A Confession
I don't know what happened. I tried it once and I just couldn't stop. It wasn't like I planned it this way. The temptation was just too great. Hey, with 40 tailors on every block of this city, how could we not have ended up with 26 pounds of custom made clothes to send home? It was unavoidable.
It all started with one innocent suit. Everyone told me how great the tailors were in Hoi An and how cheap it was to buy a suit. I didn't think much of it. I mean, I haven't bought a suit since high school! But then I figured, why not? Everyone has to have a suit, right? And that one at home is too small and the moths are getting to it. Plus, it looks like there'll be a wedding or two to attend when I return to Boston and my suit is sitting in storage in California.
So, I walked into one place to scope it out. Within seconds the woman who ran the shop was explaining all her fabric to me. She quickly convinced me that I'd look great in a dark grey suit. At $45, how could I disagree? She had a woman start taking all sorts of measurements, then they discussed my back in some detail in Vietnamese. "Very bony," she explained in English. "Difficult to fit but we can do it." She's right -- every off-the-rack jacket I've tried on buckles at the back of the neck and puckers on the lapel. Here, I can get a whole suit for less than fifty bucks and it's going to fit! I had her make a couple of shirts for me while she was at it.
"Hey, this is fun," I was thinking. A brown pinstripe suit would be nice. So I shopped around until I found a shop with the right fabric. I ordered a suit, another shirt, and a pair of black pants. Black pants are always useful, and where else was I going to find a custom fit pair for $12?
At this point, Liz figured she should get in on the action. We visited another shop where Liz ordered a couple of pairs of pants and some shirts. Somehow, an assistant in the shop convinced me to order one more shirt. A few dresses later for Liz and we called it quits for the day.
The next day we went back for our second fittings. I actually wasn't too impressed with the first suit. The shirts were nice, but the suit felt a bit cheap (though it DID fit pretty well). You get what you pay for, I suppose. But the brown suit! Oh, the brown suit was great! And that last shirt -- the one I got only because the assistant was so convincing -- that shirt fit perfectly. I immediately ordered three more.
Oh yeah, did I mention the shoe stores? There are also plenty of shoe stores that are all too willing to make you some custom fit shoes. I of course needed some shoes to go with the new suits, and Liz wanted knee-high leather boots. A brilliant idea -- for $29 she got suede boots that fit her leg perfectly. Liz also bought a couple of jackets, and I didn't want to be left out so I bought one as well (come on, it was only $25).
Liz then got the great idea to have her wedding dress made. I don't know how that turned out -- I'm not allowed to see it. But it got me thinking, and before I knew it I bought a suit that could potentially be worn in the wedding. This one was from a fancy shop that caters to well-dressed package tourists. They had the suit-making routine down. I was measured at 3:00 pm. A mere 20 hours and two fittings later and I had a suit that fit absolutely perfectly. It's amazing. It cost me three times what the other ones did, but the fit and quality are worth it.
And that's how Liz and I ended up with 3 coats, 3 pairs of pants, 3 suits, 2 dresses, a skirt, 3 pairs of shoes, 9 shirts, and a wedding dress to send home. Luckily, the post office here is a well oiled machine. While we filled out forms in triplicate, the woman behind the coutner boxed everything up for us. 26 pounds of clothes. "Is that all?" she asked. I guess they see this kind of thing pretty often. We forked over the 2.3 million dong she asked for, prayed for the package's safe arrival in the U.S., and left the post office wondering where all these pagodas that everyone had visited were.
...
We leave Hoi An tomorrow and head north to Hue, once the capital of Vietnam. We'll just spend a couple of days there, then cross the former DMZ and go all the way to Hanoi. Hopefully the weather will get warmer -- it's been in the 60s in Hoi An and we're not prepared for it! By the way, we love reading your comments on the blog, but recently there haven't been too many. So, you know, if you feel the urge, go for it.
It all started with one innocent suit. Everyone told me how great the tailors were in Hoi An and how cheap it was to buy a suit. I didn't think much of it. I mean, I haven't bought a suit since high school! But then I figured, why not? Everyone has to have a suit, right? And that one at home is too small and the moths are getting to it. Plus, it looks like there'll be a wedding or two to attend when I return to Boston and my suit is sitting in storage in California.
