The Shanghai fabric market custom-tailoring scene is one of the city’s best-value tourist experiences. For ¥800–2,500 a skilled tailor can produce a bespoke wool suit, silk dress, qipao or shirt over a 5–10 day turnaround, often using cloth that would cost three to five times as much in retail. This 2026 guide covers where to go, how to brief a tailor so you get what you pictured, what fabrics are actually worth paying for, what the timeline looks like against a real trip, and the mistakes that turn a bargain into an expensive souvenir you never wear.
Table of Contents
- The Major Markets
- South Bund Fabric Market
- Suzhou Suiqiao Market
- What Things Cost
- Timing: How Many Days You Need
- Fabric Quality & Types
- Reputable Tailors
- How to Brief a Tailor
- The Process: Step by Step
- Bargaining and Paying
- Getting a Qipao Made
- What Not to Have Made Here
- Shipping and Customs
- Tips & Common Pitfalls
- FAQ
The Major Markets
Shanghai has multiple fabric markets, but for visitors only two matter:
- South Bund Fabric Market (上海南外滩轻纺面料市场) — the largest and most foreigner-friendly, three stories, 200+ stalls, conveniently located in the Old Town
- Wuyuanlong Fabric Market — smaller alternative; mostly Chinese customers; fewer English speakers
- The Pearl Market basement floors at AP Plaza — limited but cheaper for shirts/basic suits
- Maoming Road tailors — separate higher-end qipao-focused tailors operating in shop format rather than market stalls; better for traditional Chinese garments
Realistically, unless you are in Shanghai for a month, you go to South Bund and nowhere else. It has the stall density that makes comparison possible, the widest fabric range, and the tailors who have dealt with foreign bodies and foreign expectations for twenty years. The others are worth knowing about for specific jobs — Maoming Road if a qipao is the whole point of the trip, AP Plaza if you want three shirts and do not care much.
South Bund Fabric Market
The South Bund Fabric Market at 399 Lujiabang Road is the headline destination. Three floors, 200+ stalls, each operating as a mini fabric store plus tailor team. Hours: 9:00–18:00 daily.
Layout:
- Floor 1: wools, suiting fabrics, men’s tailoring focus
- Floor 2: silks, women’s wear, qipao specialists
- Floor 3: workshop area, finishing, less browsable
Getting there: Metro Line 9 to Xiaonanmen Station, 8-minute walk. Or taxi/Didi from any central Shanghai location (¥30–50).
A few things nobody tells you before the first visit. The building is unglamorous — a concrete block with fluorescent lighting, not a heritage arcade. Stalls call out as you pass and it can feel like running a gauntlet; the correct response is a flat “不用了” (bú yòng le, “no thanks”) without breaking stride. Bring cash for small purchases even though almost everyone takes WeChat Pay and Alipay, both of which now accept foreign cards. There is no air conditioning worth the name on Floor 3 in August.
Timing matters more than people expect. Weekday mornings from opening until about 11:30 are calm and you get real attention. Saturday and Sunday afternoons are the worst — tour groups, cruise passengers, and stalls too busy to measure carefully. The market shuts or runs skeleton staff for roughly a week around Chinese New Year (mid-January to mid-February depending on the year), and many tailors are migrant workers who go home for longer than that, so a garment ordered in the fortnight before the holiday may simply not happen. Plan around it.
The market sits in the Old City, ten minutes’ walk from the Yu Garden bazaar area, which makes it easy to combine — measure in the morning, then Yu Garden and lunch, and be at the Bund by late afternoon.
Suzhou Suiqiao Market
For dedicated fabric tourists, an extension to Suzhou’s Suiqiao Market (60 min by bullet train) gives access to even more raw silk at lower prices. The market specialises in silk by the metre — useful if you want to take fabric home for your own tailor. Many Shanghai-based tailors source from Suzhou for higher-end commissions.
Suzhou has been the centre of Chinese silk production for something like two thousand years, and buying there is genuinely cheaper per metre — perhaps 20–30% below Shanghai for comparable grades. Whether that is worth a day of your trip depends on how much you are buying. For one dress, no. For five metres of heavy mulberry silk to take home, plus the Suzhou gardens and the silk museum, yes. Our Suzhou day trip guide covers trains and timings.
