Bangkok tailors

[Punjabjat]

Whatever you do, don't let them rush you. That's what happened to me in India and the delivery was the day I was leaving and I had no time to try it out..

 

[Halifax]

Whatever you do, don't let them rush you. That's what happened to me in India and the delivery was the day I was leaving and I had no time to try it out..

Hi Punjabjat,

I will be very careful about timing; I plan to correspond with several tailors before I travel so as to notify them of my itinerary (minus a day or two for insurance). My local tailor said he would charge me double if I came back with an Asian suit requiring adjustments! Also, as I like the English style of jacket, I have been informed to make a point regarding waist suppression, natural shoulders and armhole height and size in order to avoid the 'Asian' suit look.

 

[deepitm]



Hi Stylers,

As I am traveling to Bangkok and in the market for some clothing, I thought I might resurrect this thread. I have read of several stores along Sampeng lane who sell quality shirting material which can be taken for tailoring but not so much on suiting fabric. There is little to no mention of places where decent suiting fabric can be purchased. Is there a reason for this?

 

The best suiting fabric comes from Europe. There are often very high import duties / tariffs on European made goods so good suiting fabrics are often obnoxiously expensive in Thailand.

 

[Halifax]

The best suiting fabric comes from Europe. There are often very high import duties / tariffs on European made goods so good suiting fabrics are often obnoxiously expensive in Thailand.

I had read that this was the case, but I still wasn't sure to what extent the duties influenced the price. Reasonably priced suiting fabric is not easy to find in Australia so I don't have the luxuries one would have living State-side or in Europe. I noticed that Raja's and Rajawongse only ever quote using 'wool blend' and refused to provide more details when prompted. They stated that they carried only a limited amount of merino wool - which is what I'm interested in.

I'm on the hunt for a dinner suit (preferably three piece) and a more casual two piece notched for business. I'm trying to assess all my options. My "short" list (soon to get shorter)

• Art's Thaniya, July (probably out of my price range);
• Broadway;
• Perry's;
• Tramp;
• World Group;
• Tanika;
• Pinky, Tailor on Ten, Rajawongse Clothier, Raja's Fashion (budget options, although Pinky isn't as cheap as I thought)

Narin's out because of time; I also feel his is becoming too popular, but that is just my opinion.

Well, let's talk about shirting materials then. How much would one expect to pay for the following on Sampeng lane/Pahurat:
(i) Oxford Pima
(ii) 2x2 100's poplin in Giza
(iii) Cotton-silk blends (which I don't know much about, what are the typical weaves?)

I constantly read about Kiet at Milan so I wanted factor in some decent fabric costs to his prices.

 

[Halifax]

Hi SFers,

Staying on the topic of mens clothing in Bangkok but moving away from tailors specifically - I know that Pratunam, Chatuchak, Bobae and Union Mall are big fashion markets. Has anyone visited these markets in search of RTW mens' clothing, immitation or otherwise, and/or accessories (such as silk ties, monkey's fists, pocket squares, etc)?

Cheers

 

[Kiwi Man]

Hello,

I'm a local Thai here based in Bangkok. I can tell you that many of these places that you mentioned above do sell a lot of clothing, but mostly fashion clothing especially Union Mall. Personally, Union Mall attracts a lot of Thai teenagers so they tend to focus on clothes which target mostly low income and fashion forward.

I might have never been to BoBae, but I was told that they have sell a lot of pieces of fabric for clothings, so I don't know if you will find a lot of RTW clothing there. It is closed to China Town here in Bangkok, so it is worth a try, I would presume.

Because I do not wear tie or pocket square, I don't pay attention to these types of things, so you might have a better at the tailor here in Thailand.

 

[Halifax]

Hi KM,

As a local, do you source much of your clothing from Bangkok? I'm keen to try a couple of tailors for dress shirts as a starting point but what about OCBD's, chino's, etc. Where do the Thai gentlemen go for a bargain (business or casual wear)?

I know of places like duly who supply RTW in the 3500THB+ price-range - I'm keen to have a look at some dress shirts.

