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Suits in Vietnam...

vinhle37

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Hello,

I am new member to this forum and have just begun to do some research on custom suits, dress shirts, shoes. FYI, I am 21 and have just been hired by a BIG 4 accounting firm and so I have to start wearing suits and business clothes. Furthermore, I am vietnamese and so my parents told me to look into purchasing suits from Vietnam. I did some research and found these websites. I'm particularly interested in some input on what style suit and what fabric I should be looking for... So far, I think I like slim cut shirts and suits. Please advise... thank you.

PS. I've been reading and looking at pictures of Dung's suits from M@t's postings. What do you think ordering from Dung? Obviously, communicating will not be a problem for me.

http://www.golaodai.com/TiengAnh/Res...p?SellerID=232

http://www.golaodai.com/TiengAnh/Res...p?SellerID=222
 

Matt

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xin chao! you planning a trip to the fatherland any time soon? Sy Tan is a largish semi grubby store in the backpacker district here. Unless you like the tay ba lo look, i wouldnt recommend them...
 

vinhle37

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I'm actually going to be visiting Vietnam for the second time in July.

My brother got a few suits from Sy Tan and although he likes the fabric a lot (Super 150?), he too feels that it's just not the right style...

For my age and built (athlete, 5'9", 160 lbs) , what kind of style suit would you recommend?

Furthermore, is Dung on 221 Le Thanh Ton st, HCMC? Out of all the tailors that you have visited in VN is this still the one that you would recommend for suits? What about shirts?

What do you do in VN if you don't mind me asking m@t?
 

Matt

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Originally Posted by vinhle37
I'm actually going to be visiting Vietnam for the second time in July. My brother got a few suits from Sy Tan and although he likes the fabric a lot (Super 150?), he too feels that it's just not the right style...
Super numbers dont mean a whole lot anywhere and dont mean anything in Vietnam. Any of the cloth at that price will be a poly blend, and they just weave high super numbers figuring the higher the number the better it sounds. Ive seen Super 2000s in the markets.
For my age and built (athlete, 5'9", 160 lbs) , what kind of style suit would you recommend?
At 5'9 with an athletic build you can wear pretty much anything, however more important here may be the job. If you are going into a big 4 accounting role, you are not going to want to be too fashion forward, so I would suggest playing it relatively conservative (especially as you are entering in your first role with the firm). Get a few done, stick to 2 and 3 buttons, navy and charcoals, no blacks. You can get people started here at length on styles and body types, but in this case, I think appropriateness for the firm trumps all.
Furthermore, is Dung on 221 Le Thanh Ton st, HCMC?
yup, that sounds about right.
Out of all the tailors that you have visited in VN is this still the one that you would recommend for suits? What about shirts?
Absolutely. Ive tried about 8 different tailors here (got a couple of Sy Tan shirts that I gave to my driver a few months ago when I moved, which I guess tells you how happy I was with them) Dung is absolutely the best in town. He does some of my shirts too. Jantzen in HK is better.
What do you do in VN if you don't mind me asking m@t?
I run a public relations consultancy
 

pkincy

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I know of no Big 4 accounting firm that has a dress code of anything but business casual for their entry level hires. You might ask your HR person what the business dress is at your hire location.

I might add that my experience is that the attire is on the very very casual side of business casual also. Now my experience is not recent and was in Silicon Valley which was pretty casual itself. But I might characterize the dress I saw as business messy.

Perry
 

vinhle37

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M@T,

Do you happen to have Dung's phone number? Do you know if he will ship the suit to me?

Also when I order the suits from Dung, what kind of fabric should i request for? I know that you said 2 or 3 buttons and navy or charcoal, but is that all I need to tell him?

Thanks for all the help M@T.

