Vaish Tailors is Over-Rated!

Boston_Harry

Salaam friends,

On December 29th, I went to Vaish Tailors as well as M.Ram's (affiliated with Raymond's) in Connaught Place. I received my 2 shirts and pants from Vaish Tailors, and I was not impressed at all with my clothes from Vaish Tailors. I determined that the clothes from the Banana Republic is far superior. Here are my issues:

1. The shirts were standard quality. There is a little extra length in the sleeves. The shirts were ~$50 apiece. But it's only worth $25, IMHO. They're not bad, but just plain, to tell you the truth.

2. The pants that Vaish Tailors made for me were lousy. First and foremost, they are quite tight around the waist. Second of all, the hem-line looks a little too funny. My Banana Republic trousers has a ~1.5" "internal cuff", and this looks nice. My Vaish pants that I had custom-made has a ~2.5" "internal cuff" that looks silly. Also, this pants has a look/feel of a high-school home economics project. The French buttons, "sticky inside liners", pockets, etc. all have a look and feel that they were pieced from many different vendors in a disjointed fashion. Very unimpressive. For the same money, get your tailoring done in the USA or UK or wherever you are.

indiaprof

Um. I feel your pain. I had a similar experience (with more expensive clothes) with Raymonds in Chennai. It's hit or miss with Raymonds, but when they're good, they're good. However, that said, the in-house Raymonds tailors are better than the farmed out ones. Usually. Once they farm a product out, the quality dives. Sometimes Raymonds works with a near by private tailor on contract. Sometimes they have their own people.

The final product begins with the fabric. They have a big range of stuff, but to make up a gentleman's suit that will fly in the West, you need to spend enough to get the best material available. (One reason why I stay at budget hotels - the tailor's bill.)

I wouldn't give up on Indian tailors altogether. A hand-tailored suit will be better than a ready-made any day, unless you just naturally fit the ready-made sizes.

And tailoring takes time. It takes quite a bit of effort to get a suit done. As for shirts, I probably wouldn't try to get them tailored in India.

palerider

I had some shirts made in Calcutta, along with some trousers.
The shirts were incredible hand stitched affairs. The pants were wierd. If I stood up in them, they looked incredible, but walking and sitting down were a nightmare.
But $50 for a shirt???!!!!
The ones I had made in Calcutta were thick cotton, I picked the material myself.
Three different colours, hand stitched, done in three days, and the three of them cost me 1,800 rupees, for the three. 600 rupees each.
That's about $15 u.s?.
Things are expensive in Dehli, HUH?

__________________
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Aishah

Well I would say 'over-priced' as well! Mr K has had perfectly acceptable (in my opinion) shirts made here for 80 - 100 rupees, and pants can be tailored very nicely for around 250 rupees. I wouldn't make the sweeping statement re get things tailored in your own country, but yes, if you are paying your own country prices, then get them done there!
Not every tailor in India makes a botch of the job, but it is very annoying when they do.

__________________
"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

indiaprof

Finding a good tailor in India is almost a work of art. That's why the process takes time. You need to have a small job done, first, to see how he does. Only then do you entrust the big job to him. That's usually where people run into problems. They're in a hurry ("I need this tomorrow!") and they get the results of a rushed job. What is the tailor to think? "O, this gora will be gone, so who cares?" On the other hand, if he knows (because you've made it quite clear) that an order for Rs. 8,000 worth of clothes is lurking in his future if he turns out a really spiffy pair of trousers for you, well, then, your chances of success begin to rise.

Also, you need to go through the process slowly. The measurements need to be thorough, done slowly, and all noted down. If the job seems rushed, it's not a good sign.

And it's not just the high-end gents' shops that have the best tailors. There are some really talented guys stitching away in little cubbyholes the size of a closet. I've seen some beautiful, creative work come out of their shops - even Western-style designs, using Indian fabrics, conceived of as a collaborative effort when neither party knew the other's language. Which is amazing.

