"Whatever You Like We Do For You"

Okay.  So the only person who actually said this to us did not deliver, but that's beside the point.

Hoi An.  The city of tailor made... anything.  Aside from the fact that the city is quaint, beautiful and picturesque it is most well known for its surplus of tailors.  You can actually get anything made in this city.  Belts, shoes, purses, suits, dresses, shirts, ties... "whatever you like".  It's unreal... actually!  In a lot of ways it's like a living dream.

There are so many shops however, that it can be a little overwhelming.  There's a tailor next door to our hotel, and one right across the street, beside that is a restaurant and beside that is a shoe shop, then another tailor, and another, and another, and... well, you get the point.

We were not wholly unprepared!  We had met a delightful couple in Cat Ba who were doing Vietnam in the opposite direction as us and had already been to Hoi An and done the tailoring thing.  Since they already knew what a nightmare trying to find a good tailor could be, they recommended one to us.  Her name is Bee.  Her shop is one of the less prestigious ones, situated in the "Cloth Shop" market, but she could not have been more fantastic.  Despite spending three hours in her shop the first day, we started small.  She did such a fantastic job on that first order that every time we went back for a "fitting" we ended up ordering more... and more... and more.

To give you an idea, we were only going to stay for a maximum of four days, we've been here for six.  Our six days consisted of (between both Darren and myself):
2 suits, both with an extra pair of pants
4 pairs of jeans
7 men's dress shirts
4 blouses
2 blazers
2 winter coats
1 fall/spring jacket
2 pairs of sandals
2 pairs of casual shoes
1 pair of dress shoes
1 pair of stilettos
and a bunch of ties.

To sum up... we're broke, but we look good!

Okay.  So not everything we purchased HAD to be "tailor-made".  But it's hard to stop when everything is custom made to fit you.  You pick the design, you pick the fabric, the details... EVERYTHING!  Go figure, I like to be in control ;)

Bee is far too amazing for words.  There is another woman (from Vancouver) helping Bee establish a website so she can continue business with her clients overseas.  We basically assured her that we were adding ourselves to her list.  I can't say enough wonderful things about that woman's work!  (Okay, so she doesn't actually do the sewing.  It's a family run business and she's the face, the middle-man, but she's darn good at her job.)  She's also about 4 foot nothing and the teeniest, cutest thing ever!
The website is in progress: The Sewing Bee