Tailor in BKK

[Farangwithaplan]

I need to get some business shirts and a lightweight blazer or sports jacket. In the past I have used a few tailors with mixed results. Last tailor was good and the shorts have worn well, but they seems to have downsized and they had very few fabrics that suited business shirts when I recently dropped in.

 

I know the tailors farm out a lot of the actual stitching to larger businesses and realise that in general terms you get what you pay for. I don't mind paying a fair price for a fair product but I am not keen on paying overs for perceived service and prestige.

 

Can anyone recommend a BKK tailor that has a good range of cotton fabrics for business shirts and have a fair price? I do like Egyptian cottons but anything that sits well and breaths will be fine. Likewise for the blazer in a wool or similar.

 

Also, what is the going rate for an egyptian cotton business shirt each in purchases of 5 pieces at a time? Blazer prices?

 

 

Thanks in advance.

[CharlieH]

Moved to BKK forum

[FarangDoingHisThing69]

You can get wildly different prices depending on where you go, how you seem (if you're fresh off the boat vs seasoned in multi-tier price "bartering") and the quality of the product. For a full suit+blazer combo? I'd expect atleast 10,000 baht. You get what you pay for. If it's cheaper than that, it'll probably fall apart in a month.

 

At a certain point, I stopped getting tailored clothes here. Even high-end tailors (atleast, seemingly high-end) do not compare to even normal quality American tailoring. I'd rather cough up a couple thousand $ in America for a suit I know will never fall apart, compared to gambling on the "cheaper" options here.

 

But, don't get me wrong, if you want some quick tailor work done, to experiment, try some tailors out and see if their work impresses you. Most are junk. Some can be okay-to-good.

[moe666]

Jesse and Victor Rajawongse Tailor shop on Sukhumvit near LandMark Hotel. Have shirts from there 3 years old and still look new. They have there on sewing shop do not farm out, they open at 11am every day except Sunday. There is no barker out front trying to drum up business. They are not inexpensive but you get what you pay for. Always being asked where I got my shirts and also my sports jacket. they are listed in the top 10 of tailor shops in Bangkok. If you go in tell them Oscar from Chiang Mai recommended you, I will not get a discount next time and you will not either

[Spaniel]

If you are in the Sukhumvit area then check out Raja's Tailor on Sukhumvit road between Soi 6 & 8.    I have used him several times over the years.    

[bkk6060]

Go to MBK has everything you need.

[tyler28]

On 3/2/2019 at 10:08 PM, Farangwithaplan said:

Also, what is the going rate for an egyptian cotton business shirt each in purchases of 5 pieces at a time?

Very few shops in Bangkok stock Egyptian cotton. At those that do (Narin, Tailor on Ten, or a few others) you should expect to pay 5,000 Baht or more per shirt.

 

But do you actually do mean Egyptian cotton? Because the Indian shops around Nana are pretty famous for describing their Chinese polyester-cotton blends (those huge round spools they have all over their shops) as "Egyptian cotton." If that low-end Chinese stuff is all you want, you can get it anywhere, likely for 1,200 Baht per shirt of less, depending on the shop.

[Farangwithaplan]

29 minutes ago, tyler28 said:

But do you actually do mean Egyptian cotton?

Yes, I like 120 thread 2 ply. The last lot I purchased have worn very well.

[mokwit]

55 minutes ago, tyler28 said:

Very few shops in Bangkok stock Egyptian cotton

Some stock Egyptian Vicuna as in: Vicuna Sir? This is Vicuna, Egyptian Vicuna.

[tyler28]

Well, you aren't going to find any Egyptian cotton at Raja or Rajawongse or any of the others mentioned above. They'll tell you everything in the shop is "Egyptian cotton"; in reality, nothing is.

 

Tailor on Ten has Egyptian cotton (Thomas Mason fabrics), though for all their marketing hype, I haven't found them to be all that good at actually putting clothes together. Since you said you were "not keen on paying overs for perceived service and prestige," you may want to avoid that shop.

 

I don't have any direct experience with Narin, Duly, or any of the other places that stock high-end fabrics.

[Farangwithaplan]

35 minutes ago, tyler28 said:

 "not keen on paying overs for perceived service and prestige," you may want to avoid that shop.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. On perceived service, I find being picked up in a town car for a fitting only to travel 500m and having to make small talk with a driver whilst taking twice to the time to walk there punishment. To have to pay for that makes me shake my head ????

 

I have no issue paying for the quality. I might get free time in town on friday afternoon and have a look around.

 

Thanks to others for offering up suggestions. I also looked in my wardrobe last night and found a few shirts from Narry. I can't even recall where that shop was. They feel like a 100% cotton and wear very well. So I might track them down and see their options.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Farangwithaplan

[Airalee]

I had a friend visit me here and he had a couple suits tailored at Rajawongse.  He was very impressed.  He had asked me to help him locate a tailor in Bangkok and Rajawongse came highly recommended on some of the online “fashion” forums.  I checked out their shirt fabrics and felt that they were high quality (better than what you’ll find on the racks at Brooks Brothers these days).  I just wish that they made boxer shorts too.

[tyler28]

In my experience, Raja and Rajawongse have a large following but a very limited repertoire. Perhaps these shops do a good enough job at making standard-fit shirts and standard-fit suits for middle-aged men of standard middle-aged build, but ask them to deviate even slightly from their habits, and they basically just won't do it. Last I knew, for example, neither shop was able or willing to make anything that would qualify as "slim fit." Ask them for a slim fit suit, and you'll get a lot of nodding, handshakes, exaggerated eye contact, etc., but the suit they deliver will be the same standard fit suit they make for everyone who walks through the door.

Edited March 5, 2019 by tyler28

[Farangwithaplan]

25 minutes ago, Benroon said:

I have only ever seen two suits made by these Indian chaps in Bangkok and they were laughably bad ! 

Okay, I hear what you you say. But the question was for shirts and a blazer. It has already been established that the OP, me, is happy with quality of some of the local tailors. So are others.

 

Two suits out of a the multitude of suits manufactured daily are a drop in the ocean; $199 dollar suits made in three days for tourists no doubt are laughable.

 

But my question is, can you give details on the price paid for the two suits you mentioned, the tailors who made them, and the time taken to get the end result. That will add to the thread that I have no doubt others will see the benefit of. Otherwise you offered nothing and wasted your time and ours.

[wordchild]

From what I have seen, the quality of tailoring in Bangkok is, in general, poor/really poor! I have no idea why anybody (other than the naive first timer) would bother paying for any kind of premium clothing (hand cut) in Bangkok.

Shanghai ( British style) Hong Kong (same , imported from Shanghai ) both way better quality cut.

Bangkok is great for cheap ,throw away , T shirts and pants but not much else.

BTW, a guy in the place where I have bought my business shirts ( and underwear) for the last 20 plus years (Jermyn St, Lon) told me once that he would never recommend high quality cotton ie high  thread count varieties,  incl Egyptian cotton , to a customer who lived in a hot, humid country. This type of cotton is too dense and does not allow the body to breath ( according to him).

Much better, he said, to use a coarser less refined cotton fabric  , for a hot country eg exactly the kind of cotton shirt most of the locals wear in Bangkok.

Usually that is the kind of material I now wear myself and I have to agree that it feels more comfortable.

Edited March 5, 2019 by wordchild

[ThomasThBKK]

Taylor on ten is the only one i can recommend, tried raja before but uhm all shirts had different size, not sure if its from drying tho...my maid is reckless.

 

 

https://www.tailoronten.com/ they have an online shop where u can customize ur stuff and it shows you all prices, can't get much more transparent...oh and its from a farrang...major plus for me -.-