If you are considering visiting a tailor when you visit Vietnam I definitely encourage you to visit Hoi An for the experience. It’s an opportunity to have clothes made to perfectly fit your specifications in a very short amount of time for very reasonable prices.
We made our way to Hoi An via Da Nang, a beautiful beach city where we flew into and had our hotel reservation at. After checking in we summoned a Grab car (think Uber) and were driven to the old quarters in Hoi An which was about 30 – 45 minutes away from our hotel.
Old Hoi An is a beautiful area lined with shops and punctuated with a river. Since we didn’t have a specific tailor shop to visit, we were dropped off in a central area of the shopping district. The streets are lined with tailors, and it was just a matter of making a decision of which one to start with. My mom was looking specifically for a tailor to make an unlined leather jacket for her. She identified a spot and I walked a couple of doors down and found the Pink Lotus.
The open air entrance is inviting, there are racks of fabrics on display and mannequins with clothing as an easy starting point, but I was still overwhelmed. One of the tailors, Trang, asked how she could help me and I began to show her pictures of rompers and dresses I was interested in having made for me. I never received a positive or negative reaction if she could make the outfits, it was more of a look of ‘okay I can do that and what…’. As I was about to ask her what’s the next step and (more importantly) pricing, I spied a dress that I liked that was displayed on a mannequin. I asked her if she could make it (obviously she could) and told her I would start with that style. She asked me if I wanted the same pattern, I told her no, so she led me to a section of fabrics to start looking at the patterns. Within 10 seconds I saw and selected the most luscious orange tropical mix inspired design. We then worked together to pick out a fabric for the under-slip. This was my favorite part of the experience, finding fabric to make a one of a kind dress.
Next up was getting measured. As Trang measured me I decided to get something else made, a two piece pleated maxi skirt with a matching crop top that was a sample on a mannequin. I made requests for modifications and it was off to look for fabrics again. I picked out another beautiful print. I was in heaven being able to create my own clothes.
I also had a jumpsuit that I brought in that I wanted adjusted. So I left that in Trang’s care as well.
I paid $120 for the tropical mix dress and underslip, and $100 for the skirt and shirt (and an additional $5 for the adjustment to my jumpsuit). I did question the cost of the tropical mix dress and she quickly and confidently responded with ‘this would cost three or four hundred dollars in your country.’ Which she was right. It was a special dress with beautiful fabric that I was already beginning to treasure. After I paid, Trang told me to visit the shop after 3 pm the next day for my fitting.
Fitting:
I made it back to the shop by 6 pm the next day and another tailor who recognized me from the day before grabbed me to start my fitting since Trang was busy with another customer. I tried on the tropical mix print dress first and the tailor paraded me in front of the other customers to show Trang. They ooohed and awed in amazement and Trang started taking pictures of me. Lis, one of the other tailors told me that this was a very special dress. I felt like a million bucks. The tailor started saying she wanted to adjust the sleeving to make the top more flowy and that she was going to shorten the belt.
The next step was to try on the two piece skirt and shirt. The fit was good, however I realized that I didn’t request pockets. I asked about adding them, and the tailor said wasn’t in favor of doing so and it looked like a no go.
Once the fitting was done, they told me my clothes would be delivered to my hotel the next day in Da Nang.
Making the Most of the Tailor Experience:
A couple in our traveling group made the most of their time in the tailor shop. They had 18 suits made between them. The husband had 11 suits made alone. He preferred Tom Ford cuts which in the states start at $1600. In Vietnam? $100 to $300 per suit. They had their suits shipped back to California for $100, and their tailor told them that they would keep their measurements on hand so they can send in orders virtually.
A Nice Surprise
When I returned back to work I decided to wear the skirt/shirt combo piece to work. As I was getting dressed I ran my hands down the length of the skirt and to my surprise I found…pockets! After what looked like a ‘no’ from the tailor on the pocket addition, she was able to make magic happen and add them in. It was a nice reminder of the wonderful experience at Pink Lotus tailors.