For those of our followers who followed last year’s Bangkok posting, you’ll remember my talking about walking down a crowded city street and having a guy comes up to you and ask “hey boss, where you from” that typically means that he’s a salesman for a tailor in the area and he wants to sell you a suit. If you’re in a busy city like Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Pattaya, you’ll be bombarded by a plethora of these guys. You have to wonder if these guys are legitimate. It kind of makes you think of the guy in an overcoat saying “want to buy a watch?”
Sometimes the watch runs perfectly, other times it runs only for ten minutes. Here is how this system works; you have to pay them a deposit first, and then afterwards you can find out how good they are. If you’re not happy then a heated discussion breaks out, and usually, you’ll lose because you have no leverage.
So here’s our story; Suzy has a number of her favorite shirts made by a designer of clothing for 30+ year old women. You know the name; it starts with a “C” and they have their own store. This designer/manufacturer does not make this style any longer and Suzy is dismayed by this. She happened to have a few of these shirts in her suitcase this year and when we checked into our hotel in Chiang Mai, we saw a tailor shop across the street. Being curious, I went into the store one afternoon with one of Suzy’s shirts and asked if they could copy the shirt. The guy seemed puzzled, they make custom shirts from scratch, you get measured and off they go and get busy. I explained I wanted the shirt copied, I wanted the same stitching, the same collar, the same double lining pockets, and the same darts in the middle of the shirt. Well after all that work explaining the guy said; “sure we can do that, no problem”. Well as a New Yorker, I’ve heard that before, and it usually raises a red flag once you’ve been bitten by one of these guys. My reply was a simple one, I want 10… But I’ll pay for only one now in full, if you’re expertise is as good as you say it is, I’ll advance you half the balance, then pay in full upon delivery. We’ll this of course became a subject of discussion in which the Tailor thought he was going to win, so I upped the ante…. Make me one shirt at full price and I’ll discuss with you the idea of possibly making a few custom shirts for me. It started all over again; “how many shirts for you?” I said; “three and if that’s not a good enough incentive, I’m walking out of your store and going to another tailor” That sealed the deal and he agreed. Suzy and I chose the fabrics for the shirts she wanted and then it was contract time, which brought us to the next problem. I wanted to pay via Bank card. Why? Because I may have some leverage with my bank if I’m not happy with the outcome. Well, long story short, I lost that battle and handed him the cash for one shirt and he seemed to be happy. Then I got a surprise, he told me to come back tomorrow at the same time, the shirt would be ready. We came back the next day and I thought I was going to have my bad New York blood surface. I was told that there was an electrical outage yesterday and the shirt would be ready tomorrow. Suzy saved the day; she explained to me that indeed the power did go out yesterday, and the hotel manager told her it was due to construction in the area. OK, we came back again the next day and found not one but five shirts finished……… But, they fit well and were made perfectly, just as we wanted. Now it was my turn to honor our agreement, I paid half the balance and began choosing fabric for my three shirts to be custom made as I wished. Once again I was amazed, the Tailor told us to come back tomorrow and all the shirts would be finished. Then it hit me, what if my shirts were not as I liked, he’d have to eat three shirts and start again. I decided to just go with the flow here, and see what happens. The end result is what you’ll see in the video. The remaining five of Suzy’s shirts fit wonderfully and were made to exacting standards, nice stitching, real quality work, and all completed during the night while we slept. The guys at Hollywood Tailors really did not know what to make of Suzy and I recording this video but just kind of smiled, laughed and went along with it. In the end, Suzy and I made some good friends here. If I ever needed another shirt made I would have absolutely no problem sending these guys the money and I would rest easy knowing it would be delivered anywhere I liked and would be everything I expected it to be. Thank you Hollywood Tailors !