Beware of shirts made in Tokyo after lunch

I was in Japan for three months in the early 70’s for the company.
As I said before it was a great experience, but some odd things did happen. I used to have lunch at the Hilton Hotel a couple of times a week with some of the staff. It was essential for me to make contact with members of the Creative Department since the previous Creative Director neglected the local staff a bit.

Needless to say, there was some drinking involved with lunch, actually quite a bit. Look, let me be honest, I had just come from England and drinking was part and parcel of advertising (see Mad Men).

The hotel had a Hong Kong custom shirt maker on the lower level. Since it was a novelty for me, and it was much cheaper than Turnbull and Asser in London, I naturally had some shirts made. Very John Wayne, tapered waist, I was slimmer then, big sleeves high collar, mother-of-pearl snap buttons, very 70’s. It seemed every time I went to the Hilton after lunch and had a few drinks, it was down to the shirt maker.

I really do not remember what color fabric I picked; they always gave me the finished shirts in brown and yellow, which fit perfectly. I was sure I hadn’t selected those materials since I am not partial to those colors. I thought I had picked blue, white or even pink. Yet, every time I picked them up, it was always the same brown and yellow shirts. Once there was even a black and white paisley shirt, I could not have been that drunk. I must have had 30 shirts limited to those same colors.

They must have had a surplus of brown and yellow material and God knows how the paisley came into the picture; they must have figured I was too drunk to remember. To this day, I still think that Japanese booze causes color blindness. The shirts fit great and I was sort of obligated to wear them, otherwise, I would have to explain the state I was in after my boozy lunch, when I ordered them.

If you go to Japan, and go to the Hilton, have your shirts made before lunch. There is a bigger color selection then, after lunch it is just brown or yellow, with an occasional paisley shirt thrown in.