Bernoulli 777

At least half the fun of an MR to Asia is tailored clothes. Most westerners never get the opportunity to do this, but we FT can buy custom measured garments, made from fabrics we choose, in the style and color you like, for less than US off-the-rack retail prices. I've used 2 different tailors in Hong Kong, 2 in Shenzhen, 1 in Beijing, and 1 in Singapore. My favorite is Andy: http://www.expresstailor.com.hk/ . Excellent product & service ^ . Forget the online prices, show up in his shop at the Kowloon terminus of the Star Ferry, and negotiate! I paid $200 USD each for fine English worsted wool suits. Well, actually, 5 of them! More for cashmere. $25 for tailored oxford cloth cotton dress shirts. More for silk. Superb quailty. He occasionally travels to the US, but at higher prices. The prices I have been able to negotiate were similar in SIN and BJS. Who at FT has done better? I'm always looking to improve my negotiation skills??

Much better prices in Shenzhen ^ ^ right accross the border from HKG. Yes, they're both China, but this is a serious border crossing. US citizens do need a Visa, easy to get, $50-100, check other threads. Same day service: you pick the style at 10 AM, choose from the zillion bolts of fabric at 10:15 AM, measurements at 10:30 AM, fitting at 6 PM, done at 8 PM. :-: Literally half of HK prices: $100 USD for the tailored suit I wore yesterday to an important meeting. Pants with a lining, very comfortable. $12 USD for dress button down shirts. See http://www.shopinshenzhen.com/ . "A pocket guide to shopping in China's warehouse city." Buy Ellen's little book, it is worth its weight in gold. Shenzhen shopping really is sensory overload, you must plan ahead exactly what you want. They will impulse you to death. Shopkeepers very pushy, but nice.

Now back home, it stimulates happy endorphins to put on a custom made garment, for which I paid a very modest price, and wear it all day. Part of me gets transported back to good travel memories.

martian

I have never done it but I have seen a million of those guys in Bangkok

J.Edward

I've got a trip to HKG coming up in Feb where I hoped to get just this! Thanks for posting it!

NCRBILL

Can you give me some more information dealing with the person you use in SIN. I would love to get a suit made for me before I leave here on Tuesday. Give me some idea of what I'm looking at for prices and any ideas you have.

Thanks

civicmon

Shenzhen's an amazing deal if you speak Chinese....

Bernoulli 777

I speak no Chinese (OK, she-she) and had no trouble communicating in Shenzhen at the mall. I type in the price I'm willing to pay on a calculator screen, they counter, we pass it back & forth until stalemate, then I turn to walk away, and suddenly my price is OK OK OK!!

Bernoulli 777

I stayed at the Marriott (pagota roof). The tailor I used was in the same block, on the same side of the street, in a rabbit warren of shops. "Solito Fashions" Far East Plaza #02-95, Singapore. Tel 67328468 according to their label inside my shirt. I paid $45 USD for silk shirts. 1 day service. Nice, but not the best negotiating I ever did.

dmfriedman

As this is about shopping in Asia, and not really about a Mileage Run, I'm going to move this to the Asia forum.

Please continue to follow this thread there.

Dave, a.k.a. dmfriedman
Moderator, Mileage Run

MovieMan

I just had a suit and two shirts made at Mode et Creation, 4th Floor, Far East Shopping Centre (545 Orchard). Anthony is the tailor, and he seems like a good guy. Total was S$820 (I believe the suit alone was S$650). Not one of those 'same day' tailors, but worth it, IMHO. (And if you have to leave before the items are ready, they'll send them to you).

djohannw

Anybody got an adress for made-to-measure clothes in Shanghai?

Greetings - Dirk

RichardInSF

Decades ago when I did this, the standard advice was to bring thread with you from the U.S. The claim was that these folks used substandard thread that caused the clothes to fall apart a lot sooner. Still true? How would you know?

wendyhamburger

[QUOTE=Bernoulli 777]I've used 2 different tailors in Hong Kong, 2 in Shenzhen, 1 in Beijing, and 1 in Singapore. My favorite is Andy: http://www.expresstailor.com.hk/ . Excellent product & service ^ . Forget the online prices, show up in his shop at the Kowloon terminus of the Star Ferry, and negotiate!garment, for which I paid a very modest price, and wear it all day. [QUOTE]

That is SO funny, that's the same tailor I used when I had my suits made year before last. My dad also gets his shirts done there (he's a big and tall with long arms). And you are right: bargain, bargain, bargain! I love that my name is sewn inside the suit, too. I always say once you've had suits made, you will never go back to off the rack...

As for the thread remark, I have not had any trouble with it...

mrmakochan

Could you give some detail about the tailor in Beijing?

Seat13F_AC_CRJ

My preferred choice in SIN is Mr. Latif and De Zlin Custom Tailor in the Tanglin Mall. It is connected to the Traders Hotel and is very close to Orchard Road. I lived in SIN for a few years and bought several suits, jackets and shirts throughout my time there. Even made a trip back a couple years later for more clothes.
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13F

Tod E Tosser

I don't remember the street name, but there are quite a few tailors near the rear entrance of the Rui Jin Guest House. English is fine in Hong Kong and Bangkok, but I found Shanghai tailors spoke little if any. One guy disappeared for five minutes then came back with three girls he found on the street who could translate. I wanted to give some business to such an enterprising guy, but unfortunately none of the Shanghai tailors could put something together in the short time I had.

Has anyone had any experiences with tailors in Ho Chi Minh City?