CYC Made to Measure: A 1935 Shirt Tailor at Capitol

CYC Made to Measure fits shirts and suits at #01-12/13/14, Capitol Singapore, 13 Stamford Road, Singapore 178905, a covered walk from City Hall MRT through an underground link. The shop is open every day from 11am to 8pm, made-to-measure shirts start from S$200, and the business has been making shirts in Singapore since 1935. If you are searching for a tailor near me around City Hall and want a maker with family history, start here.

Shanghainese tailors Chiang Yick Ching and his wife, Foo Ah Neok, founded the company in 1935 as CYC Shanghai Shirt Company on Hill Street, and the letters come from his initials. The house made its name by pairing Swiss fused collars with Shanghainese tailoring. The family is still in charge: the company's own journal profiles Chiang Loo Fern as the keeper of the legacy, and CYC sits on the National Heritage Board's SG Heritage Business Registry.

The client list explains the reputation. City Nomads notes that the shop has dressed Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong, and a 2020 profile recalled staff going to the Istana in 2019 to update the Prime Minister's shirt measurements. The shop spent years in the Raffles Hotel arcade before moving to Capitol, and its own site lists Singapore's leaders, public figures, diplomats and private clients among the people it has measured over nine decades.

Shirts are where CYC started and where a first order makes most sense. Made-to-measure shirts start from S$200 on the official shirt page, with a lead time of three to four weeks, and you choose from a library of fabrics, collar styles, cuff designs and buttons. The site features Swiss ALUMO shirting among its cloths. Start with two white or pale blue shirts in different collars, wear them through a working week, and adjust the pattern before ordering more colours.

For suiting, the official suits page lists a pure wool two-piece from S$2,660 and a three-piece from S$3,480, with a lead time of six to eight weeks. This season the shop is promoting Dugdale Bros cloth from Huddersfield, a mill in that town since 1896, along with Piacenza 1733 and Cerruti commissions. Wedding suits and tuxedos are on the menu too, and the shop sells ready-to-wear and HŌME by CYC home goods for anyone not ready to commission.

Walking in during the long daily hours is possible, but a booked slot gets a tailor's full attention instead of a quick hello between clients. Bring a shirt that fits you well and one that does not, and explain the difference. Nothing shows faster what you want in a collar and sleeve.

The Capitol shop keeps the same hours on weekends, and a 2020 profile described a kids' corner where children play while fathers are measured, so families are welcome rather than tolerated. If you want a quieter session with fewer interruptions, come on a weekday soon after the 11am opening. Skip the impulse to order five shirts at once on a first visit. One or two let you test the fit before the pattern is fixed, and reorders are quicker once it is on file.

The shop's own site describes its clients as leaders, public figures, diplomats and generations of private clients, and the Roots heritage listing adds dignitaries and business leaders. Families come as well: one testimonial on the tailoring page describes a client looking through fabrics with their dad and visiting the Capitol outlet to see a consultant named Jessica. Grooms come for wedding suits and tuxedos, and older clients often have patterns that have been on file for years.

If a weekend slot at Capitol is full, book a weekday instead. The shop opens at 11am every day, and the hour before lunch is the calmest. CYC's second outlet, on Fullerton Square near Raffles Place, is the alternative if you work in the CBD. If you need a shirt for an event the same week, buy from the ready-to-wear range and start a made-to-measure order for later, since a first shirt pattern takes three to four weeks.

One more tip on the visit itself: ask to see a finished shirt from the ready-to-wear rail next to your chosen cloth. Comparing the stitching, the collar roll and the shape of the cuff on a finished garment is the clearest way to understand what you are ordering, and it helps you decide whether the house's standard collar suits you or whether to ask for a cutaway or a button-down instead.

Capitol sits at the heart of the Civic District, so the walk after a fitting is a short history lesson. Raffles Singapore at 1 Beach Road is five minutes away, where the shop once had its arcade unit. CHIJMES at 30 Victoria Street, a former convent with a Gothic chapel and courtyard restaurants, is on the way. National Gallery Singapore at 1 St Andrew's Road, in the old Supreme Court and City Hall buildings, closes the loop near the Padang.

Address: #01-12/13/14, Capitol Singapore, 13 Stamford Road, Singapore 178905. Nearest MRT: City Hall, linked underground. Hours: Monday to Sunday 11am to 8pm. Made-to-measure shirts start from S$200 with a three to four week lead time, and pure wool two-piece suits start from S$2,660 and take six to eight weeks. Services cover shirts, suits, trousers, wedding suits and tuxedos, plus ready-to-wear and home goods.