I think that if you are reading this review then, as I did, you are trying judge which of Hoi An’s reputed 400+ tailors to choose when having some clothing made up and which ones to run a mile from. This was my first go at working with the Hoi An businesses and my second attempt ever at having a tailor made suit (Singapore 2014 – pretty unsuccessfully!). I’ll quickly add that I didn’t knock on all the doors of the 400 tailors and if you do, you may find something different to what I did. That said, here’s my experience.
After creating a shortlist of tailors in Hoi An via tripadviser, google reviews, etc, I had my choices narrowed down to three businesses which were virtually next to each other in the street. I went pre-armed with some photos of what I wanted, had the material I liked vaguely in my head and tried to preempt the questions that would be thrown in my direction. Walking in, I wasn’t exactly nervous, but knew this was going to be an experience where my knowledge could leave me floundering. (One or two vents, sir?)
The store is a larger one and looks appealing. There seem to be an extensive range of materials and I spent my first few minutes skulking around the various cloths.
Diem is a cheerful, friendly and accommodating employee who was happy to link my suit and jacket photos with the materials in store. Despite me coming quite late in the evening, I didn’t feel rushed and felt as though she gave wise advice regarding colour, style, tone and understatement. With nearly ten years of tailoring behind her, her experience is deeply ingrained, and something the customer is the beneficiary of. After some initial hesitation and probably a few nerves, I was almost relieved to feel I trusted her judgement, and was happy to order a three-piece suit in a deep-grey cloth with a herringbone weave and an olive jacket with a faint check weave.
Up until now this would probably be the experience of any Hoi An tailor. But this is also where I realised I had made the right choice. Diem is completely determined to make sure the clothes you leave with will act as a perfect ambassador for the store. She spent considerable time, even coming in on her day off, to make sure this suit was without fault and that I was completely happy. Three separate fittings, multiple fine-tunings and millimeter-precise adjustments meant that I absolutely was. I cannot speak more highly of the experience, the suit and jacket I now own with pride, and with the care, good-humour and complete focus on quality tailor in Hoi An that was shown by Diem.
From: Alpine
