영국사람

I need a suit!

And no, it isn’t for a court date! My sister-in-law is getting married in January. Along with all of the headaches that brings for my wife (and by association, for myself) there is the small issue of my not having a suit in Korea. Today, at the behest of her father, we tackled that problem.

There is a small tailor, tucked away in our area of Seoul, that is apparently quite well known in Korea. He has won some award or other 5 years running. Typically, this means his prices have increased 5 years running. We entered his small store, and took a seat. After a brief conversation with my wife, I was invited to look over the different fabrics available. We were given around 5 or 6 different books to look through, and the first one we opened had a list of prices that were far more than the typical Itaewon tailor (well known for their price gouging) would charge. It was explained that the 3 prices we saw were (from cheapest to the most expensive) factory made, made to measure (semi-bespoke), and bespoke. Time constraints mean we have no time for bespoke (the husband-to-be’s mother consulted a fortune-teller who decided their wedding must be held THIS lunar year – bringing the date forward by 10 months, just like that).

As I was flicking through the samples, the wife took out her phone and called her father. She then handed the phone to the tailor, who was exceptionally happy to hear from him. A few minutes later we were told to ignore all prices, as we would only be charged for materials, that he was very happy to be able to take care of us, and repay a favour. My immediate reaction was that this is all very “Godfather”, but I know my Father-in-law is not that kind of person. He is a devout Christian (though not of the particularly nutty variety found in Korea), he does a lot of charity work, and he works hard maintaining his top-tier restaurant. I suspect (hope?) that this is somebody’s way of repaying some kindness shown in the past. He then removed the cheaper fabric books, and left us with the 2 ‘better’ options.

The fitting process was quite hilarious. First I had to decide on a style. The tailor was showing me pictures of all the latest fashions from Europe and Korea – Skinny suits with skinny collars. I explained that my typically English body, and the way I have ‘grown’ since I married such a wonderful cook, always prevents such items from giving the skinny look they intend. They just look small!

We spent a few hours getting the measurements “just so”, and though my wife did a sterling job with the translation, they couldn’t bring themselves to ask which way I dressed via her. Instead, when she went looking to see what baby was doing was doing, the tailor whispered to me, intonation indicating a question, “Penis? Penis?”. It took a few moments before I realised that he was neither offering, nor asking for one.

So… how much will it all cost? I’m not sure. Father-in-law has had it charged to his account. I do know that the braces I chose cost 120,000, (discounted to the 70,000 cost), and that I probably should have shopped around for them, but as for the suit itself… I have no idea.