Alright!!!! Just came back from Jln Masjid India. i really spend time walking the area today.

First vist Wisma Yakin tailors again. They didn't have the fabric color i want. BMO Traditional, Omar ali and the likes in Wisma Yakin didn't have the color i want. Charges remain the same, RM70-RM120. Exit and go further.

I spend some amount of time at fabric stores in front of Jln TAR. First went to silk Euro Moda, then Street, and then Gulatis. All 3 didn't have the color i want. It is ash or dark grey or some shade of grey satin. I think this color would hide my spare tires very well. All 3 of these shops didn't have the dark shade that i want. They all had similar light grey or silvery grey. The fabric weight, sheen, strength is ok though. But before going, i asked these stores of their in house tailoring charges for Baju Melayu. RM200-RM250!!! No good as i want to keep the price of these 2 main pieces low.

So i skipped through the other fabric shops like Harrisons and Nagoya. And went straight to Pertama. Ask around the tailors inside there, (i think i went to all!) fabric swatch don't have the color. Though they all do charge above RM100 for to tailor them. Campbell is also the same story. I skipped Semua House though, because the main tailor shop Hugo Clothier has limited choices. So walked back along Jln TAR and remembered BAK Tailoring. Went there greeted by an old man. I ask him of the charges first, he quoted RM120. Defnitely the same as what i read already in many forums about this company charges. Good.

So he directed me to this lady behind the table. I ask for fabric swatch, and she gave me some 6 booklets of the fabrics at hand. Hmmm..... not that great. They don't have the grey i was looking for too. And she told me this year, she already has the most booking for grey color. I'm not the first. (Surprisingly idid not know this is the seasons hot color!). I'm a little dissapointed here. But she handed me a lifeline.

"Ni kasi tip sikit. Kalau nak kain lagi bagus, cari kat Harrisons. Kain dia quality baik. Ataupun cari kat jakel."

Holy cow! i never expected that coming from a tailor shop!!! So i waved goodbye and headed to Jakel. There i flagged a sales girl and ask for fabric for Baju Melayu. she shows me some range, cheap from RM7.90 till RM15 per meter. Still no sign of the elusive dark grey shade satin. And she promptly guided me to second floor to look for more. There similar color like the rest of the other fabric shops.... Damn!!! I was already giving up and land to second placed choice of dark blue or light grey.

And then at the lowest rack, a somewhat black fabric catches my eye. It doesn't seem black. Its probably like the color i want!!!! I dragged the bale out, it looks like black. But its kind of weird black. Why it is somewhat brown? Then i dragged a pure black bale and compare under light. Its brown!! Its not really choclate brown. Its more like bronze with copper and it will look almost black under artificial light. This is the one!!! Even though its not dark grey, this is the one i want. RM27 per meter and i need five. And some funny moments for me. The sales girl ask me if i want to get matching set of fabric for baju kurung..... even ask me to buy up till RM200 so i could get some italian chiffon material. Erm.... and i was asked the question. Getting married? No really i expected this question. But the unexpected question is, "Are you Sabahan?" hahahaha How many Chinese people u know go shops for fabrics to make traditional Malay costume? No really!!! But all in good heart.

Now got back to BAK Tailoring and got measured. To the shocked/ amused face of the tailor. She didn't think i would come back. Well like i said some post ago, i can only rate customer service and price. Not workmanship as it is unknown territory for me. So i got measured there and then. While measuring, the tailor and the girl ask questions. Whats its for? Getting married? This time i laugh a little. (Wrong signal buddy!!!) And the girl kept saying,"Nak kahwin yeeee?" I said no la. Its for myself. And she asked the occasion? I do not know how to tell her. So its just another smile. (Wrong signal again!!!)

After finishing the measurement, she ask for name. Erm.... i dunno why she spelled my name with LL on the collection sheet. So i paid RM100 as deposit. (Not necessary, but i wanted to pay). Another family waiting inside for fitting is somewhat amused a fluent Malay speaking chinese guy in the shop.

Oh yeah i saw the RM15000 songket for the first time. i can't see the special feature about it. Yes there are multitude of colors and the very fine yarns seem to float like coarse home made art. But yet the fabric is smooth and soft. I think that is the primary feature. Other than the gold threads used. Some of the few hundred buck songket seems to look better to me than the RM15000 one. But i probably don't know how to appreciate it, other than the documentary of how it is made.

So now the collection is early August. And hope everything works out fine. By August, i think i can start shopping for the buttons, songkok and sampin and capal. Seems to go smoothly as planned last month.

So the amount now is

Fabric - RM135
Tailoring - RM120

I'll keep you guys posted on the details.

Already collected it last week. And i spent almost half a day at Jln TAR!! I can tell that it is tailored very traditionally. And with this statement, all those fitted shirt tailoring techniques does not apply here. Its cut pretty loose or the lost weight is showing here? I dunno.

Still looking around for a good deal on the sampin. BAK showed me a RM280 sampin for my do. Its a handmade number with unfinished hem and it not stiched together yet. But i cannot justify myself for paying so much for it. I would have paid for it there and then. But i remembered that usually the expensives ones are bought and they are used almost forever and is kept as a family heirloom. There are a few stalls that sells sampin in a funny manner. RM 95 for 1 or RM100 for 2. Machine made quality RM50, Handmade quality RM100. Hmm.... i really have to check what is the primary diffrence here. I didn't buy them as i wanted to check out Mydin and Kamdar.

Oh yeah i paid a visit to the national textile museum last week too. Its interesting. And they let me take pictures, but without flash. So my cheap camera can only do so much. Maybe i'll start a thread here to show u whats inside.

So i was really busy last week. hahaha.

Wait for pictures. 

Well yeah if i intend to give to keep it as a heirloom!!!! The ribu ribu one i saw at BAK also. And the priceless one i saw at Textile museum. mostly its owned by Terengganu royalty one. Last time i asked my malay friends why buy so expensive, they say quality. But really la, they keluarga berada can afford pay 4 digits for those. I seriously do not want to use so much money for a sampin. And most of them nowdays grown up also don't really think its necessary to own it. If want to talk about this songket industry, i think can talk until tomorrow also cannot finish. Its almost the same with any textile industry. If you ask me to pay 4 digits to make a songket baju melayu i think i can consider. But then this baju diraja.... can ah go raya?

you should go silencer,,,,there will be many hot ciks gone shopping this weekend,,,,,

remember what i said about how a linen baju m. would make so much more sense?

well, look at wardrobes raya promotion. both are in linen. they understand the logic behind it.

http://www.wardrobe.com.my/

Did you go to Jln TAR or not? 2day holiday can go see la. Some more its like last week already and u still haven't gotten what u want? I think there is a stall in Jln TAR that sell linen ones. But i forgot already. I checked back all my pictures, but there isn't any that indicate linen ones. Maybe one of the shops in Campbell or Pertama has it. I didn't check them outthe last few weeks.