Textiles In Hoi An

Hoi An is such a beautiful city with a lot going on. Hoi An used to be a major port city because of it’s great location right on the water. The Thu Bon Rive that runs right though the city used to be used as an important trading center. The river today is seen as a tourist attraction. You can not walk along side it without being asked to go on a boat tour. Today the streets are filled with markets, local stores, tailors and restaurants.

One thing that Hoi An is know for is its beautiful silk and textiles. Before traveling to Hoi An I had heard amazing things about what the tailors could make for you. Friends and family members who had traveled to Hoi An before had talked about how quickly you could get custom clothes made. This made me extremely excited to experience this type of shopping. On the first day we arrived in Hoi An a group of us were eager to get to the tailor to get our measurements taken. There was a large group of us who wanted to get dresses made, we bargained with the lady so that we could get a good group price. Although bargaining is a big part of the culture it sometimes is uncomfortable. At home there is no bargaining, the price is the price. But here it is the norm to bargain. I find it hard to bargain sometimes because the difference in pice could be 10 cents to me but to them it’s is so much more. It’s hard to feel like you are taking money away from someone who needs its more than I do.

When we went back to the store around closing time the following day to pick up our dresses. As we were all paying for our dresses we were telling the lady how beautiful all of the clothes were. She then led us to the back area where all of the clothes were being made. The room was a small dim lit room with at least twenty different people hard at work at their sewing machines. At this point the store was about the close but we knew that these men and women were not leaving any time soon. This moment put everything into perspective for me. This beautiful dress that I had just bought was not just an ordinary dress, is was someone’s masterpiece that they had spent all night working on. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of shopping and lost track reality. But you need moments like this to make you step back see what is happening. The men and women who are making the clothes are there every night until they finish every piece they need for the next day. This hard work is easily overlooked but the people who shop there. It’s it easy to get caught up in the bargaining and excitement of shopping, but it is important to realize and appreciate the hard and tireless work that they put into making their customers happy everyday when they are making very little.

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