Travel
Your ultimate guide to getting clothes tailored in Vietnam
If you have trouble finding clothes that suit your style or fit properly, getting custom garments made in Vietnam could be a great solution. Here’s how to get the best out of your tailoring experience.
By Maddie Southall
A lot of my friends had raved about their experience getting clothes tailored in Vietnam, but I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous about the whole process. What sort of clothes can they make? How do I describe what I want, especially if there’s a language barrier? What does the process look like? And how much time and money are we talking about?
Also, as a 6’ 1 woman I was also a little sceptical about securing clothes in a country where the women are shorter and more petite, but to my relief this caused me zero problems. In fact, no one even commented on it – they’re equipped and ready to make clothes for anybody. That’s the beauty of tailoring.
Being so tall is one of the reasons I wanted to get some clothes tailored in the first place. Sometimes it’s hard for me to find dresses and pants that are the right length, but I’m happy to say I’m now the proud owner of 6 beautiful new items of clothing that look like they were made for me (because they were).
Here’s how I navigated the tailoring process on my recent trip to Vietnam. I hope this is helpful for anyone who is also looking to find the perfect fit while they are away.
Why is tailoring so abundant in Vietnam?
Hoi An and Hanoi are two of the best cities in Vietnam to get clothes made. Hoi An is particularly famous for its tailoring, dating all the way back to the Silk Road. This tailoring knowledge has been passed down through generations and tourists come from all over the world to have clothes made by the experts.
Since the tailoring process can require 2-3 visits across multiple days, if getting clothes tailored is something you want to do, make sure you get the ball rolling on one of the first days of your trip.
What type of clothes can I get made?
The short answer is: almost anything. They have every material under the sun: cotton, linen, and silk in pretty much every colour and pattern you could dream up. In fact, the thousands of rolls of fabric stacked up to the ceiling can be pretty overwhelming, so it can help to have an idea of which colours or patterns look good on you before you get there.
Lots of people opt to get suits or formal wear, dresses and skirts made, because you can get a much better price than in Australia and the design can be to your exact taste and fit.
When deciding what to get made, think about which items you can’t find at home, and which clothes are too expensive or don’t usually fit you quite right. Create an inspo board on Pinterest or save pictures of the clothes you like to your phone, so you can show them to the tailors when you get there.
Choosing the right tailor
Two of the best tailors in Hoi An are 41 Tailor which is located inside the Hoi An Cloth Market, and Bebe Tailor which is in an elegant building with wrap-around balcony about 100m down the street. They’re close enough for you to check out both and see which one takes your fancy.
41 Tailor is popular on social media, but less well-known than the famous Bebe Tailor, which is more up-market and expensive. When it comes to choosing between these two spots, 41 Tailor is better for everyday, going out, and work clothes, while Bebe Tailor is better for formal wear.
Also, the experience in the actual stores vary in terms of amenities. While 41 Tailor will absolutely get the job done, expect to get changed behind curtains in-between rows of stacked material and you’ll sit on plastic chairs and tables while you flip through the books of clothing options. If that doesn’t sound like your speed, Bebe Tailor has proper change rooms, couches, and is an overall “fancier” establishment, just be prepared to pay more for the privilege.
How the tailoring process works
When you enter the store, the staff will bring over big books of popular styles they’ve made for other customers. This makes it super easy to choose a few things, especially if you’re not completely sure what you’re after.
If you know exactly what you want, they’ll encourage you to airdrop them photos of the clothes to refer back to. Once you’ve chosen your styles, you’ll be asked which material you want (eg. cotton or linen) and in what colours and they’ll then bring over options for you to look at. The service is usually priced as a whole, taking into account everything you’re buying instead of giving you a price per item. Remember, you can haggle these prices down.
Once you’ve agreed and paid for your garments, they’ll tell you a time to come back and try on your clothes (usually in 1-2 days, depending on how many items you’re getting). When you come back the second time, it’s critical to remember that this is a work-in-progress fitting! This is not the final product so don’t feel disheartened if it’s not perfect yet. You’ll try everything on and request any changes you might have, such as the clothes being let out or hems taken up. This first round of changes will take anywhere from a few hours to 1 day.
How to actually get the items you came for
This work-in-progress fitting is the time to make sure you get what you originally asked for. So, if something’s not to your liking, make sure you let them know. The tailors speak English well, but sometimes it can be helpful to refer back to the pictures when describing changes you want made.
After this step you will come back to the tailor to see the changes and re-try on the clothes. Hopefully they’ll fit perfectly and be finished, however, if you want further changes made- they will happily make them. These check-in appointments are part of the service and you can come back however many times you want to make changes (within reason of course).
If for some reason you hate something they make for you, I doubt that they will refund the purchase, but with all the check-ins along the way it’s unlikely that this will happen.
Other things you can get custom made in Vietnam
There’s nothing quite like tailored clothes that fit you perfectly…except maybe other things you can get made to fit you perfectly! Like leather shoes and bags.
While you’re at Hoi An Cloth Market you will see a lot of leather goods shops that make custom leather boots, sandals, purses, handbags and larger overnight bags. They will measure your body to make the straps the perfect length and show you different colours and textures of leather.
Then you’ll have a new bag to put all your clothes in on the way home. Or at least that’s how I justified it anyway…
Feature image: iStock/DragonImages
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