Hoi An is a special place. Walk along the Old Town and you will find a sea of beautiful yellow
buildings, lanterns hanging in trees, locals selling fried bananas, and yes - many, many tailor
shops. It can be a little overwhelming deciding which shop to go with so we thought it would be
a good idea to share our experience at one of the tailors we visited with you.
At the advice of our homestay host, we checked out Bebe Tailors on Ha Bai Trung. The store
itself is huge, with so many different rolls of fabric for you to choose your suit or dress from.
Our sales person, Anh, was a little pushy at first, but in the end she was very helpful. We wandered around the store with her looking for the right fabric and decided on two different fabrics. The next step is to pick a liner colour, which was pretty fun as it really reminds you that you are in fact getting a custom-made suit.
The most difficult part of this process is agreeing on a price. Like all things in Vietnam, prices
are negotiable, so be prepared to barter your way to a fair price with stubborn sales associates.
It can be a little tiring to argue the price down, as any time you attempt to, you are told “this is
very high quality” or “I already gave you a discount”. At first I was quoted VD 6 million ($280) for the two suits, but as budget travellers, I knew this was way out of our budget. After going back and forth for about five minutes, she offered to sell the two suits for VD 4.9 million ($229 CAD). This is a huge purchase for me, so I was very reluctant to agree to this price. After my offer of a (much) lower price was rejected, I asked that they throw in a free tie for the $229 and we finally reached an agreement. My measurements were taken and I was told to come back the next afternoon for the first fitting.
After a quick 15 minutes in front of a mirror, the first-fitting was over and I came back the next
day for a second-fitting. Some things were still not right, so they adjusted the sizing by the end
of the day. After four visits, a significant time investment, and $240, I became the new proud
owner of two full suits. Visiting a tailor is a must-do in Hoi An, whether that is for suits, dress shirts, dresses, pants, skirts, or so on. It's a lot of fun to be able to custom pick the fabric, liner, and style - and have it tailor made for your body - all for fraction of Western prices.Based on our experiences - we recommend Bebe Tailors, Kimmy Tailor, and Yaly Tailor. It is important to note these are higher quality tailors, with high reputations, and therefore higher prices. At Bebe, we bought two suits for $229, at Kimmy we bought a sports jacket for $80, and at Yaly a dress for $69. You can definitely spend a fraction of our costs if you visit a lesser known or lower quality tailor.