What Things Cost at the Shanghai Fabric Market
Approximate 2026 prices at South Bund Fabric Market (after some bargaining):
- Wool 2-piece suit (basic wool blend) — ¥800–1,500
- Wool 2-piece suit (Italian/UK super-100s wool) — ¥1,800–3,500
- Cashmere overcoat — ¥1,800–4,500
- Cotton/poplin dress shirt — ¥120–250 each; bulk discounts at 5+
- Silk shirt or blouse — ¥350–700
- Silk qipao (cheongsam) — ¥800–2,500 depending on silk grade and detailing
- Silk dress (modern) — ¥500–1,500
- Cashmere sweater — ¥250–800
- Silk pyjamas — ¥200–500
- Made-to-measure trousers — ¥300–800
- Polo shirt / linen shirt — ¥120–250
- Shipping garments home — ¥150–400 by EMS
Asking prices for first-time customers are typically 2–3× the fair price. Bargain firmly.
For context on whether this is a bargain: a comparable made-to-measure two-piece from a mid-range European tailor starts around €900, and true bespoke starts at three times that. What you are buying at South Bund is made-to-measure — a block pattern adjusted to your measurements — not bespoke in the Savile Row sense, where a unique pattern is cut and basted for you. At ¥1,800 that is still a remarkable deal. At ¥800 it is a suit-shaped object.
Timing: How Many Days You Need
This is the single most useful table in this guide. Work backwards from your flight.
| Garment | Realistic turnaround | Fittings needed | Order by | Typical price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dress shirt | 24–72 hours | 0–1 | 3 days before departure | ¥120–250 |
| Trousers | 2–4 days | 1 | 4 days before | ¥300–800 |
| Silk dress (simple) | 3–5 days | 1 | 5 days before | ¥500–1,500 |
| Qipao | 5–7 days | 2 | 7 days before | ¥800–2,500 |
| Two-piece suit | 5–10 days | 2–3 | 8 days before | ¥800–3,500 |
| Three-piece suit | 7–12 days | 3 | 10 days before | ¥1,500–4,000 |
| Cashmere overcoat | 7–10 days | 2 | 9 days before | ¥1,800–4,500 |
A worked example on a nine-day Shanghai trip:
- Day 1 (arrive) — do nothing. Jet lag makes for bad decisions in a market.
- Day 2, 9:30am — South Bund. Two circuits of Floors 1 and 2 before speaking to anyone. Pick a stall, agree a price and design, get measured, pay 50%, take a WeChat contact.
- Day 4 or 5 — first fitting. Expect the jacket in basted form or roughly assembled. Mark sleeve length, shoulder, waist suppression, trouser break.
- Day 7 — second fitting. This is where you either sign off or push back. Push back if anything is wrong; you still have time.
- Day 8 — collect, pay the balance, try it on in the market before handing over the money.
- Day 9 — fly home.
If you have fewer than five days, order shirts and nothing else. If you have three days, order shirts on arrival day. If you have one day, buy fabric by the metre and take it to a tailor at home.
Fabric Quality & Types
Wool
Available qualities: cheap polyester-blend (“wool blend”), 100% wool, super-100s through super-180s (higher number = finer yarn). Many stalls have Italian and British wool branded swatches (Loro Piana, Cerruti, Holland & Sherry, Scabal) — verify authenticity by checking selvedge stamps and the smell test (real wool smells like singed hair when a fibre is lit).
One counterintuitive point: higher super numbers are not automatically better for you. Super-150s and above are lovely to touch and fragile in use — they crease, they shine at the elbows, and they do not survive commuting. For a suit you will actually wear, super-100s to super-120s in a 280–320g cloth is the sweet spot, and it is cheaper. Save the super-180s for a jacket you wear six times a year.
Silk
Mulberry silk (桑蚕丝, sāngcán sī) is the gold standard. Heavier weights (16-22 momme) hold structure for qipao and tailored dresses; lighter (8-12 momme) is better for blouses and pyjamas. Tussah silk is sturdier and matte. Synthetic blends and polyester “silk” are common and significantly cheaper — be sure what you’re buying.
Momme (姆米) is the weight unit — one momme is roughly 4.3 grams per square metre. If a stallholder cannot tell you the momme of a silk, that is information in itself. Ask to see the bolt end, where reputable mills print the composition.
Cashmere
Inner Mongolian cashmere is the regional specialty. Verify by feel (genuine cashmere is silkier than wool, holds warmth, no scratchy fibres). Pilling within weeks indicates a blend.
Cotton, Linen, Bamboo
Cotton in standard 100-count poplin is widely available for shirts. Linen for summer suits is increasingly stocked. Bamboo blends are an option for sensitive skin.
For Shanghai’s own climate, linen and cotton-linen are the sensible summer choice — July and August here run at 33–36°C with humidity that makes wool unwearable. A linen shirt made at the market for ¥180 is one of the better purchases available in the city.
