First tailored suit - Vietnam/Hoi An
I'm going to Hoi An in a couple of weeks and planning to get my first tailored suit (going to try Mr. Xe, but I'm checking recommendations for other places already).
I'm mainly tempted to get linen (I accept the responsibility of ironing it, and I think I can tough it out colder weather while wearing it), and I was thinking of going for a navy formal one and a lighter (maybe tan?) one for more casual/business casual occasions. I'm relatively slim but putting on some arm and leg muscle (38S chest, W30L30 legs) so I'm also putting some thought into what I want to do with the frame.
Are there any other big aspects I'm forgetting to decide on, and is there anything I should keep in mind if I'm going to a Hoi An tailor? I don't have many occasions to wear suits so I'm happier to splurge a bit here if I likely won't buy another suit for a long time. I've read a few articles and a previous thread here on first MTM suits in general, but I'm aware it's a clothing choice with a lot to think about.
10 Replies
formal suits usually arent linen - if youre from a hot climate you could get away with tropical wool or something like that for the navy one. If you get a fuller cut you'll have a little more room to bulk.
Ah, cheers! I'm in the UK, so I might then make the formal one wool
There are tons of tailors in Hoi An. I went to Sunny tailor to get my shirts done. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g298082-d4582493-Reviews-Sunny_Tailor_Hoa_Nang_clothes_shop-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html
Theres a girl there that speaks decent english. Give yourself enough time for fittings. Everyone advertises they can get a suit done in a day, but really how is the fitting? Give yourself time to get it right
They can also replicate shirts, jackets etc. If you have any, bring them with you and they can do it.
I got quite a few linen shirts from Sunny. Love the colors and fits. Feel free to shop around first. All they really do is measure you up and send it to a factory to make it. If you walk around the back streets, you can see some people working on suits and shirts
Oh, I got a bunch of shirts made in Hoi An when we were there on honeymoon! I got them made here https://www.instagram.com/vandatailors/ They weren't the cheapest option there but still seriously cheap compared to the west, and do have an in-house tailor.
A good tailor will want to do a few fittings, mine took three to get right, so allow time for that, was around 4-5 days iirc for me.
I'd definitely try to bring something you like the fit of, or failing that, as many pictures as possible, took me a bit of steering to get them away from the popular slimmer cuts!
Thanks so much! Timing-wise we're probably there 13th-17th, but our flight's in the morning so realistically the earlist fitting would be on the 13th and the pickup would have to be on the 16th unless we're able to get it shipping instead
And we're hoping to do a Da Nang daytrip as well, so that'd possibly interfere with booking midway fittings (but so far things are fairly flexible, so either way I'll make sure to ask the tailor about sensible timeframes)
I'm sure things can be done a lot quicker than I had, we were fitting it in around excursions!
And if I wanted to get some linen or bamboo shirts out there as well, does it matter what suit fabric I pair that with?
Da Nang is a 20-30m car ride away from Hoi An, not far at all
Pricing wise, it’s all negotiable. They’ll all have choices of fabrics for everything
Yeah you'll get anything from local fabric to Loro Piana (though you might need to order certain fabric in advance)