在香港，如何找到好裁缝？你需要考虑这几点

HONG KONG — Think of a major city, and you often think of a business. In London, it’s the pub; in Tokyo, the sushi restaurant, and so on.

香港——每当想到一个大城市，你经常会想到一种生意。对于伦敦，会想到酒吧;对于东京，会想到寿司店，诸如此类。

In Hong Kong, it’s the tailor’s shop, home to a magician with cloth who can take your measurements one morning and produce a finished suit the next day. It sounds like a stereotype, but this city of about 7.4 million has hundreds of such businesses, supported by legions of tailors and seamstresses toiling away in drab industrial workrooms tucked into out-of-the-way neighborhoods or across the border in mainland China.

在香港，则会是裁缝店，这座城市是布料魔术师之家，他们在早上测量你的尺寸，第二天你就能拿到做好的西装。这听起来像是刻板印象，但是在这座740万人口的城市中，有数以百计这样的裁缝店，支撑在背后的是大量的裁缝，他们在偏僻的街区中，或是在位于中国大陆界内单调的工业工作室里辛勤劳作。

Residents here are used to visitors who ask for tailor recommendations, along with suggestions for the best dim sum and xiaolongbao (soup dumpling) and how to avoid waiting in lines for the Peak Tram. The usual advice begins with two points to be considered well before starting the hunt for the right shop.

这里的居民已经习惯了客人们请他们推荐裁缝，连带着询问最好的点心和小笼包餐厅是哪家，如何不排长队就能坐上山顶缆车。要想找到对的裁缝店，通常的建议是先考虑两个问题。

First, what do you want in the finished garment? In detail.

首先，你希望成品是怎样的?要说详细。

On their own, Hong Kong tailors will produce a standard version of any piece of clothing. That kind of mass-market mind-set has enabled many shops to develop robust e-tail operations and global customer networks, with measurements and fabric selections determined during scheduled visits to major cities and garments made and dispatched from Hong Kong.

让香港裁缝自己决定的话，他们将会制作任何服装的标准版本。很多商店靠这种大众市场心态开发了兴旺的裁缝电商业务和全球客户网络，他们会定期前往大城市确定尺寸、选定面料，在香港制作服装并发货。

But if you want specific features — topstitching, a watch pocket in trousers or channels for shirt collar stays — you have to say so when you place the order.

但是，如果你想要具体的式样——辑面线、裤子上的表袋，衬衫衣领内衬上的条带——你下订单时就必须说清楚。

Another possibility: Bring a favorite garment to be copied. (And that’s what will be produced: an exact copy.)

还有一种可能性：带上你最喜欢的服装去复制。(做出来的东西和原物一模一样。)

Second, consider your travel schedule. Many tailors can, indeed, produce a suit overnight — or will measure you just before you dash to the airport train, then send the finished garment by express delivery. But having at least one fitting, and preferably two, will produce a much better result. So maybe it’s worth skipping the Big Buddha on Lantau Island if you don’t have a lot of time.

第二，要考虑你的旅行日程。很多裁缝确实可以在一夜之间做好一套西装，或者在你冲到机场快线之前测量好尺寸，然后通过快递把成品发给你。但至少试穿一次，最好是两次，效果会更好。所以如果你没有太多的时间，不去看大屿山的大佛可能是值得的。

Once you’re ready to find a tailor, many concierges (even if you’re not staying in his or her hotel) will be happy to make recommendations. Or search online for “Hong Kong tailors” and scroll through the scores of blog posts, horror stories and even a few tales of praise.

如果你准备找裁缝，很多门房(即使你不住在他们的酒店)都很乐意向你推荐。你也可以在网上搜索一下“香港裁缝”，浏览博客帖子、恐怖故事甚至几个表扬帖。

One common warning: Ignore the men who try to hand you a tailor’s leaflet as you exit the Star Ferry terminal in Kowloon. Most of those operations are low-end businesses with second-rate fabrics and poor quality control.

一个常见的警告是：当你离开九龙的天星码头时，要无视那些给你发裁缝传单的人。这些商铺大部分做的是低端业务，使用廉价面料，质量管控也不好。

Thinking about the quality of garment you want may help you narrow your choices.

想一想你想要什么质量的衣服，这可能会有助于你缩小选择。

Central, the cluster of glass-and-metal skyscrapers on Hong Kong Island, is the city’s traditional finance and banking neighborhood, so tailors there primarily cater to executives who want classic styles in top-end suiting materials from Ermenegildo Zegna, Loro Piana, Dormeuil or one of the many heritage woolen brands in Britain. Most customers are men; women can get coats, pantsuits, and jacket and skirt combinations, but they are likely to lack the kind of fashion-forward styling seen on the runways in Paris or Milan.

中环是香港岛上很多玻璃和金属摩天大楼的汇聚之地，是该市传统的金融和银行区，因此这里的裁缝主要面向希望穿着经典款式的高管，他们要求使用杰尼亚(Ermenegildo Zegna)、诺悠翩雅(Loro Piana)、多美(Dormeuil)品牌或英国羊毛老字号的顶级西装面料。大多数客户都是男性;女士可以定制大衣、长裤套装，以及西装裙的组合，但是他们可能不会有巴黎或米兰T台上那种以时尚为重的风格。

Several tailors in Tsim Sha Tsui, commonly called TST, the shopping and entertainment center at the tip of the Kowloon peninsula, also serve executive tastes, but many in this tourist haven also have a broad range of lower-end fabrics.

尖沙咀位于九龙半岛的尖端，是购物和娱乐中心，这里也有几个裁缝是为高管口味服务的，但这个旅游天堂里的很多裁缝铺都有大量低端面料。

Fabric is a good indicator of price. A suit made from top-quality materials, which will pack with little wrinkling and keep its shape over time, is likely to cost from $1,500 to more than $3,000. Moderately priced fabrics will result in lower-priced garments. But, regardless of what someone on the internet says, a $300 suit that will fit perfectly, wear like a dream and last for decades is a fantasy.

面料是一个很好的价格指标。优质面料制成的西装价格从1500到3000美元(约合人民币1万到2万元)以上。这些面料不怎么起皱，可以长年保持有型。价格适中的面料制成的西装价格也较低;但是，无论网上的人怎么说，一套300美元的西装，要想既合身、又衬人，还可以穿上个几十年，那都是在做梦。

Suzie Wong might have known such a tailor, although that 1960s styling would be awfully dated these days.

苏丝黄可能就认识这样一个裁缝，不过那种1960年代的造型放在如今来看可能会非常过时。