Reputable Tailors
Tailor quality varies dramatically. These South Bund Fabric Market stalls have built strong reputations among foreign customers:
- Wenming Tailor (Stall 232, Floor 1) — bespoke wool suits; English-speaking; recommended by many expats
- Mr. Cheng / DaWei (Stall 156) — versatile, suits + shirts + dresses; good fitter
- Linda’s Tailor (Stall 350) — strong on women’s wear, qipao, silk dresses
- Hong Kong Tailor (Stall 280) — focus on shirts and casual wear; fast turnaround
- Mai Mai Tailor (Stall 168) — silk qipao specialist
- Pasha Tailor (Stall 410) — Italian-trained; premium pricing
Reviews on Trip.com, Reddit’s r/Shanghai, and Time Out Shanghai are good cross-references. For higher-end commissions, several Maoming Road tailors operate on appointment-only basis with ¥3,000–8,000 suits at higher quality control.
Treat every stall list, including this one, as a starting point rather than gospel. Stalls change hands, numbering shifts when the market reorganises a floor, and the good cutter behind a famous name may have left two years ago. What holds up better than any name is a five-minute test you can run yourself:
- Ask to see a finished garment on the rack, not a photo. Look at the buttonholes — hand-finished ones are slightly irregular and dense; machine ones are perfect and thin. Neither is wrong, but it tells you the price tier.
- Check whether the pattern matches across the jacket’s front seam and at the pocket flaps. Sloppy pattern matching on a check cloth is the fastest quality tell there is.
- Ask how many fittings are included. A stall that says “one” for a suit is optimistic about your body.
- Ask what happens if it does not fit at the second fitting. The good ones answer immediately; the ones who hesitate are telling you something.
How to Brief a Tailor
Most disappointments here are communication failures, not skill failures. The tailors can make what you want. They cannot read your mind, and “classic, not too tight” translates into something very different in a Shanghai workshop than in your head.
Bring photographs — five or six, from different angles, of garments you actually like. Better still, bring a garment you own that fits well and let them copy the fit while changing the cloth. That single move eliminates most of the risk.
Be explicit about all of the following, and get the answers written into the receipt or a WeChat message:
- Jacket: single or double breasted, button count, notch or peak lapel, lapel width in centimetres, vent style (single, double, none), shoulder construction (soft/natural or structured), pocket style, working cuff buttons or not, lining colour and material
- Trousers: pleated or flat front, rise, taper, cuffs/turn-ups and their depth, waistband style, side adjusters or belt loops
- Shirt: collar type and height, cuff style, placket, whether you want a chest pocket, how much you want it fitted at the waist
- Everything: how you want it to fit when buttoned and seated, not just standing
English is workable at the well-known stalls and thinner elsewhere. A translation app on your phone handles the rest — photograph-plus-app beats trying to describe a lapel roll. Our Shanghai language barrier tips cover the apps that work behind the firewall.
The Process: Step by Step
- Browse fabrics first — walk 2 floors before committing. Touch, hold up to light, ask for swatches
- Choose a stall based on reputation, English skill, and the quality of fabrics displayed
- Discuss your design — bring photos from your phone (Pinterest, Instagram, your existing favourite suit). Be specific about collar style, pocket placement, lining colour, button count, vent style
- Get measured — 12+ measurements taken; ensure the tailor double-checks
- Confirm price + delivery date in writing or via WeChat message
- Pay 50% deposit
- Return for first fitting in 3–5 days. Mark any adjustments
- Return for final fitting in 7–10 days from start. Final adjustments
- Pay remaining 50% + collect or arrange international shipping
At the fittings, say what is wrong out loud and point at it. Politeness is the enemy here — a tailor cannot fix a sleeve you told them was fine. Standard things to check: shoulder seam sitting on the bone rather than past it, no collar gap at the back of the neck, sleeve ending where your wrist meets your hand, jacket buttoning without an X-shaped pull, trousers breaking on the shoe the way you want.
Bargaining and Paying
Opening quotes at South Bund assume a tourist who will not push back. The gap between the first number and the real number is usually a factor of two to three, sometimes more on silk.
What works: get a total for the whole job rather than negotiating line by line. Ask two or three stalls for a price on the same specification before you commit, and say so. Bundle — two shirts and a suit gets a better rate than each alone. Then name a number roughly 30–40% of the asking price, expect to settle somewhere near half, and be willing to actually walk. Walking away produces a counter-offer more often than not. What does not work is aggression; this is a relationship business and you have to come back twice for fittings.
