Custom Made Suits

[pragueface]

I know this is a bit off topic, but does anyone have a great tailor for suits, shirts in the Metro Manila area?

[clemens]

There is a place in Glorietta Mall in Makati that does custom suits.

[Night Stranger]

I spent time searching for two tailorshops the names of which I had found on the internet before my departure for Manila, with recommendations from traveller-costumers. None of them existed anymore. So do not rely too much on information gathered from web forums. They are most likely outdated.

Look in the present telephone dictionary. There should be one in your hotel room. Or at least with the receptionist. Look in the "HB" (household & business) directory.

Do not believe everything you see there, however. I went to King Philip tailor shop i Glorietta - because they had the biggest advertisement in the phone book. So off I went by taxi to their branch in Clorietta 1. The lady in the shop started out with an "offer" of 26000 pesos for a three piece suit. When I said no, she made another of 23000 pesos - "especially for you". I left the shop. I know absolutely nothing about prices for tailoring in Manila, but this was so obviously a ripoff that I did not care to negotate it.

A little later I found Ogie-Q Tailoring & Haberdashy, a small shop nearby in the same shopping center. The exact address is No 68 Ground Floor, Glorietta 1, Ayala Land Center, Makati City, Tel No 812-9377 or 892-0580.

They made a three piece suit for 12000 pesos, half of it as downpay. They measured me on a friday, I returned for adaptions the following wednesday and got the suit thursday, the following day.

Now, I am still not sure whether 12000 was an okay price. It is probably pretty stiff by normal Philippino standards. At the same time it is very inexpensive by the standards of my own country. I do know that the quality of the work is excellent. The suit is a pleasure to put on.

But does anyone out there know more about this ...? Some resident expat? Experienced traveller?

[DaddyAlex]

Thanks for the info Night Stranger. Hopefully more people can chime in.

How is the quality of the material and its fit?

[Night Stranger]

Thanks for the info Night Stranger. Hopefully more people can chime in.

How is the quality of the material and its fit?

I was told by the shop proprietor that the material is 80% wool and 20% polyester. I have no personal means to check whether this is true or not. The suit feels fine to wear, even in the heat of Manila. It is a light summer suit, and it fits just fine.

[Concerned]

Night Stranger,

26000 pesos is indeed way over the top - by a long shot!

12000 pesos sounds good to me, but the tailor did take his time (Friday to Thursday - 6 days!).

When I´m in HK and I need a suit, then I usually go to a tailor-shop I know in Peking Road (Tsim Sha Tsui, in the block behind the Kowloon-Hotel on Middle Road) called Prince Tailors. Looks a bit shabby, but they know their job and for 3600 HK$ you can get your 3-p suit in 24 hours with perfect fit and very good material.

It is not this particular tailor I want to point out, but just the speed at which the order is executed and the price in relation to what you had written.
Also, I could imagine, that the cost in HK is higher than in Manila.

Over the years I have several suits from them now and no complaints at all!

Greetings,

Concerned