November 26, 2010

We awoke refreshed and looking forward to our extended (one week) stay in Hoi An (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%E1%BB%99i_An). We stayed in the Phuoc An Hotel (http://phuocanhotel.com/), just a short walk away from Hoi An’s “Old Town” (or “Ancient Town”) – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This was a great place to base our exploration of Hoi An. The staff, as we had come to expect and appreciate, were gracious and extremely helpful. And this hotel offered amenities that aren’t typical for a flash-packer (http://flashpackerhq.com/flashpacker-defined/) establishment. Of course they included breakfast and Wi-Fi, but they also had a small pool and hot-tub as well as a full restaurant. After breakfast, we set out to do a little exploring on foot.

November 27, 2010

This morning we went in search of custom tailors. In the case of Hoi An; it was actually not the lack of tailors that was the problem, it was the over-whelming number that were available. This little seaside town has over one thousand four hundred (1400) tailor shops… that’s not individual tailors, that’s actual shops! Luckily, Eron had already begun our search while we were still at home and planning this trip. She had whittled down the list to a small number of candidates. So, off we went. After a few hours of going back and forth (good thing Hoi An is a small town!), we settled on two tailor shops; “Kimmy Custom Tailor” (http://kimmytailor.com/)  and “Tony the Tailor” (http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g298082-d3462947-Reviews-Tony_The_Tailor-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html).

We had read reviews commenting on “poor quality” and other dire warnings regarding the tailoring industry in Hoi An. The unprepared tourist most certainly can, and probably does, get taken…  we saw an number of shops we would not even enter, never mind do business with. However, we wonder if the quality-issues are more often the result of the customers’ own rushed schedules and expectations of unrealistically quick turnaround times. While most of Hoi An’s tailors can whip-up a custom suit for you in a day, it will definitely not look as good on you as a suit that has been custom-fitted multiple times. Kimmy Custom Tailor made several suits, several pairs of trousers, several dresses, and wool overcoats for each of us. Meanwhile, Tony the Tailor made clones of my favorite Guayabera shirt, casual resort shirts, and even my belated birthday present – an authentic old-school custom-tailored silk Smoking Jacket. The process for the suits, dresses, and dress trousers is quite involved; picking the style, choosing the various materials, and being measured. But when we went back to Kimmy’s the next morning and the items were already made! Then came the fittings; the items were refitted on us on three consecutive mornings and ready for pick-up the following morning. The process at Tony’s was similar but due to the more casual nature of the items; they only needed two fittings. We still marvel at the quality of the materials and workmanship. The tailors of Hoi An can do good work… they just need to be allowed the time to do it.

After a relaxed lunch… time for more exploring.

November 28, 2010

Breakfast, a quick visit to the tailors for a fitting, and then…  wandering through Hoi An.