So, I walked into one place to scope it out. Within seconds the woman who ran the shop was explaining all her fabric to me. She quickly convinced me that I'd look great in a dark grey suit. At $45, how could I disagree? She had a woman start taking all sorts of measurements, then they discussed my back in some detail in Vietnamese. "Very bony," she explained in English. "Difficult to fit but we can do it." She's right -- every off-the-rack jacket I've tried on buckles at the back of the neck and puckers on the lapel. Here, I can get a whole suit for less than fifty bucks and it's going to fit! I had her make a couple of shirts for me while she was at it.
"Hey, this is fun," I was thinking. A brown pinstripe suit would be nice. So I shopped around until I found a shop with the right fabric. I ordered a suit, another shirt, and a pair of black pants. Black pants are always useful, and where else was I going to find a custom fit pair for $12?
At this point, Liz figured she should get in on the action. We visited another shop where Liz ordered a couple of pairs of pants and some shirts. Somehow, an assistant in the shop convinced me to order one more shirt. A few dresses later for Liz and we called it quits for the day.
The next day we went back for our second fittings. I actually wasn't too impressed with the first suit. The shirts were nice, but the suit felt a bit cheap (though it DID fit pretty well). You get what you pay for, I suppose. But the brown suit! Oh, the brown suit was great! And that last shirt -- the one I got only because the assistant was so convincing -- that shirt fit perfectly. I immediately ordered three more.
Oh yeah, did I mention the shoe stores? There are also plenty of shoe stores that are all too willing to make you some custom fit shoes. I of course needed some shoes to go with the new suits, and Liz wanted knee-high leather boots. A brilliant idea -- for $29 she got suede boots that fit her leg perfectly. Liz also bought a couple of jackets, and I didn't want to be left out so I bought one as well (come on, it was only $25).
Liz then got the great idea to have her wedding dress made. I don't know how that turned out -- I'm not allowed to see it. But it got me thinking, and before I knew it I bought a suit that could potentially be worn in the wedding. This one was from a fancy shop that caters to well-dressed package tourists. They had the suit-making routine down. I was measured at 3:00 pm. A mere 20 hours and two fittings later and I had a suit that fit absolutely perfectly. It's amazing. It cost me three times what the other ones did, but the fit and quality are worth it.
And that's how Liz and I ended up with 3 coats, 3 pairs of pants, 3 suits, 2 dresses, a skirt, 3 pairs of shoes, 9 shirts, and a wedding dress to send home. Luckily, the post office here is a well oiled machine. While we filled out forms in triplicate, the woman behind the coutner boxed everything up for us. 26 pounds of clothes. "Is that all?" she asked. I guess they see this kind of thing pretty often. We forked over the 2.3 million dong she asked for, prayed for the package's safe arrival in the U.S., and left the post office wondering where all these pagodas that everyone had visited were.
...
We leave Hoi An tomorrow and head north to Hue, once the capital of Vietnam. We'll just spend a couple of days there, then cross the former DMZ and go all the way to Hanoi. Hopefully the weather will get warmer -- it's been in the 60s in Hoi An and we're not prepared for it! By the way, we love reading your comments on the blog, but recently there haven't been too many. So, you know, if you feel the urge, go for it.
posted by Derek at 9:47 PM
2 Comments:
Hi Liz and Derek,
Geesh can't you get enough shopping or what? :) I think you guys beat me on shopping there. While I was there, all Matt wants is for me to get one of those beautiful traditional dress that he never sees I wear, all the tailors were too busy with the new year order to make my dress :( hic hic. I didn't get to get much clothes make this time for that reason.
I was in Hue when I was there too. Hey if you can go to Co Long (I am not sure about the spelling) island, it's between Da Nang and Hue. I heard it's really nice there.
As of for Ha Noi, it's my favorite place, you know it. You will love it as much as I do. Let me know if you need anything k.
I love your post and photos. Take care and be safe.
Love
Nina Nguyen
Liz: I saw the pictures (raspberry to Derek. Heehee.); you look beautiful! : ) --tk
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