The fabric market
As soon as I tell anyone I am a tailor here they say "oh you have to go to the fabric market!" So I had visions of a market full or rolls of fine fabrics and silks so I got straight of google to find out where to go thinking I may have found a gold mine of suppliers.
The Shanghai fabric market is not as it sounds, it is a four storey market or tailoring stalls. Just like Bangkok and Singapore you can get a suit made in a couple of days for a very reasonable price. I am a big believer in you get what you pay for in life so if you are only paying £40 for a suit be prepared for what you will receive. Definitely worth investigating but do not expect a complete handmade suit, If it seems to good to be true it probably is.
The possibilities are endless here and there are lots of garments on display as examples of what you could have made. I later found out that 'the tailors' you meet on the stalls are just salesman and the suits are all produced in the same factories. The cloth quality and production is not to the standards I am used to but it is all a bit of fun and part of the experience.
I got talking to one of the tailors Mr Chang Hua at his very neat and compact store (smaller than most Savile Row fitting rooms) I noticed that his measurements were different to what I was expecting and he explained that the Chinese use a different tape measure. So be aware that however much you want to think it, your waist is not as small as he is measuring! Mr Hua very kindly gave me his tape measure saying if I was going to be a Chinese tailor I would need it. I think I might stick to inches for the moment.
What did catch my eye whilst walking around this shopping mall of clothing stores were the leather stalls. With the widest array of colours and finishes I have ever seen, you can commission a beautiful leather piece for next to nothing. A petrol blue suede biker jacket caught my eye and the lady running the shop had it on me before I knew what had happened. She told me to bring her something I wanted copied or a picture from a magazine. Walking around I realised that this is the key to this place, reproductions of items currently on the catwalk can be made to fit you in your choice of fabric. I rushed home and started flicking through my back copies of Vogue looking for inspiration.
Chanel style jackets grace many of the stores in every colour combination imaginable. This is a very tempting purchase and one I am going to consider. How very British I would look walking around Shanghai in a Chanel style jacket and pearls. Now to choose a colour.......
Fur coats can be commissioned here also and the price of fur is low. I have always appreciated fur and think the artistry of furriers is astounding. My view on fur is that I would wear vintage fur as it has already happened but I do not feel the need to commission a new piece.
Attempting to find my way out of this maze and a little overwhelmed from the sales patter, I passed a rain mac stall. With pictures of Burberry macs on the wall and direct copies underneath it is interesting to see how closely they have been replicated. I am typing this looking out over a very soggy Shanghai skyline as the weather is on the turn yearning for a mac from this picture! They have many waterproof fabrics available and the shades of blue and red definitely had my attention, but maybe a classic mac might make it into my wardrobe too!
When talking to a friend about my experience of the market she told me to look closely at the shirts. Some of the makers boast of 24 stitches per inch and hand sewn buttonholes, I would love to put this quality to the test. You can have a shirt made for just 7 or 8 pounds, and you get discounts for buying multiples. It is all about the bartering and who holds their nerve the longest!
Well I'm going to go and make more green tea and wait for a gap in the rain so I can head back to the fabric market.