Cheers

 

[Halifax]

Hi JP88,

Unfortunately your post poses more questions than answers. For example, have you been lurking on this thread for a while? Did you consider other tailors?
What made you decide to get a tailor made suit rather than just having adjustments made to a RTW suit?

As you are new to the forum you should also elaborate on your preference of fashion style.

Cheers

 

[zeusbheld]

I live and work in Bangkok and I've been using Milan Suit for a while. Kiet can come off a bit surly but he's an alright guy. You do indeed need to request removable stays. If you have any tweaks in mind that he finds to be non-standard he may be a bit stubborn at first but he'll do it your way. He only uses plastic buttons, he doesn't have real mother of pearl. they're decent though. I'm pretty happy with his pants when I choose the right fabric, but the metal slider fasteners irritate me. I don't think this is unique to his pants but rather to the style of fastener. I'm having him put buttons on the next batch. He also by default puts the inside button at the belt line on a flap that covers the fly may make it awkward to get your block and tackle out when you need to take a leak. I'm having him change that. Pants start at around 3,000 baht.

I just started using Narin, my first shirt should be done today. I tend to do one shirt at a time when I start with a new tailor, but be advised that the minimum first order with Narin is 3 shirts. Cotton shirts start at around 2,000 baht. Narin ONLY uses real mother of pearl buttons.

Narin, Tanika and Milan are within a few blocks of each other. Tanika's supposed to be good too.

I'm sure it's been said before but AVOID ANY TAILOR WITH A TOUT IN FRONT. There are countless shops of this sort in areas tourists frequent. They are invariably crap. In fact, I wouldn't venture into any tailor shop that hasn't been recommended here by multiple sources, or gotten a shout-out from that Kevin fella on Lonely Planet.

One other thing about Bangkok: if you don't live here, don't come in August or September unless you really, really like rain.

 

[Halifax]

Does anyone know if Sam Hober works with any Thai tailors? For example, being able to have a jacket and necktie tailored such that the lapels closely match the tie width seems advantageous to me.

Or looking at that question in reverse, are the any Thai tailors who would be happy to work with Sam Hober?

 

[S K M]

I live and work in Bangkok and I've been using Milan Suit for a while. Kiet can come off a bit surly but he's an alright guy. You do indeed need to request removable stays. If you have any tweaks in mind that he finds to be non-standard he may be a bit stubborn at first but he'll do it your way. He only uses plastic buttons, he doesn't have real mother of pearl. they're decent though. I'm pretty happy with his pants when I choose the right fabric, but the metal slider fasteners irritate me. I don't think this is unique to his pants but rather to the style of fastener. I'm having him put buttons on the next batch. He also by default puts the inside button at the belt line on a flap that covers the fly may make it awkward to get your block and tackle out when you need to take a leak. I'm having him change that. Pants start at around 3,000 baht.

I just started using Narin, my first shirt should be done today. I tend to do one shirt at a time when I start with a new tailor, but be advised that the minimum first order with Narin is 3 shirts. Cotton shirts start at around 2,000 baht. Narin ONLY uses real mother of pearl buttons.

Narin, Tanika and Milan are within a few blocks of each other. Tanika's supposed to be good too.

I'm sure it's been said before but AVOID ANY TAILOR WITH A TOUT IN FRONT. There are countless shops of this sort in areas tourists frequent. They are invariably crap. In fact, I wouldn't venture into any tailor shop that hasn't been recommended here by multiple sources, or gotten a shout-out from that Kevin fella on Lonely Planet.

One other thing about Bangkok: if you don't live here, don't come in August or September unless you really, really like rain.

I've tried Milan as well and found it slightly above Bangkok standards but extremely poor compared to European. I had abort eight shirt made, none of them which I have anymore. Narin, on the other hand, is my go-to for shirts. Make sure to opt for the unfused version he does as well; the making fee is twice as high as for his regular shirts, but so much worth it since you get not only soft and unfused collar and cuffs, but also handmade buttonholes and MoP buttons twice as thick. I have about 20 of Narin's shirts and I love every single one and I keep ordering more. Moreover, Narin also works with floating canvas if you're after some real tailoring (contrary to Milan, whose products I would overall rate as really, really poor – I had a sports jacket made by him that I also don't have anymore. His slacks can be okay, though).

