This small town lies in the center of the country and primarily offers custom tailoring. So don't you know we took full advantage of this! Day one we found a tailor who was recommended by our hotel. After sitting with the young girls for some time discussing what we wanted to have done, we went ahead and ordered.
Miguel decided to have two suits made in only the best fabrics. After taking all his measurements (and they really do a lot of measurements) we picked the fabric. The first was a grey pin stripe, 80% cashmere, double breasted. The second we chose to do in a classic basic black, 50/50 cashmere wool blend. We also got to pick out the fabric for the shirts of course. It was so much fun... as you can imagine I was in heaven here.
I had a cream colored jacket designed for me and a shirt from Vietnamese silk.
Just 20 hours later (day 2) we went in for our first fitting. The suits were gorgeous and only had small adjustments to be made. The girls just sewed a light top stitch to signify changes to be made. The process was incredibly quick when you think about the amount of work that goes into custom made clothing.
Over the course of 5 days in Hoi An we had a few more things made, as you just can't beat the prices. I had 2 pairs of shoes made. Miguel opted to do a thrid suit in cream which looks really sharp and will be great for all our upcoming summer weddings. Plus they cut us a really good "cheap price" for the third suit.
Justso you have sense of pricing for custom made clothing in Hoi An, we paid roughly $115 USD for the suits, including the shirts. I don't imagine you can even buy an off the rack jacket back home for that, let alone a made-to-measure high quality suit! We certainly spent a bit of money spoiling ourselves in Hoi An, but considering everything we had made, it was a steal.
We also spent a day biking to the beach, which we thought was just a few kilometers away. We were wrong. About 30 minutes into our bike ride at about noon, sweat poured down our faces and my rear began to hurt. At one point we were casually biking down the road when a couple boys came flying out rom behind some hedges. Seeing them I started to break as I could hear a lot of laughter. Sure enough a third boy comes running out full speed directly in my path. Breaking as hard as I could helped, but I still got him pretty well. A little shocked, the 10 yr old and his friends laughed histerically. I asked if he was all right and he seemed to be, though he had no clue what I was saying.
We finally reached the beach and it was hot! All the tourists take to the beach like any other, with frisbees and swim suits. The locals seize the opportunity to sell things of course. Sweating in my swim suit, we were approached by one girl of about 25 with a wide cone hat, 1/2 surgical face mask (commom here becuase of the pollution), 3 layers of long sleeves, long pants and gloves! We spoke with her for some time and learned that white skin means beauty. The hotter it gets here, the more the women seem to cover up. They do want their skin to darken in the least bit. Even buying products here, you have to be careful as they nearly all contain whiteners. So while us crazy Westerners are damaging our skin in search of the perfect tan, the crazy Asians are doing everything in their power to remain as light as possible. I find it interesting how no one is happy in their own skin. The grass is always greener...
Overall we did a good deal of relaxing in the little town of Hoi An. We had daily fittings, broken up by meals, the beach, and shopping. Miguel took a cooking class one evening while I read a book. We both enjoyed Hoi An a lot. If you are in this part of the world, you must come here, if for no reason other than the inexpensive custom tailoring.
Miguel decided to have two suits made in only the best fabrics. After taking all his measurements (and they really do a lot of measurements) we picked the fabric. The first was a grey pin stripe, 80% cashmere, double breasted. The second we chose to do in a classic basic black, 50/50 cashmere wool blend. We also got to pick out the fabric for the shirts of course. It was so much fun... as you can imagine I was in heaven here.
I had a cream colored jacket designed for me and a shirt from Vietnamese silk.
Just 20 hours later (day 2) we went in for our first fitting. The suits were gorgeous and only had small adjustments to be made. The girls just sewed a light top stitch to signify changes to be made. The process was incredibly quick when you think about the amount of work that goes into custom made clothing.
Over the course of 5 days in Hoi An we had a few more things made, as you just can't beat the prices. I had 2 pairs of shoes made. Miguel opted to do a thrid suit in cream which looks really sharp and will be great for all our upcoming summer weddings. Plus they cut us a really good "cheap price" for the third suit.
Justso you have sense of pricing for custom made clothing in Hoi An, we paid roughly $115 USD for the suits, including the shirts. I don't imagine you can even buy an off the rack jacket back home for that, let alone a made-to-measure high quality suit! We certainly spent a bit of money spoiling ourselves in Hoi An, but considering everything we had made, it was a steal.
We also spent a day biking to the beach, which we thought was just a few kilometers away. We were wrong. About 30 minutes into our bike ride at about noon, sweat poured down our faces and my rear began to hurt. At one point we were casually biking down the road when a couple boys came flying out rom behind some hedges. Seeing them I started to break as I could hear a lot of laughter. Sure enough a third boy comes running out full speed directly in my path. Breaking as hard as I could helped, but I still got him pretty well. A little shocked, the 10 yr old and his friends laughed histerically. I asked if he was all right and he seemed to be, though he had no clue what I was saying.
We finally reached the beach and it was hot! All the tourists take to the beach like any other, with frisbees and swim suits. The locals seize the opportunity to sell things of course. Sweating in my swim suit, we were approached by one girl of about 25 with a wide cone hat, 1/2 surgical face mask (commom here becuase of the pollution), 3 layers of long sleeves, long pants and gloves! We spoke with her for some time and learned that white skin means beauty. The hotter it gets here, the more the women seem to cover up. They do want their skin to darken in the least bit. Even buying products here, you have to be careful as they nearly all contain whiteners. So while us crazy Westerners are damaging our skin in search of the perfect tan, the crazy Asians are doing everything in their power to remain as light as possible. I find it interesting how no one is happy in their own skin. The grass is always greener...
Overall we did a good deal of relaxing in the little town of Hoi An. We had daily fittings, broken up by meals, the beach, and shopping. Miguel took a cooking class one evening while I read a book. We both enjoyed Hoi An a lot. If you are in this part of the world, you must come here, if for no reason other than the inexpensive custom tailoring.
Miguels cooking lesson
The Japanese covered bridge.
Phuoc Hien temple 
Full commie outfit with matching fish
What up!? River dragon
Kristen doing her best dragon pose.
Pimp! Custom clothes and at a great price! Sounds like this was a much needed relaxing part fo the trip. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHi guys,
ReplyDeleteTab made Pho tonight in your honor.
Zoe misses you. (she spelled and typed that). Zoe wants to know why Unky Lonnie wants to change his name to Miguel.
Love,
Zoe and Edward (aka Jay)
I miss you too Zoe!
ReplyDeleteNo reason for the change really. I just like it.
We just got into Thailand today. Full Moon party here we come!
We all miss you here in Naples too! We're having a crescent moon party here tonight with Phil and Linda in your honor. Don't think we can do justice to a full moon party anymore but we'll do our best. Love you guys! (hey Miguel, if Zoe changes her name its going to be on your shoulders)
ReplyDelete