Aishah

Most of our tailors here work out of cubby holes or very small shopfronts. And yes, it's a matter of getting the right one - I have had botched jobs with salwar kameez a few times, which luckily I have fixed myself with my sewing maching. I make my own occasionally when there is time. When pushed for time, then I give them to a tailor. I tried a different one once and gave him an old sk for a pattern. He succeeded in making the dress too large and the pants too long. All fixable fortunately, but a lesson learned - don't go to him again!

artisticanurag

Anything in Cp will be over priced, those guys pay a lot of money to rent even a small shop there. Panwallas even pay a lot of money.

__________________
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Rock & Delhi
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Unveiling India

Boston_Harry

At Vaish, I bought 3 things - 2 shirts and 1 pants. They were: Rs.
2500/shirt and Rs.2275 for the pants, and Rs.2000 for
shipping/handling to USA. This was Rs. 9275. So each shirt exceeded
$50, and the pants were about $45.50.

At the other tailors, called H. Ram also on Connaught Place, I bought 3 shirts and a suit - Suit is Rs.6500
($130), and 3 shirts for Rs. 3350 = $67 or $23.33 each. But I haven't
received them yet, and I am pissed.

BTW, I'd like to clarify something: Although I have received the clothes from Vaish, the shirts are OK, but the pants SUCK! They're too tight and...well...shoddy.

Finally, these pants have quite a few magic marker marks on them. I will soon wash them, and hopefully, they'll come out.

indiaprof

Boston Harry,

I'm sorry to say it, but if that was your bill, even by the sometimes pricey standards of Connaught Place, you were ripped off big-time.

puchoo

i have to agree with Indiaprof, the bills are very high... my tailor charges me , i have only got them made 2 times , 300 for the stitching + material which i buy myself...total cost would come to about 700 per shirt.

The same with trousers infact , ofcourse a lot depends on the material you get , but a medium Raymond fabric will be about 400-600 per meter X 1.25 meters required plus about 400 stitching would peg it at 1000 or so per trouser.

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Indiamike Mod team............

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indiaprof

Boston Harry,

There shouldn't be tailors' marks on the outside of your clothing, although a few on the inside are normal. As for the "tight pants" thing, that happens in India. It happened to me last time, in Chennai. You should be able to take them back for alterations. That is, if the tailor was competent enough to leave any fabric with which to alter the trousers. My guy wasn't - he tried to fix it, but he had screwed up big time the first go-round. With the price of Merino wool at Raymonds, that's not a cheap mistake.

Anyway, I'd go back and demand an alteration. They'll probably try to weasel out of it, of course. This is one of those Indian moments where you may have to make a scene. I doubt if any red-blooded Punjabi gent would put up with it, either. In Chennai, there was a Sikh guy who wanted to draw straws with me to see who got to bawl out the tailor first. His trousers didn't fit, either.

jcskinner

Can anyone recommend a good tailor in either Mumbai or Goa?
I'll be routing through Mumbai two or three times, so I reckon I'd have time to pop back for a refit if necessary. Equally, I'll be five days in Goa so would have time there too to be fitted.
I'm not freakishly tall or looking for anything spectacular - just fancy a couple of new suits.

puchoo

Maybe this will help

Tailors Mumbai

jcskinner

Ta muchly!

indiaprof

jcskinner,

If you're ever in Ernakulam, I recommend Raymonds there, on MG Road. It's one of the nicer shops I've been in - better selection than most and really good, in-house tailoring. No lie, these guys made me a suit that quite simply rocked. Ladies would say, "Wow, nice suit." When I was interviewing for jobs, it did the business. It was that good. My wife sometimes made me dress up in it just so she could see it.

Anyway, they had a quiet atrium where I could sit and have a cappucino and a piece of cake, gratis, while I was waiting, and they took care of the job in a timely manner - I believe it took about 4-5 days. Not too rushed, no unnecessary delays, either. They took the time they needed and did a great job. The price was very reasonable, too.