Still in Vietnam folks, gad could this be more paralysing slow than what I'm posting at the moment! (sorry, writing on my other blog www.keeponmovinggirls.blogspot.com with countdown to the Oxfam trailwalker event underway!)
Hoi An in Vietnam is a gorgeous little french influenced town, a few kms away from a lovely stretch of beach - think China Beach, South China Sea, and with a lovely little, totally walkable "old town" with stunning building and good shopping. But for many Hoi An is all about tailors and getting clothes made for next to nothing in next to no time at all. Those in the know turn up with picturse ripped out of Vogue magazines, fabric preferences, and all the details they need to copy whatever they're wnating. They go to Hoi An for their cheaps suits, their copy designer dresses, their new wardrobe. But not me. Knowing we had only a day and a half in Hoi An, I didn't bother doing any research into what I could have made if I had the chance. Nup, I'd do other stuff I thought, I'm not going to spend our time faffing around with fittings and indecision. In fact they have been my actual words. What I had done though was look at my trusty friend Trip Advisor and see what the top 10 things to do in Hoi An were, with the No 1 being - to visit To To Boutique. This is what it said:
To To Boutique is a professional tailor in Hoi An who makes clothing made to measure. They use excellent traditional tailoring techniques and high quality garments and fabrics to ensure a perfect fit. They are considered one of the best and most reliable tailors in Vietnam and have a wide range of designs covering both classic and more modern designs. Whether looking for a suit, evening dress, shirt or even casual clothing To To is an excellent choice.
Whatever, I thought, but as we stepped outside our hotel for the very first time, the first thing I saw right beside our hotel was....To To Boutique. This was too good an opportunity to miss, so I told The Husband I'd just ENQUIRE how long it would take to make "something" and then we'd be off. But they told me they could turn something around in 24 hours. So it started. My first mistake...I paniced into what I needed or could have made. I had absolutely no idea, just random thoughts. The sort of helpful people showed me some old Next catalogues circa 2002, they would have to do. So i started flicking. Then I remembered that my extremely stylish friend Sarah had a gorgeous A lined white linen racer back sun dress made in NZ. Righto, I wanted one of those. Next I remembered I had tried to buy a Witchery white tuxedo racerback waistcoat, but they had sold out, I'll get one of those too, and lastly I realised a few days earlier that I needed something other than short shorts to go out in in the evenings in Vietnam (remember I had only packed 12 kg of luggage shared with the Husband), so a pair of black wide legged linen pants was added to the Must Have list. So 3 items, for around US$150 (hmm, maybe not quite the bargain I thought but was on a roll by now). Are you thinking how random this collection is, if not convinced of it yet let me tell you this decision was made in about 20 very hot minutes (complete with measurements). So two fittings later my outfits were completed, 15 mins before our taxi arrived to take us to the airport. Verdict 1/3. My black pants are ok, my white waistcoat is ok, but quite short and gapes, well, where my boobs are, and the white dress...a complete disaster. As The Husband said, "that will be perfect if you ever need a nurses outfit". Approx $70 USD for a white nurses dress. What was I thinking????
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