Custom Clothes in Saigon
April 9th, 2007 Posted in Cheap Asia Travel, Destination reports, Travel bargains
While Bangkok is the place to go if you’re a man getting some suits made, Vietnam is a better bet for women’s fashion. The place that started it all for tourists is Hoi An, which used to be a sleepy backwater place full of backpackers and mid-range tourists getting some dress-up clothes for future times. Now the once-deserted “China Beach” a bike ride away has a fancy resort on it and some of the women getting clothes made already DO have Prada and Armani in their closet at home—the real thing.
It’s still worth going to Hoi An as the town has a lot else going for it, but this Budget Travel article gives the lowdown on where to go for custom clothes in Saigon. Almost anyone who visits Vietnam is going to go in or out of the place the communist rulers keep trying to get us to call Ho Chi Minh City. The article gives solid information on some good shops to try, how to get across what you want, and some sample prices. (As in hand-embroidered blouses made to order for $29.) If you do it right, it’s easy to get something custom-tailored for 1/3 to 1/10 what you would pay for an off-the-rack item at home and it will probably be made better.
If you work in the kind of job where you have to look your best every day, you could get a whole new wardrobe done in Vietnam for the price of a plane ticket—nice justification for a trip. Just be sure to build in some time for the creation and fittings: many items can take four or five days to finish.
2 Responses to “Custom Clothes in Saigon”
By Tom Morell on Apr 12, 2007
Sure, things are cheap in Hoi An, but all of us who have actually been there know that much of it is very poorly made. There’s no one to quality control the pieces you’ve ordered and often customers are justifiably disappointed when they go to pick up their order. Most of the places have jumped on the opportunity to make a fast buck. Suggestion: buy one piece, see if they do an acceptable job, and then order more. But to suggest, as you write, that it will be much cheaper and better too, is only half true. Be prepared to spend time finding a good seamstriss, and things will eventually work out.
By tim on Apr 12, 2007
Good advice, and true for Bangkok or Hong Kong as well. My wife is still wearing pieces she got make in Hoi An many years later though and the quality is excellent. Ask around with people who have already gotten things made to see how theirs turned out.