How much should a custom made ao dai cost?
How much should a custom made ao dai cost?
You can buy an expertly tailored, simple, silk ao dai for as little as around 120 USD online (including shipping) if you choose your brand wisely.
Of course, more fancy styles featuring hand painting or beading, embroidery, and other labor intensive fabrics/techniques can cost upwards of several hundred dollars or more (especially for wedding ao dai).
Photo: Wedding ao dai by mark&vy
Beauty and quality, brand hype, or cheap but not so cheerful? If you want to show off with a hyped up brand without the custom fit and high quality tailoring, but with a huge price tag, that is one option. If you are still reading, you are probably one of the intelligent people who values fashion, quality and service, without wasting money unnecessarily.
Of course essentially a tailor made garment’s cost = fabric/materials + labor + overheads.
Mark&Vy’s prices are not the lowest and we would never aim to be if it meant an inferior experience for our customers. Our reality is the highest quality tailoring/fit, using high quality, durable fabrics. That is why we always have waiting lists, and our head tailor has relationships with many customers, spanning decades.
How much should it cost for the privilege of having a custom ao dai made by an artisan with 30 years of experience making ao dai as our’s does? How much should it cost for the perfect, flattering fit, which makes a woman feel her most beautiful and confident? A master artisan of course charges more than an apprentice, so we are not the lowest priced, but we are very, far from the highest.
Photo: Traditional silk ao dai with stunning bold print by mark&vy
Lower overheads keeps prices affordable. As much as we have premium tailoring and fabric, our prices are not equally high. As a startup with a small staff, we don’t have the huge overheads in terms of staff, rent, marketing costs etc. of bigger brands. We will always stay small to maintain the quality which inevitably slips as brands grow.
To summarise, we are not for everyone. If you want ‘cheap and nasty’ I’m afraid we can’t lower our standards. If you want the the hype and high price tag, I’m afraid that is not us either. Our garments are truly a case of value for money — access to an amazing master tailor at affordable prices i.e. the smartest choice for discerning customers who value both fashion and quality.
