A visit to Hoi An, Vietnam just wouldn’t be complete without getting at least a piece of tailor made clothing! There are so many shops to choose from it can be quite overwhelming. I tried looking on Trip Advisor, but didn’t find much, so we ended up just walking around and seeing which stores looked more established and then checking their websites and reviews online.
I finally settled on A Dong Silk, based upon the friendly and helpful sales people who spoke English well. It’s important to know you’ll be able to communicate with the person designing and altering your garment. Also, when we asked how many fittings I would get the sales person said “until you’re satisfied.” I ordered a suit, with jacket, pants, and a skirt, so I have the option to wear it with the pants or skirt. On my first fitting the suit fit me perfectly, but it was so snug I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to sit down, so I had the pants and skirt loosened. Then on my next fitting they didn’t look as good loose, so I had them taken back in again ;). I also had the shoulders on my jacket alerted a bit, but finally had to accept that my shoulders are uneven and the jacket couldn’t fix that.
After I was happy about the service with my suit, we both decided to order black wool jackets. The process is fun, since you get to look through magazine pictures and at samples on display to come up with the design, and then pick out your fabric. We both chose black wool and blue silk lining, and I also got blue piping on my jacket. I was so happy with how cute my jacket came out! And it fit great, so it didn’t need any adjusting. George’s jacket needed a couple alterations and the design had to change a bit, but it came out great, as well.
Here’s a photo of my jacket, but it looks even better in person!
I’d recommend A Dong Silk, if you don’t mind paying a bit more to get good service and high quality clothes.
We also ended up buying convertable pants/shorts at a cheaper shop, Hai Pho. They came out fitting us nicely after one fitting, and it was cool to get to choose how long the shorts would be. We got two pairs for $21 total. The cheaper shops also had wool coats made-to-fit for $20-$30, but I didn’t trust the quality of the fabric and workmanship at those shops.