tailors in seoul korea? - Page 3

Unfortunately world's cheapest SutorMantellasi shoes are sold out.
These were in "ITALIUM"(Clasico Italia's Shop) of Lotte Department Main Store F5(sogong-dong).
Besides this store have many italian brands such as cantarelli, vigano, Luigi Borrelli...
Also some pretty VALENTINI SARTORIA pants are sale to 100,000~150,000 won.

Here are some info you might be interested in concerning shoes:

1. Licensed importer:

- Kumkang, a Korean shoemaker brand, is a licensed importer of Moreschi, Church's, Brunomagli, Loewe, Trussardi. They are available only at Shinsegae Department store (B1 floor) in Myung-dong and Kumkang Main Store at Myung-dong.

- Shinsegae Department Store B1 Floor is better known among Korean fashionistas as "Shin-bon Dungeon," for it's i) basement, and ii) a number of "tempting monsters (expensive and attractive shoes)" are lurking to pounce on you. You will easily understand if you ever played a Roll Playing Game such as Lineage or YS, or other Japanese Video Games. (Items won, gold lost after fighting a monster) Shin-bon is a short name for "Shinsegae Bonjeom (HQ Store of Shinsegae)

2. Tips and others

- Size problem: my shoes size is UK 10G-10.5F (US 11 Wide - 11.5 Normal), quite a big foot for Korean. Imported shoes are only available up to 8.5 or 9. We half-jokingly say the "Dungeon" is only for "Hobbits" with small feet, while tall guys are automatically guarded against from those monsters.

- Voucher Technique: We call "Sang-pum-kwon Shingong" (Voucher special technique). Here's an example.

1) Wait until Kumkang announces for sale. Let's say all the shoes (incluing imported ones) are on 30% sale.
2) Church's Consul was sold at 750k won: Now, it's 525k won.
3) You go to a cobbler's or nearby coupons store. Buy six 100,000 won Kumkang vouchers. Discount rate is usually 26%. You acutually paid 444,000 won for 600,000 won value vouchers. (74,000 x 6)
4) Go to the Dungeon. Grab the above-mentioned shoes.
5) Pay with the vouchers. Your change should be 75k won IN CASH. (Note: store sellers will try to give you change in vouchers. Consumer protection law stipulates that you're entitled to cash change if you spend more than 60% of the value of the vouchers.) This is a really hard challenge. You even may need to argue in Korean, though. Try to "shit on the floor" (Korean slang: be an asshole customer)
6) If you successfully get the change in cash, your mission is accomplished: Monster killed, Gold spent, Item Won, and Charm Parameter Increased.

The actual money spent for the 750k-won Church's is only 369k won. 370k-something won is now less than 300 US dollars. You can buy any brands of shoes mentioned above.

I don't think a foreigner can do that: sellers will be simply scared away, pretending they can't understand English. Japanese would be crazy to hear Church's are available in Seoul at the 30% of what they would otherwise have to pay in Tokyo. (Yen up, Won down).

* You cannot employ such a feat for buy Crockett & Jones, for it's directly imported by Shinsegae. Shinsegae vouchers are steep. You should pay almost 94% of its actual face value. As a result, some Koreans tend to believe Church's are cheaper shoes than C&J. (?!)

* Another Korean shoemaker brand, Esquire, is even cheaper. Their voucher is sold at 55% of the face value. They're importing Guy Laroche Shoes.

3. Other venues you should pay attention to:

- Italium at Lotte Department Store (Sogong-dong): They are selling a variety of nice clothes and shoes. Sutor Mantellassi, tagged 950k won, was sold 50% off. Again the price nosedived for another 50%. Some of my acquaintances bought Sutor Mantellassi at (Gulp!) 238k won.

- Lovelost at Galleria (Apkujeong-dong): They are selling some nice shoes, including Crockett and Jones. A few weeks ago they sold the entire Crockett and Jones line at 398k won. (50% discount).

Make sure to watch which department store are going on sale. Then you will find bonanza. I bought a Kiton tie at 170k won (120 US dollars) at Galleria.

Some of those deals are absolutely incredible. Anyway I'm reporting back to say that I received my first MTM shirt from Goshe. I selected a 70k won fabric, and I'm very pleased with the result. The measurements came out perfect, and they acommodated all of my particular demands, including the width of the sleeves, the legnth of the shirt, the length of the collar, etc. I ordered three more shirts through them - two in 140k won Italian fabrics, and one in a table-cloth like grey/white stripe that I already regret (but at least it was much cheaper).

