Getting Clothes Made in Hoi An: Time, Fittings and What Can Go Wrong

Hoi An has hundreds of tailors and the good ones are very good. What separates a garment you wear for years from one you leave in a hotel wardrobe is almost always time, not price.

The advertised turnaround is often twenty-four hours. That is physically possible and it is how most disappointments happen, because it allows one fitting and no time to correct anything found in it.

Order on your first day. Have the first fitting the next morning, the second that evening or the following day, and collect before you leave. Two full days is the realistic minimum for a suit and three is comfortable.

The same suit can be quoted at wildly different prices in two shops fifty metres apart, and the difference is usually the cloth rather than the labour.

Ask what the fabric actually is: wool, wool blend, or a synthetic that will look right in the shop and shine after two wears. A reputable tailor will tell you and will show you the bolt.

Silk is the other thing people buy here and the word covers a wide range. Hold it up: real silk is warm to the touch and does not have the flat sheen of polyester.

Being clear that you care about the cloth changes the conversation immediately, and usually improves what you are shown.

Bring a garment you already own and love the fit of. Copying something real beats describing something imagined, and it removes most of the room for misunderstanding.

Bring a photograph of what you want, not a description. Terms like slim fit mean different things to different people and nothing at all across a language gap.

Wear the shoes you will wear with the trousers to the fitting, because the hem is cut to them.

And say something at the fitting. The moment to mention that the shoulders feel tight is while you are standing in the shop, not after you have flown home.