Post from Michelle:
From the beginning of this trip to arriving in Hoi An I have shown much self-control in shopping. All along the way souvenirs have called my name, begging to be bought and taken home: bracelets from Bali, pottery from Penang, sarongs from Samoa and T-shirts from Thailand. With much determination I have looked away, ignoring their magnetic pull and my money staying safely in my pocket. But upon arriving in Hoi An, all hope of discipline was lost.
Hoi An is famous for its fine tailors and the cheap prices for custom-made clothes. The streets are lined with hundreds of different tailor shops, each with a storekeeper calling out to you as you walk by, "Come in!" In the front of each store is a showroom of various outfits displaying examples of what you can buy - shimmering evening gowns, cashmere coats, and flashy silk tops. The walls of the shops are lined with bolts of fabric piled high to the ceiling in every color and fabric imaginable.
The process to get clothes made is as fun and exciting as buying the clothes. After walking into the store of your choice, you are ushered to a small table in the center of the room. As you browse through the latest fashion catalogs, the shop owners are busy bringing you water, tea, or fruit...basically pampering you. Once you pick the style you like, either from the clothes on display or in a fashion magazine, the tailor sets to work gathering your measurements.
As the tape measure circles different parts of your body, the tailor calls out to an assistant your measurements, who obediently writes them down in a notebook. Then you pick the fabric and colors you like. If you order your clothes in the morning, you return in the afternoon for adjustments and by the next morning your clothes are ready!
While it is fun to get clothes custom-made, what breaks down every budget traveler's defenses and causes cash to steadily drain from the wallet are the prices: tailor-made cashmere suits for $25, evening gowns for $11, silk blouses for $7, full length wool coats for $23, and cotton Oxford shirts for $5. Prices low enough to make your knees buckle and mouth drool with desire. Things you never knew you needed you suddenly want.
By the end of our buying extravaganza, when the sewing machines stopped whirling and the scissors ceased snipping, Tim and I had a beautiful array of new clothes. A suit, coat, silk shirts and blouses, shipped home, will welcome us back to the US in style.
** Note: For those of you who are going to Hoi An and are looking for a tailor, we highly recommend:
79 Tony at 79 Huynh Thuc Khang St.
With Hahn, the owner, we recieved top-notch service and clothes!
Hoi An is famous for its fine tailors and the cheap prices for custom-made clothes. The streets are lined with hundreds of different tailor shops, each with a storekeeper calling out to you as you walk by, "Come in!" In the front of each store is a showroom of various outfits displaying examples of what you can buy - shimmering evening gowns, cashmere coats, and flashy silk tops. The walls of the shops are lined with bolts of fabric piled high to the ceiling in every color and fabric imaginable.
The process to get clothes made is as fun and exciting as buying the clothes. After walking into the store of your choice, you are ushered to a small table in the center of the room. As you browse through the latest fashion catalogs, the shop owners are busy bringing you water, tea, or fruit...basically pampering you. Once you pick the style you like, either from the clothes on display or in a fashion magazine, the tailor sets to work gathering your measurements.
As the tape measure circles different parts of your body, the tailor calls out to an assistant your measurements, who obediently writes them down in a notebook. Then you pick the fabric and colors you like. If you order your clothes in the morning, you return in the afternoon for adjustments and by the next morning your clothes are ready!While it is fun to get clothes custom-made, what breaks down every budget traveler's defenses and causes cash to steadily drain from the wallet are the prices: tailor-made cashmere suits for $25, evening gowns for $11, silk blouses for $7, full length wool coats for $23, and cotton Oxford shirts for $5. Prices low enough to make your knees buckle and mouth drool with desire. Things you never knew you needed you suddenly want.
By the end of our buying extravaganza, when the sewing machines stopped whirling and the scissors ceased snipping, Tim and I had a beautiful array of new clothes. A suit, coat, silk shirts and blouses, shipped home, will welcome us back to the US in style.
** Note: For those of you who are going to Hoi An and are looking for a tailor, we highly recommend:
79 Tony at 79 Huynh Thuc Khang St.
With Hahn, the owner, we recieved top-notch service and clothes!
Photos From This Location
