Job Discussion Forums

[deadlift]

So I've been in Vietnam for over four months now, and my two pairs of work shoes are starting to show their age. There's nothing quite like a Saigon footpath to rough-up a good pair of shoes.

I've been looking around for some new shoes, and I've been unable to find any shops that sell size 12/46. A few idiotic salespeople have had the cheek to insist that their size 11/45s are absolutely perfect for me, but I've tried them on and they cripple me. One shop had shoes labelled as size 12, but there is no way that was accurate.

I don't care much for the pointed toes popular with Vietnamese men (not to mention the ludicrously high heels they love). I'd rather not look like Ali Baba. Just a plain pair of black or dark brown business shoes.

So, have any of you taller chaps been able to find large shoes, or even had them made for you?

In general, clothes have not been a problem. Shirts, t-shirts I can buy easily because although I'm tall, I'm also slim. Pants I have tailor-made.

But I've also been unable to find good socks. The only socks I find are extremely thin, almost like women's hosiery, and far too small. Has anyone found a place that sells large business socks, preferably with good cushioning around the foot?

So, long story short, I need size 12/46 work shoes and large, thick socks.
Can anyone help?

[mark_in_saigon]

and with very extensive shopping was able to find perhaps 2 pairs that almost fit. I think 1 was a true 11. I bought them both (different shops). This was not a one time quest, this was seriously going from store to store to store, researching on the internet, having a VN native speaker asking shopkeepers where to go, I was working it. If you are a 12, I suspect you might as well be looking for Martian headgear, its what we call "unobtainium". Last trip back, I made sure to bring plenty of shoes and socks, and that seems to be the best solution for larger westerners. Sorry to give you such a depressing answer, but that is my take on it. For some crazy reason we seem to be able to find larger shirts, but not pants that will fit taller men either. But the shoe thing has to be the biggest problem of all, I think.

[Buffalo Boy]

Try a place called Tran Quoc Lan at 97 Le Thanh Ton. I got a pair of ready made shoes there but they said they also did made to measure, and if I brought in a picture of anything I wanted they would make it for me. The shoes I got were plain black oxfords- I also couldn't see myself in the local styles. The quality was good but after a year they are definitely showing wear and tear. Riding a motorbike is pretty hard on shoes.

For socks try the bigger department stores. I got some at the supermarket at the tax trade centre last year and they are still holding up.

[CThomas]

I'm there, too. It's hopeless, from what I understand. I think I'll soon visit a shoe shop and get my shoes custom made.

[deadlift]

Thanks Buffalo Boy, I'll try that shop and see what I think. How much did you pay?

Others, thanks for the feedback. I'm beginning to resign myself to punishing my scruffy shoes until I take a trip to a large-man country, or ordering online, as much as I dislike that option.

[CThomas]

Don't they make shoes for export here? Like for Nike or somebody?

[deadlift]

I went and checked out the shop recommended by Buffalo Boy. Indeed thay will make shoes in any size and style for $75USD. I'm going to head back there and see if I can't bargain it down a little, "how much for two pairs" kind of thing.

The shoes themselves wouldn't be out of place in a Walmart style shop. That is, functional but not staggeringly stylish. But then we all know that ESL teachers are not likely to be turning heads for their sartorial elegance, right? I may just take one of my current pairs of shoes and say "same-same, not different".

On a somewhat related note, I did have success in bargaining with my tailor when I showed them my ID card for my place of work. I guess they realised that I was here long term, and if they treated me right I'd be back and bring my colleagues with me.

I go to a place on Le Loi and pay $40-$50 for pants. Their work is good, fast, and each time I go back I am treated very well. I know I'm paying more than what I could find in Pham Ngu Lao, but based on the quality of clothes I've seen worn by my colleagues, it's worth it. In any case, I'm not one of those who is always on the hunt for the cheapest. When I find a product I am happy with, quality and price-wise, I stick with it. Interestingly, none of the dozen tailors I visited in D3 or D10, which seemed to be primarily serving the locals, were much, if any, cheaper.

I will now wait for all the veterans to come by and tell me how much I'm getting ripped off and what a naive little noob I am.

[Buffalo Boy]

I said the shoes I got there were good no frills work shoes, nothing stylish. What were you looking for, red hot Jimmy Choos???

Always a good idea to bargain, you'd be surprised how much you can get off. They ask tourists for 8-10 times the real price of anything. I never had much luck with tailors, I ended up getting my wife to take a pair of my pants to a tailor to get copied, otherwise I ended up with something a clown or MC Hammer would wear. As you say, English teachers aren't noted for their sartorial flair. People often mistake me for a Jehovahs Witness in my work clothes, so now I don't even try. On the other hand, my irreplacable size 36 jeans are so beat up and patched that I look quite rugged and dangerous riding around on my Honda Wave, like Marlon Brando in The Wild One- except with the body he had in Apocalypse Now

[deadlift]

So I now have my brand new custom made shoes from the shop at Tran Quoc Lan at 97 Le Thanh Ton, and I can recommend them.

I chose a basic pair of shoes of the shelf, a leather sample, and they measured my foot. I told them to drastically reduce the comically high heel on the samples. In future, I will make sure to tell them to make them bigger than they think they need to. They did not require a deposit, and told me that they'd be ready in 5 days. The coast was $80, which was a little more because I ordered half-boots. Below the ankle shoes would be a little less.

The first time I went to pick them up they were too small. The owner took this in stride and told me to come back in a few days. They were better the second time and I paid up and took them home. However, after a day at work it's clear they are still too small, so I'll take them back and get them stretched some more.

I think it would be better to have them copy a pair of shoes that fit you well, rather than have them made to measure. Also, take care when picking colours, because the small swatches don't make it easy to picture the final product.