Vinh
 

Stu

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Be careful about putting your dong in dung.
smile.gif


Originally Posted by vinhle37
Hello,

I am new member to this forum and have just begun to do some research on custom suits, dress shirts, shoes. FYI, I am 21 and have just been hired by a BIG 4 accounting firm and so I have to start wearing suits and business clothes. Furthermore, I am vietnamese and so my parents told me to look into purchasing suits from Vietnam. I did some research and found these websites. I'm particularly interested in some input on what style suit and what fabric I should be looking for... So far, I think I like slim cut shirts and suits. Please advise... thank you.

PS. I've been reading and looking at pictures of Dung's suits from M@t's postings. What do you think ordering from Dung? Obviously, communicating will not be a problem for me.

http://www.golaodai.com/TiengAnh/Res...p?SellerID=232

http://www.golaodai.com/TiengAnh/Res...p?SellerID=222
 

Matt

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Originally Posted by vinhle37
M@T, Do you happen to have Dung's phone number? Do you know if he will ship the suit to me? Also when I order the suits from Dung, what kind of fabric should i request for? I know that you said 2 or 3 buttons and navy or charcoal, but is that all I need to tell him? Thanks for all the help M@T. Vinh
We're friends now, you can call me Matt
smile.gif
I can get it for you easily enough, but i doubt that they would do that. Wait til July and do the job right. You would need to do a whole bunch of self measurement, and I dont know that they are set up to make suits from your own tape measured efforts. A couple of forum guys have looked into using Dung long distance, and they have always wanted to send him a suit to copy. He will do that. However, as you have acknowledged, you dont have any perfectly-fitting suits that you can send off to get done. However a sticking point has always been cloth (he has no website to pick cloth from). Some members have looked into sending him cloth purchased on eBay and this makes a problem since Dung will incur import duties on the wool when it is sent in, and it is impossible to guess just how much money Vietnamese customs will want to make on it, and very difficult to charge back. The other issue is related - Dung will also incur an import duty on the incoming suit (even though it is only being used for measurements). Minh - Dung's wife - can be a little abrasive and paranoid on this, and I suspect she has learned the hard way about it. I understand her point though. Customer agrees to $70 for tailoring and $30 for shipping, and then suddenly they receive an email asking for another $100 because customs wants $80 duty on the wool and $20 on the old suit, and then the customer gets angry and refuses to pay.... If you want to do the internet tailor thing, I wouldnt do it out of Vietnam. Try using Jovan's mate out of Nepal (I think they are called Baron Boutique), by all accounts they are pretty good. Otherwise, maybe Ravi in Thailand. Those guys have all the templates for self measurement and are used to doing it that way. Dung does it the old fashioned way, and generally does it pretty damn well. The other thing you can look at, since you are on a budget and looking to buy quality (in which case, you will fit right in here) and some of the online clearance places. Pick up a couple of Cornelianis from STP for sub $500, and then wait til July and have Dung suit you up then....
 

Rekevalate

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However a sticking point has always been cloth (he has no website to pick cloth from). Some members have looked into sending him cloth purchased on eBay and this makes a problem since Dung will incur import duties on the wool when it is sent in said:
I'm disappointed to hear about the import taxes as I was planning to send more fabric to Vietnam, if my experiment with their tailors prove to be successful. I thought there were plans to reduce the import rates on fabric from 40% to 12% and eventually to nil. In any case, I am sure there are valid reasons for keeping it in place.
 

Matt

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its slightly more complex than that.

Yes, under WTO (accession in a week or so), import taxes on most things will fall. This will take a while. Unfortunately there will be no overnight rate reductions. The biggest problem isnt so much the rate as the valuation system.

In Vietnam they will not accept your declared value of goods. They will manually open it and decree a value of their own based on whatever they think it is worth. They have a book. The book once told them to tax me 100% based on a value US$1080 on an LCD TV i bought in Singapore for USD400. Had the receipts and everything, but they didnt seem to care. In the end I bribed the guy and brought it in anyhow, but it still cost me $150.

This is what makes the issue for Dung. If you were to buy cloth from - I dunno - Tip Top for $350, declare it at $350, budget 40% extra for tax and pay Dung an extra $140, and all would be pretty easy. But since customs will be the ones who decide if this is $50 worth of wool, $350 or $900, there is no way to budget for it. Its a mess, and as I posted above, I suspect Dung has been burned on this before.