Cheers,
SKM

 

[Halifax]

Hi SKM,

What was the turn around for one of Narin's shirts? I sent him an email and he quoted me what I feel is a ludicrous amount of time; I feel he was just brushing me off. Also, have you used any other tailors apart from Narin and Kiet?

 

[S K M]

Hi SKM,

What was the turn around for one of Narin's shirts? I sent him an email and he quoted me what I feel is a ludicrous amount of time; I feel he was just brushing me off. Also, have you used any other tailors apart from Narin and Kiet?

Well, Narin's turn around time is long – he takes a lot of pride in saying that he's no 24 hour service, which indeed distinguishes him from most Bangkok tailors and IMHO is worth the wait. I've also used Moonriver (very close to Milan), and he's somewhere in between Narin and Kiet; much better english (compared to Kiet), very honest and products above Bangkok standard. His shirts are okay, though fused, and plastic buttons sewn on by machine. For suits he actually does work with floating canvas, but still uses some shortcuts that Narin won't used; no horn buttons, machine sewn buttonholes and generally more work done by machine. I'm not sure he does CMT at first suit, though, which Narin happily does. I've also heard much good about Tanika but haven't tried them, and I know they won't do CMT.

In short, I think Narin is the real deal, but just remember that if you want a suit in a European cut it should be made in Europe, not Asia.

Cheers,
SKM

 

[Halifax]

Well, Narin's turn around time is long

I've got 9 days (8 full days) in and around Bangkok. As such, suits are out. I'm still keen to get some shirts, trousers, ties and perhaps some casual jackets. Narin said he couldn't possibly make a shirt in 8 days; I'm pretty sure if he really wanted my business he could meet that time line. I just feel he has reached a critical mass of customers he is happy to work with and is not that interested in expanding his horizons right now. I don't want to be that customer at a quality tailor who is given the lowest priority because the tailor doesn't need my business.

 

[S K M]

Nice, if you decide to go with Tanika for a jacket and/or trousers, please give us a report. The downside for me is that they won't do CMT, and since import taxes in Thailand are insanely high that could add a considerable sum to the cost. I also decided to bring my own MoP buttons to Kiet, but even then I wasn't pleased with the result and that comes down to one thing: fused collar and cuffs. Of course you might have different preferences than me, but I think the extra 1100 baht spend on an unfused shirt at Narin is so much worth it – especially since it will save you the hassle of having to find (and pay for) your own MoP buttons. But of course, if a quick turn around time is very important to you, then go with Kiet (or better: Moonriver – I think the making fee is approximately the same) since they can surely provide you with a fitting within a couple of days. To be fair I've never inquired about un-fused shirts at Moonriver, so they might be willing to do it, who knows.

Generally I can think of no reason why a tailor wouldn't want more costumers, so I don't think you should take Narin's response as trying to brush you off. I have three suits, two jackets, two coats and more than 20 shirts from him, and even then there are things he's not willing to do and processes he refuses to speed up. But I take that as a sign of integrity; he knows what he's good at and what he's not – contrary to most Thai tailors who will agree to do anything for you, even though they have no experience doing it whatsoever. By the same token he doesn't have any sorts of discount (no matter how much you buy), doesn't offer you free drinks and is not pushy in any way. Last time I visited my girlfriend inquired about a dress, which he drew a sketch of on the spot. As it turned out she found it to expensive, so we left it at that. At my subsequent fittings he never asked if she would like the dress or offered a better price; only thing he asked was polite questions if she liked being in Bangkok etc. But if I were you I would stop by to have a chat with him, and if you still don't feel like ordering anything from him then don't. Feeling confident is probably the most important aspect of choosing a tailor after all, no matter where in the world it may be.

Have fun in Bangkok, and keep us posted!