A Review of Our Experience at Ba Ri Tailor in Hoi An (2024)

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A 30-minute Grab away, we landed in central Hoi An and were immediately on the receiving end of an elevator pitch. Come to our tailor, she would say, “One of the best in town, and #1 on TripAdvisor”. She gave us their business name, Ba Ri, so I could look it up and verify. It checked out. We said we’d get there shortly after grabbing a cafe su da, and she promptly mentioned that she could provide coffee for us instead. She had us hook, line, and sinker, but the social proof was there, and we were already on a time crunch as I was looking for a full 3-piece suit made the day of.

Initial Impressions

We arrived at Ba Ri Tailor about an hour or so later. The store is rather unassuming from the outside. Hoi An’s ancient town, which is likely where you’d be as a visitor to Hoi An, is filled with custom tailor shops. It seemed like there’d be another custom tailor between every store. What was rare to find was off-the-rack clothing. Ba Ri Tailor looks typical from the outside but was by far the busiest inside.

Walking in, we were overwhelmed by the amount of fabrics lining the walls. The tailors, running around each other, notebooks in hand, pencils nestled on top of their ears. Staff would be huddled in one corner, sitting on stools, furiously making some of the clothing requested from earlier customers.

We were pleasantly surprised to see the same lady from earlier ready to welcome us. They would quickly pull each member of our group and ask us what we were interested in getting made. She’d follow through with the coffees she offered us as well (probably one of the best cafe su das we had on this trip).

Experience w/ Measurements, Ordering

After letting her know that I was interested in a 3-piece suit, we very quickly went over the materials and got to choose a colour. A silky cotton material was mentioned continuously to me, so I went with that option after feeling it out on a demo board.

Xi would come in shortly after this and furiously do my measurements. All told, I probably spent about 3 minutes measured head-to-toe. Vy would come in later and make some refinement measurements, adapting to my requests for a slimmer fit, a dress shirt, and the addition of a Vietnamese silk shirt. We were able to take photos of the measurements if we wanted, and they also let me know that my measurements would be stored for 5 years, if I wanted to order anything online from them.

Overall, the purchase process looks like this:

• Tell or show the staff what you’re looking to have made (you can show images off Instagram like I did)
• Get measured
• Choose materials (outer shell, inner lining)
  • Note that buttons are simply by colour, there are no different materials for it (at least, for men’s suits)
• Get quoted a cost (our experience was that they do not necessarily negotiate here), and pay either with cash or card

I was a bit shocked when they told me that the suit, dress shirt, and silk shirt, were all achievable by 5 pm, a mere 6 hours from that time. They were expecting some alterations to be done, so they left ample time (for them) to make those, as they closed at 9 pm. They didn’t charge me extra for same-day creation, which I greatly appreciated.

All told, my total cost in CAD (including card charges and fees) was:

• 3-piece suit, with dress shirt: $272 CAD ($200 USD)
• Vietnamese silk shirt: $57 CAD ($42 USD)

Experience w/ Adjustments

I came back at 5 pm, and to my surprise: the place was far busier than before. Expect to see a rush of other last-minute/day-of customers, picking up their clothing as well, or doing alterations. To my even bigger surprise, all my clothing was ready to go, I just needed to wait for a fitting room.

• The 3-piece suit: basically fit like a glove – I was very happy with this one
• The Vietnamese silk shirt: I requested it to fit oversized, specifically to the elbows, so I requested for this to be extended as it stopped a few inches short of my elbows – they gladly fixed this

Overall Impressions

I would recommend Ba Ri Tailor to anybody visiting the Hoi An area, especially if you’re in a time crunch. What they can accomplish with just a ~6-7 hour turnaround is incredible, especially given the cost. I would note that my fitting experience was great with my suit, but this is your mileage may vary. Other members of my group did need to come back for multiple rounds of alterations, so a same-day delivery expectation may not always work out.

Altogether, it was a great experience for me, at a cost I was happy with. I’ll gladly come back to Hoi An in the future to order some more things!

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