Your best bet is to come to the store, pick out 5 or 6 cloths that you like, get Minh to file them away for you, and then email her when you are ready for them.
 

Rekevalate

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Originally Posted by m@T
its slightly more complex than that.

Yes, under WTO (accession in a week or so), import taxes on most things will fall. This will take a while. Unfortunately there will be no overnight rate reductions. The biggest problem isnt so much the rate as the valuation system.

In Vietnam they will not accept your declared value of goods. They will manually open it and decree a value of their own based on whatever they think it is worth. They have a book. The book once told them to tax me 100% based on a value US$1080 on an LCD TV i bought in Singapore for USD400. Had the receipts and everything, but they didnt seem to care. In the end I bribed the guy and brought it in anyhow, but it still cost me $150.

This is what makes the issue for Dung. If you were to buy cloth from - I dunno - Tip Top for $350, declare it at $350, budget 40% extra for tax and pay Dung an extra $140, and all would be pretty easy. But since customs will be the ones who decide if this is $50 worth of wool, $350 or $900, there is no way to budget for it. Its a mess, and as I posted above, I suspect Dung has been burned on this before.

Your best bet is to come to the store, pick out 5 or 6 cloths that you like, get Minh to file them away for you, and then email her when you are ready for them.


I'm happy to hear that you didn't have to pay US$1,080 in tax. I buy my fabric from a little italian man who operates a big fabric warehouse here in Australia. I doubt that I will be able to find any fabric in Vietnam that matches the price or quality.
 

Matt

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Ahh youre in Australia. Whereabouts? I grew up in Adelaide, but call Melbourne home. About 5 yrs in Asia now.

In terms of Minh's fabric store. Dormeuil at around US$90 a meter, Zegna, Loro Piana et al similarly priced. No Holland and Sherry or Scabal for some reason. She has a decent range.
 

Rekevalate

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Originally Posted by m@T
Ahh youre in Australia. Whereabouts? I grew up in Adelaide, but call Melbourne home. About 5 yrs in Asia now.

In terms of Minh's fabric store. Dormeuil at around US$90 a meter, Zegna, Loro Piana et al similarly priced. No Holland and Sherry or Scabal for some reason. She has a decent range.


Mate! had no idea you were from Australia (thought you were from US, apologies for my ignorance). I've lived in Perth all my life but have travelled around the country on business trips. BTW, my parents are Vietnamese so I am knowledgeable in the art of bribing customs officers. It's good to see an aussie do well in Asia, I've always wanted to work in Asia but wanted to see someone else have a good go at it first. My impressions is that you seem to enjoy the lifestyle.

I rate Dormeuil and Zegna quite highly and at that price, it's a bargain, if it's the real deal.

If you're a cricket fan, you might want to know that we're giving the poms a hiding in the ashes, and West Coast won the premiership (no Melbourne team came close
tounge.gif
)

My name is Kev.
 

Matt

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thats a mighty Australian name youve got yourself there Kev
smile.gif
Yeah Ive got baggygreen open in another tab, keeping an eye on the cricket score (the rain may wash away the whitewash). Minh's store only sells real wool, she imports it herself. The markets have all the fake stuff (anywhere from $5 per meter), but hers is all legit. - Matt
 

Rekevalate

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Originally Posted by m@T
thats a mighty Australian name youve got yourself there Kev
smile.gif


Yeah Ive got baggygreen open in another tab, keeping an eye on the cricket score (the rain may wash away the whitewash).

Minh's store only sells real wool, she imports it herself. The markets have all the fake stuff (anywhere from $5 per meter), but hers is all legit.

- Matt


Lol, born and bred in Australia. You can take the man out of the country but you can't take the country out of the man.

I'll drop by to see Minh next time I'm in Vietnam. Unfortunately, I chose Cao Minh this time round and not Dung due to time restrictions.
 

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