We had clothes made for our next sailing!

[terry&mike]

We sailed Cunard for the first time in August 2022, on a transatlantic on the QM2. We enjoyed the voyage so much that we booked another sailing shortly after we returned home, a transatlantic on the QM2 in September 2023. 
 

In December 2022, we were in Hoi An, Vietnam, as part of a 5 week trip we were taking through Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. We had visited Hoi An briefly in January 2020, and remembered seeing the hundreds of custom tailor shops there, so we came prepared with ideas. 
 

Our excitement for sailing Cunard and anticipation of our upcoming cruise inspired us to order clothes from 2 tailors while in Hoi An. What fun we had! Mike had a traditional black tuxedo made, plus an extra brocade jacket, a tuxedo shirt, and 2 more dress shirts. I had 2 dresses and a blouse made. All done in 3 days, and at a very reasonable cost. 
 

We are now excitedly anticipating our upcoming Cunard voyage even more, and breaking out our fancy threads! 

Edited January 28, 2023 by terry&mike
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[elmsliebev]

wonderful!

[rolfecms]

Thank you for sharing. Good to know about Vietnamese tailors exist and are reasonable. 

 

How did you decide on the one you chose?

[terry&mike]

The photos are while we were still in the fitting/adjusting stages, and without the proper shoes, accessories, hair and makeup (that last one is for me, of course!). 

[Host Hattie]

Both looking great, thanks for sharing and enjoy your 2023 sailing. 

[terry&mike]

5 minutes ago, rolfecms said:

Thank you for sharing. Good to know about Vietnamese tailors exist and are reasonable. 

 

How did you decide on the one you chose?

We had read a lot of reviews of tailors in Hoi An before we left the U.S., and had a short list of ones we wanted to pop into to see if they clicked with us. The hotel we were staying in also gave us another name. We walked by or into a couple on our list, but we liked the staff at the one our hotel recommended the most. It is Bao Diep Tailor, and Dong made Mike's clothes, and Moon made my silk dress in the golds/reds.

 

Our initial thought was just to have a tuxedo made for Mike, and possibly an extra "more fun" jacket.  While visiting with Dong we decided to add the 3 shirts. Then, Mike saw the material for my dress and said "you should get a dress from that silk", so that happened.

 

Later, while walking down a street we passed a tailor (not on our list) with a dress on a manequin that I liked the style of, so I popped in and picked the black and white material and had a dress made from this shop, as well as a white wrap blouse that I had been thinking of. This tailor was Lua Viet Nam Vi Na Silk. 

[Catherine Janaway]

There is nothing nicer than knowing the clothes you are wearing are unique. Many years ago my friend and I went to Thailand and invested in lots of new items - all now long gone but they were lovely to wear.

 

[terry&mike]

1 hour ago, Catherine Janaway said:

There is nothing nicer than knowing the clothes you are wearing are unique. Many years ago my friend and I went to Thailand and invested in lots of new items - all now long gone but they were lovely to wear.

 

I love this!

[moses0]

What are your dates in September?

[terry&mike]

1 hour ago, moses0 said:

What are your dates in September?

September 20-29, Hamburg to NYC transatlantic on QM2.

[terry&mike]

I received an email from a CruiseCritic member (at first I was surprised, and then remembered my email is at the end of my signature) with a question. As someone else may also be wondering the same thing, I thought I should post the question and answer here. 

 

The question was in regards to me saying that the clothes were made at a "reasonable cost", and they were inquiring what I considered reasonable. A valid question, as this is subjective.

 

We had 9 garments made - a traditional black tuxedo with pants and jacket, an extra brocade tuxedo jacket, 1 tuxedo shirt, 2 men's dress shirts, 2 dresses, and 1 blouse - for a total of $590 usd, this included a 3% fee for using a credit card. In all instances, we picked either the top material option or the second highest material option. 

 

We came in to the shop on a Monday mid-morning (Day 1), picked materials and styles, and were measured. We returned on a Tuesday mid-day (Day 2) and had our first fittings. We returned on Wednesday mid-morning (Day 3) and did a final try on, and picked up everything with the exception of the 2 tuxedo jackets which needed a further tweek. We returned Wednesday evening (later on Day 3) and picked up the 2 tuxedo jackets. 

[LittleFish1976]

1 minute ago, terry&mike said:

I received an email from a CruiseCritic member (at first I was surprised, and then remembered my email is at the end of my signature) with a question. As someone else may also be wondering the same thing, I thought I should post the question and answer here. 

 

The question was in regards to me saying that the clothes were made at a "reasonable cost", and they were inquiring what I considered reasonable. A valid question, as this is subjective.

 

We had 9 garments made - a traditional black tuxedo with pants and jacket, an extra brocade tuxedo jacket, 1 tuxedo shirt, 2 men's dress shirts, 2 dresses, and 1 blouse - for a total of $590 usd, this included a 3% fee for using a credit card. In all instances, we picked either the top material option or the second highest material option. 

 

We came in to the shop on a Monday mid-morning (Day 1), picked materials and styles, and were measured. We returned on a Tuesday mid-day (Day 2) and had our first fittings. We returned on Wednesday mid-morning (Day 3) and did a final try on, and picked up everything with the exception of the 2 tuxedo jackets which needed a further tweek. We returned Wednesday evening (later on Day 3) and picked up the 2 tuxedo jackets. 

 

I would call that 'very reasonable'!