In Bangkok, it is hard not to notice tailors on almost every corner especially in Asok. Before I even arrived in Bangkok and having travelled in Asia previously, I knew getting copies of clothes tailor-made made was affordable and realistic. However, like all good plans they got de-railed by life.
Then one day a friend asked me if I was interested in getting some clothes made and the seed was sown once more. I messaged a Bangkok mummies group on Facebook, which turns out to be an amazingly fruitful source of top tips and recommendations and several names came up and we decided Benjama’s in Asok was our tailor of choice.
First though we needed fabric. We headed off to Chinatown or more specifically Little India in Chinatown and after an assortment of taxi’s, tuk tuk’s and sky trains, finally arrived at the Indian Emporium a large undercover fabric market spanning 4-5 floors. What a relief: fans and air conditioning.
The first stall had the kind of light-weight cottony-linen fabric I was looking for in the kind of neutral or muddy colours tones I was looking for. At 100bht/m I was sold, so was Meg who chose a couple of colour ways too.
For good measure we continued our search and went to the next floor. Yet more lightweight cottons and linens in yet more colourations and this time only 50 bht/m, d’oh fatal school girl error: we had bought before checking out prices. Kicking ourselves and our naivety and striking up much more rapport with this guy than the moody fellow downstairs, we bought yet more fabric and then wondered how we were going to carry it all home via tuk tuk’s, taxi’s and sky trains, especially since Meg was flagging a little being pregnant and all.
We vowed to return to make the most of the colourful array of fabrics and materials at the first chance we had to create dressing up costumes for the kids.
So we were set to go and headed the following week to Benjamin’s and wandered into a small shop where two seamstresses were hard at work, boxes of cotton reels and material creatively strewn around in organized chaos. I knew exactly what I wanted copied and in what fabrics so I was pretty much done and dusted in 20 minutes or so.
Meg, expecting her 4th baby was unsure of what styles she wanted and by this time Khun Pook who owns the shop joined us and advised us she was a designer too. Ahhh fatal school girl error number two: I should have asked. But I was in danger of re-railing from the original plan so I stuck with my decisions while she and Meg came up with some bespoke ideas to get her through her blossoming bump.
Khun Pook can literally make anything from ball gowns to men’s shirts and needs only a photo to go by. When we returned only 10 days later most of the pieces were ready and I was delighted with the results and have worn the pieces almost every week, allowing me to preserve the originals for either special occasions or at least not to wear them out completely. 3 pairs of trousers, 4 pairs of shorts and 2 dresses / culottes cost just over £200. But the experience was priceless.
A month or so later, Meg introduced me to Glen an Australian footwear designer who ran his own footwear business from a little hole in the wall shop front in Udom Suk, not far from where we lived. I have a beloved pair of off the peg sandals I had bought a few years previously from Mango or some other high street fashion store and was I was literally wearing these bad boys to death. I badly wanted them copied. Glen agreed to do so for me.
We then discussed Meg holding footwear parties on his behalf to sell his off the shelf shoes and within a couple of weeks we were hosting just one of these parties at my house with the girls from our moobaan. A couple of boxes of shoes had arrived which we laid out as aesthetically as possible, cracked open the fizz and invited the ladies in.
One friend came with a specific style in mind to be copied into several different colours whilst others tried on what was available. I happened upon a pair of snakeskin heels with bright mustard soles, which had my name all over them. They fit like a glove and are the most comfortable heels I own. At less than £70, not technically a bargain but also did seriously not break the bank either. The afternoon was a success, some shoes were sold, some replicas commissioned and we were well on the way to our very own bespoke head to quite literally toe wardrobe.
My sandals never returned to me until after the summer holidays and I had almost given up on them if I am honest. When they did arrive accompanied by the originals, from which I thought I would never part, I realized just what a sorry state of affairs they had become. A little bit mouldy and very much distressed after spending most of the rainy season in a shoe makers workshop they made their replacements looked so spectacular I instantly dispatched them to the bin. For less than the original sandals, they are worth their weight in gold and are still going strong despite almost daily excursions.
So, the whole top to toe tailoring experience turned out pretty well. Not only fun but some stylish pieces secured at some really reasonable prices and an experience worth writing home about.