Custom clothes

With affordable tailors all over town, it's easy to get made-to-measure threads for less than you'd pay off-the-rack at home

Imagine an outfit that fits perfectly, is bang on trend and costs less than it would if you bought it off the rack. In Beijing, this is easy to do – with a bit of planning.

First you have to buy the material. Yashow Market has a good selection of basic silk, shirt and suit material on its third floor, but for a wider variety of prints, colours and materials head to the first floor of the Sanlitun Friendship Store half a mile up the road. Bargain hard and don't be persuaded to buy reams of the stuff. Look out for dodgy silk – the real thing carries an identification tag featuring five digits beginning with the number '1'.

Unlike the rest of the staff in Yashow Market, Sunny's English is near fluent. Expect to pay 65RMB for a shirt, 800RMB for a qipao and 700RMB  for a suit; she'll also come to your hotel. Tried and tested Lisa Tailor (with stalls in both Sanlitun and the much less crowded 3.3 Mall) can complete garments within 24 hours. Dave's Custom Tailoring is renowned for its Savile Row-quality suits starting at around 2,500RMB.

Where to go

Dave's Custom Tailoring 104 Kerry Centre, 1 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang district (tel 8529 9433; www.tailordave.com). Open 10am-7pm daily.  朝阳区嘉里中心104号光华路1号

Lisa Tailor Stall 5011, 3.3 Fashion Mall, 33 Sanlitun Beijie, Chaoyang district (tel 139 1079 8183). Open 11am-9pm daily.  朝阳区三里屯北街33号3.3三里屯服饰大厦5011商铺  

Sanlitun Friendship Store 7 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang district (tel 6532 7913). Open 9am-8.30pm daily.  友谊超市 朝阳区三里屯路7号

Sunny (Huo Youquan) Stall 3066, Yashow Market, 58 Gongti Bei Lu, Chaoyang district (tel 6415 1726; 137 0132 0756). Open 9.30am-8.45pm daily. 朝阳区工体北路58号雅秀服装市3066商铺

Sarah Keenlyside