On Tuesday, I decided it was time to get a custom, tailor made suit. So, I spent a bit of time looking around a few shops on Orchard Road, near my office, and after about 45 minutes I finally decided on a tailor… but, I still had no idea if I picked the best one. Each store owner presented their sales pitch to me and after a few stops they all started to blend together and the entire experience reminded me of shopping for a used car. Is the transmission going to blow-up? Does it really get 30mpg? Really, never in an accident? Well, those questions turned to… is this really Cashmere blended fabric? Do I really care about whatever you said about the lining? Will the suit really be ready in two days?
I decided to try it anyway. There were shelves upon shelves of fabric to choose from and I settled on a very dark blue (almost looks black) color. Next I chose a suit style from a myriad of patterns.
Now came the fun part. Agreeing on a price. The tailor’s first quote almost made me laugh and I may have let out a little chuckle, especially since I had already read-up on what a fair price should be. So, I threw back an offer about 75% less than she requested and she feigned to be shocked and insulted, but she quickly managed to type another price on her calculator and show it to me. Still too high. This went on for about five more minutes and I started to get tired of it. So, I came back with a price of about $25 higher than my original offer and said it was final. She tried to negotiate some more, so I stood up and informed her I was going to the store across the street. And, almost like magic she seemed to agree I had presented a reasonable price.
With all that finished, she took precise measurements and told me to come back in two days.
New Suit
Orchard Road Tailor & Me
8:36 am on October 3rd, 2008
BOO!!!! You deleted my comment!