So, [m] and I are going to Vietnam in 27 days.
We have a our visas (man I hate mailing my passport around), we have our flights, we have hotels booked for pretty much the entire time (thanks, baby!) and I go get inoculated for all the various things that can happen to you in a tropical climate first thing tomorrow morning. Cool.
It occurred to me a few days ago that Asia generally is a pretty good place to get a suit custom tailored for not a lot of money. Now, I'm not really a "suit guy"...I am in both a profession and city that rarely demands such a high standard of dress, but--it is a good thing to have. I do own one that I bought four years ago, and have gotten more mileage out of it than I ever imagined I would (two job interviews, half a dozen or so weddings, two funerals, a couple of Halloween costumes, and it serves as a "tux" when I sing with the CSD.) So, I figure this is at least worth looking into while I am there. More to the point, we will be spending at least three nights in Hoi An, which is a great place to do this.
So the recommendation is "comb your local fashion mags for a suit that pops out at you. Tailors here can copy every little detail from virtually any photo you bring in, so come prepared — a few pages torn from GQ can go a long way towards getting the style you're looking for." This seems reasonable, especially for someone under the impression that the term "double-breasted" is inherently redundant.
As it happens, I was sitting in a waiting room this morning, a copy of Details at hand. I seized the opportunity as it might spare me the indignity of actually buying such a thing.
Of course, there were plenty of lavish photos of suits that looked really good.
On models.
I never I thought I would be grateful for the fact that there are so many photos of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau on IMDB.
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8 comments:
Lonely Planet is down for maintenance, so I'll have to guess what you're pointing us to.
Regarding Favreau and Vaughn, how does one say "you're so money!" in Vietnamese?
Good luck with the suit getting. I'm sure you heard the old story about how Hong Kong tailors are so precise, that when someone gave them a suit to copy "exactly", they made him a new one that included a duplicate dirty handkerchief in the breast pocket.
Advice to consider: buy no more than one on your first go-round, to make sure you get what you want before you order multiples.
Thanks for the tip. I doubt I would get more than one anyway, unless I was offered a terribly sweet deal for two.
Yeah, see, yet more evidence we actually won that war.
I did this in Bangkok a few years ago, and it has paid off handsomely. Additional suits are a simple matter of sending an int'l paypal or a credit card #, provided your dimensions don't change :-)
On the other hand, it only makes sense if you normally buy suits off the rack at Brooks Brothers or similarly expensive shops. Remember that it's cheap for custom-tailored, which means it will cost more than off the rack in the US (unless you stoop to the Men's Wearhouse or S&K). If you just need a new suit, I find it hard to resist the specials at Macy's (even the shitty one at Northgate).
But don't discount the whole experience. You will feel mighty big in the pants, like you need a watch fob and a glass of cognac.
I've never been able to get anything off the rack without serious alterations. Including the suit I currently own (which I bought on a special at Macy's, oddly enough...)
have you discovered pho,yet?
Dude, that's at least 40% of the reason we're going to Vietnam...
We even had a friend visiting last week who taught us how to make it...(not to mention how to pronounce it)...
thats what i need: to learn how to make it.
i eat 2-3X a week.
and will again when get this feeder tube out of my nose.
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