later, I religiously renew my subscription to The New Yorker. You never know when it might save you some serious money.