I needed some new clothes for a job in the UK for four weeks and I couldn’t put I off any longer. I put on my hat, sun block and sun glasses and took the metro to Nanpu Bridge and to the Sputh Bund fabric market. I walked in the searing heat for 10 minutes in a line of other foreigners heading to the same place. You don’t need directions – even if you’ve never been to the place before – just go to Nanpu Bridge metro station and follow the white people. Like the Pied Piper, they will lead you to the fabric market.
Fortunately I don’t have the horror of picking a tailor from the hundreds who shout at you as you pass… hey lady, you want jacket, skirt, dress. Hey lady you want scarf, trousers, coat. I hate it and it’s really off-putting. I wonder if anybody has ever told them that it has the opposite effect and drives foreigners away from their stall.
Some years ago I identified a quiet shop on the third floor (number 325) and they have always been very accurate with the measuring and I’ve not needed anything altering. If you’re reading this and you are thinking of going – try 325 – there are many others of course but it might save you time and a lot of agravation. Most people have their favourites and there are plenty who will do you a good job. But there are plenty who will not, and it’s heartbreaking when you have paid for the thing to be made and 
you are excited about picking it up and then it doesn’t fit or the buttons fall off the first time you wear it.
Actually the button thing is countrywide problem. I learnt a long time ago to get them to put a small button at the back to keep the main button on. I really don’t understand why they attach the buttons by the smallest of threads so that they immediately fall off. Strange but happens everywhere.
So now I walk head down, straight past the shouters and head to my refuge. I sat down and the process starts – same as always. You get a big book full of pictures of jackets and you flick through until you find one you like. The stall owner glances at it for a couple of seconds and says, yes they can do that.
Then the most difficult part comes next – the fabric selection. There are so many books and I wanted dark blue and you cannot believe how many colours of dark blue there are in a sample book of thin wool textiles. I shortlisted a couple and then walked around the silk stalls looking for a lining fabric.
Having a plain lining is a lot cheaper but I think if you’re goig to the trouble of having something make, you might as well put a bit of your own personality into it. So I got a great (expensive) blue silk pattern and too it back to 325. 
Then the idea came to me that I could have two jackets, different colours and styles so then I started again. I chose a cream coloured thick cotton fabric and went back out into the crowds being jostled around the narrow fabric strewn walkways to find another silk lining. Then I had to go back out to get a brown cotton and by the time I had finished designing and choosing and buying fabric, discussing buttons, pockets and then negotiating the price, I had been there three hours.
It’s a pity that the fun has gone out of having clothes made. I used to enjoy going with my friends and choosing and then getting excited going to collect it. Now it’s just a chore which you have to go through because you can’t get clothes to fit in regular shops in China.
First World Problem – I know, you don’t have to tell me!