Tag: Tailor

Note the qí páo in the center–traditional design, modern fabric.
The genius at the heart of it all, my tailor, on right.
Fabric bolts, as far as the eye can see.
More fabric swatches. Something must be done with that lavender tweed….
Sample pieces–I scored a charming plaid coat off this rack just a few weeks ago.
Someone’s ruby-red winter coat, come to life between the tailor’s hands.
The changing room on the left is actually a luxury in Chinese tailor shops.
Her silks, wrapped up tight and stored away for the winter.
Her winter-weight fabrics, ready to be made into something spectacular.
A (very) small sampling of my tailor loot.
Two Chinese silk dresses, one western, one qí páo.
Western-style designs, left two using Chinese silks.

Tailors, Qí Páo & Silks… Oh My!

Published on by Lauren M. Peltier3 Comments

Given the haul I collected on my trip to the Hongqiao pearl market, you may be surprised to learn that my main Chinese vice is not pearls (though probably only because I’m not living in Beijing). In fact, custom tailoring snags that title–as my poor, bursting-at-the-seams closet can attest.

It isn’t that I’ve never spent time with a tailor before. As someone whose height tops out at 5 foot-nothing, I’ve paid my fair share of visits to have pants, dresses, and blazers nipped up along hem, sleeve, and shoulder.

But prior to my move to China, that’s all tailoring meant to me–someone to trim normal-adult-sized clothes down to fit my oompa-loompa-sized body. Post China-move, I see the tailor in a whole new light. Continue reading “Tailors, Qí Páo & Silks… Oh My!” →