I hate to hijack the post, but I am new, so I can't PM the appropriate people. Please bear with me. On the topic of suits: if you want any extras (working button holes, the like) it may be difficult to get them at the cheaper places. Even at a place like Paris Tailor. It's not that they charge you extra, it's just that the tailor may not read the requests. Now for the hijacking part, I am wondering if there are any bespoke shoe makers in Seoul. I asked on another forum, but never got a reply. I figured with someone like Sage, they may be able to tell me if there are any, and if they are of any quality. I do speak Korean fairly well, so I can go just about anywhere. It helps that I'm Korean, even if I was adopted.

As of February 2009, I can surely say there is no "bespoke" shoes shops in Korea. You can have some cheap shoes (what they call "custom-made shoes") at shoes salons on chil-pae-gil (nearby Yeomcheon bridge next to Seoul Station), but those are in terrible quality perfect for rainy days as combat shoes. You simply choose styles among the ready made shoes, and big shoes will be made for you - Machine made (molded), cemented rubber soles, horrible leather quality, no aesthetics at all.

To the best of my knowledge, there is one MTM shoes shop in Seoul, and that's Il Circo. It's in fact a shoes section at San Francisco Market, a collection shop in apkujeong-dong.

(http://blog.naver.com/gustosignore/40061179273)

They're selling Alfred Sargent and Stefano Bemer. Price of Stefano Bemers will start with (gulp) 1500k or 2000k won. The highest is around 4000k won. MTM shoes are available subject to extra 15% surcharge of displayed models. You can choose the leather, design, and last suited to your feet. The phone number is 02-542-3156. I'm not sure whether or not the clerk will understand English. Anyway, MTM Stefano Bemer is really tempting, isn't it? Good luck.

Ok, last question: I'm planning on living here for only another two years or so, but if I do buy nicer shoes, Church's, or even lower end shoes like Gucci (fashion I know, but you can still find some classic styles) or Prada where should I go when the heels wear down? I know that there are cobblers EVERYWHERE, but from my experience, they just put that plasticy rubber stuff on that lasts like three weeks. Also, with a shoe like Church's they are many times a quarter heel rather than fully rubber like say Allen Edmonds. I don't know how the average Korean cobbler would deal with that, nor do I want to see. So, what do you do with your shoes when they require a reheel?

If you buy it here, take it back to the department store/boutique you bought it from and they will take care of it. I haven't bought any nice shoes whilst here, so I take it to a place in Myung Dong called Myung Dong Sa 명동사. They do a lot of repairs on luxury shoes, bags and accessories. They did a great job stitching my soles together on a pair of expensive wingtips.

I'm pretty disappointed I didn't read sage's posts earlier, they are awesome! I will keep his special ninja technique in mind and frequent Shinsegae in my rounds now, since I'm big on trad shoes lately. On topic, I am using Hahn's Tailor in Itaewon for a suit right now, I went for the first fitting today. I just wanted to play around and see what I can get out of them as a first time thing, since the won is play money lately. I have had suits made in Itaewon before and have not liked them, but then again I didn't really know the first thing about suits when I did that, so I guess I'm like a born again MTM virgin this time.... I started off just wanting a favorite pair of Jil Sander trousers knocked off in different colors, and I got my first pair back and was really pleased with the cut and construction. I wasn't really big on the fabric after they were made up but chalked that up as being my own mistake, I am not good at picking fabrics when they're on the roll. Satisfaction with cut/make + dissatisfaction with fabric led me to making a second round on the trousers in grey after looking more closely at fabrics, and then decided to get a jacket made to match. Total for the suit: 500,000W, about $325-330 lately. What I'm getting; a standard grey super 120's wool, Korean made textile. I had the Jil Sander trousers knocked off once more, they're side tab with double buttons, beltless, low-rise, single pleat, very trim and tapered, slightly long inseam with double or triple breaking. (the tradbeasts will hate it, but I'm only 27 and have an Asian body type, so I gotta do what I want) The jacket I'm having made to match: 2.5" lapels, low button stance (first button about 3/4" above my navel), slim arms and high armholes, double vents, very light shoulder padding, two straight flap pockets, slightly rounded bottoms, jacket on the slightly longer side, fully functioning cuffs, full floating canvas, pickstitched everything. I'm wanting something that looks reminiscent of Raf F/W09-10 here but with my own personal details (neverminding the fact that Raf never fits me off the rack anyway), so I am pretty anxious to see what I actually get out of it all. I will post pictures when it's all said and done later this week. I have the first pair of trousers I might photo for you guys, they were 150,000W, about $100, so though I think I got duped into buying a poly blend, they'll be ok for cheap work trousers and will wear hard.

aforementioned Jil Sander/Raf Simons knockoff trousers: the other full suit will follow soon (suit?)

WOW! great thread!!

This is how that suit turned out, I am pretty happy with it for being like $325. Super 120's, fully canvassed jacket, full lining, felted under collar, working cuffs. Cut was all of my own specification and I think he did a nice job of translating.

I worked in Gwanghwamoon a couple of years ago, and walked past Savile Row but always avoided it. At that time I had no idea Seoul had such sartorial ambitions! Even among the top class businessmen/lawyers I was amazed at how popular black suits and square toed shoes were, and I don't think I ever saw anyone wear a proper sportcoat. Non-black shoes were also very uncommon. Have things really changed as much as this thread indicates in the past 2-3 years?

I'll be back there actually later this summer for work (briefly) so please let me know of any great sales then

Impolyt:

Thanks for those pictures- looks like you're really satisfied with Hahn's.

I'm getting a suit made next week and have been debating whether to go to Hahn's or spend a little more Won and go to a tailor in Sogong-dong. They've quoted me a minimum of KRW 1 million. I know the old adage is "you get what you pay for," but from what I've seen and heard about Hahn's, it seems like great tailoring for the money.

I guess my question is: how satisfied are you with the quality and workmanship of the suit? Were there any specific directions you gave to the tailor as he was making your suit (i.e., how did you describe the type of suit you wanted)? I've heard not to go with shoulder padding. Would you do anything differently if you went back?

Are there any compelling reasons to choose Sogong Dong over Hahn's? I live in Korea, and I'm looking for a basic slim cut business suit, not too fashion trendy.

Thanks for your help! I'll let everyone know how my experience goes.

I'm pretty satisfied with Hahn's. I wouldn't go there for a dream suit, but for 500,000W, I am happy with what I got. For my suit, I started off with a favorite pair of trousers I already had, and had them knock them off. My main concern with Korean MTM is that their pants are usually of the sky-high rise, wide-leg, half break kind of cut, and no matter how you much you hint, unless you give them some sort of concrete example, they'll just cut their own way, which is ugly. They're used to suiting guys who are about 5'5 and 160+ lbs though, so they have a different idea of what silhouette they want. I used the Jil Sander pants as a base, they're very tapered and long-legged. Super low-rise, side tabs, they make a good suit pant. I told them I wanted a jacket to match, something clean and modern, low button stance, slimmish. He said 'like prada?' and I said "yeah, kind of, with a bit more tailoring.' I was more about details than giving a particular style name. I mainly specified 2 buttons down low, 2 1/4" lapels, longish jacket length, slim arms, working cuffs, felted under collar, a nice natural lapel roll, straight flap pockets, and double vents in the back. A little pickstitch to top it off. Workmanship is good, typical of Korea. It's not Raf Simons, but it's more than good enough for what is a $350 suit. I went for 2 fittings; I think they'd accomodate as many fittings as you request, but once they've cut fabric, they can't make it any bigger and seem to bitch and moan about taking apart final seams if you don't like what they did, so keep a keen eye on them in the first fitting when nothing is completely together yet and it's just canvas. It's tough to do from eye at this point, but the first fitting for them is where you pretty much specify all the measurements, because at the second fit, the jacket will be mostly together and excess will have been cut. If he goes back at the second fitting to make adjustments, then the jacket won't fit as well, IMHO. That is what happened with my jacket. I have a pattern now and I like what they made; I will get the jacket less suppressed next time, and adjust the sleeve/shoulderblades/armpit area so they sit nicer. I might ante up for better fabric, but yeah apart from that, I don't see myself going to Sogong-dong myself, since they probably wouldn't give me much more than Hahn's did. I think I could get my next suit in Loro Piana for 1mil, and it'd be pretty much exactly what I want. The reason Hahn's sells cheaper is because they have a lot of poly blends and crap fabric mixed in with some decent ones, they have a tailor but some sweatshop in the back probably does the sewing, and they turn out lots of crappy suits for tourists/GI's, who don't know what they want and have to have a competitive Itaewon strip price. That said, if you know exactly what you want and are good at choosing MTM, then you can get almost exactly what you want out of Hahn's. They aren't super stylish, but they know how to make a suit and are better than anything else in Itaewon.

does anyone mind giving directions to hahn's?

via subway?