On payment: pay 50% down, never 100%. Pay through WeChat Pay or Alipay rather than cash so there is a record, and keep the written receipt with the delivery date and specification on it. Both apps now let foreign visitors link an overseas card, which is worth setting up before you land — see our Shanghai money and currency guide. The same tactics apply across the city’s other markets; our Shanghai markets and haggling guide goes deeper, and our guide to Shanghai scams to avoid covers the fake-fabric routines.
Getting a Qipao Made
The qipao — cheongsam in Cantonese — is the one garment where Shanghai is not just cheap but genuinely the right place. The modern form was popularised by Shanghai women in the 1920s and 1930s, and the city’s tailors have been cutting it continuously since.
Decisions to make before you sit down with a tailor:
- Silk weight. 16–22 momme mulberry silk or a silk brocade holds the shape. Anything lighter drapes rather than sculpts, which is a different garment.
- Collar height. Traditional mandarin collars run 4–5cm and are genuinely restrictive. Ask for 3cm if you want to eat dinner in it.
- Fastening. Hand-knotted pankou frog buttons are the traditional closure and take real time to make; a side zip is faster and cheaper. Many tailors do a zip with decorative pankou over it, which is the sensible compromise.
- Slit height. Decide in centimetres from the floor, not by adjective.
- Lining. Silk lining costs more and is worth it. Polyester lining in a silk qipao defeats the point in a Shanghai summer.
Allow two fittings and five to seven days. A qipao is closer-fitting than anything else you will have made, so the second fitting matters more here than on a suit. Budget ¥800–2,500 at the market; a Maoming Road specialist with hand-finished pankou will run ¥3,000 and up, and for a wedding that is money well spent.
What Not to Have Made Here
Being honest about the limits saves people money.
- Anything you cannot come back to fit twice. If your schedule allows one visit, buy shirts or cloth, not a suit.
- Heavily structured tailoring. A fully canvassed jacket with hand-padded chest is not what ¥1,500 buys. Most market jackets are fused or half-canvassed. That is fine — just do not expect Neapolitan construction.
- Technical outerwear. Waterproof shells, down jackets, anything requiring taped seams. Wrong tools, wrong workshop.
- Copies of a designer piece you love. They will do it, and the result is usually a near-miss that reminds you of the original every time you wear it.
- Knitwear. The cashmere sweaters sold at the market are bought in, not made. Judge them as retail purchases, not commissions.
- Anything for a wedding in under two weeks. The margin for error is too thin.
Shipping and Customs
Most stalls will arrange EMS shipping for ¥150–400 depending on weight and destination, typically 7–14 days. It is the right answer if your last fitting slips or you are travelling on with hand luggage only. Two cautions: get a tracking number before you leave the country, and understand that a garment shipped after you fly cannot be tried on again if something is wrong.
On the way home, tailoring counts towards your own country’s duty-free allowance — €430 by air into the EU, £390 into the UK, A$900 into Australia, US$800 for returning US residents. Three suits and a coat can exceed that. Keep receipts. Note also that goods you have worn or that are shipped separately fall outside China’s departure VAT refund scheme, so do not count on reclaiming tax on a market commission — that scheme works best on boxed retail purchases of the sort covered in our luxury shopping guide.
Tips & Common Pitfalls
- Order at least 7 days before departure — allows for fittings
- If you have less than 5 days, focus on shirts only (overnight turnaround possible)
- Bring an existing garment that fits well — tailors can copy from a sample
- Don’t go cheapest — the quality gap between ¥800 and ¥1,500 suits is huge
- Test fabric authenticity — burn a single fibre (silk smells like burning hair, polyester smells like burning plastic and beads up)
- Bargain firmly — start at 30–40% of asking price; meet in the middle
- Pay deposit with WeChat Pay or Alipay for traceability
- Get terms in writing — fitting dates, final delivery, alterations included
- Don’t take promises about brand-name fabrics at face value — quality matters more than label
- For qipao, find a women’s-wear specialist not a general tailor; cuts and stiffness vary significantly
- If you’re picky about fit, allow at least 2 fittings; 3 is normal for suits
- International shipping: most tailors can arrange EMS shipping home if your fittings get rushed; ¥150–400 typical
- Photograph the fabric bolt and the receipt — it settles arguments about which cloth you chose
- Wear the shoes and shirt you will wear with the suit to every fitting; trouser length is set from your actual shoes
- Do not order on your last morning — no fitting means no recourse
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the best fabric market in Shanghai?
The South Bund Fabric Market at 399 Lujiabang Road is the largest and most tourist-friendly — three floors, 200+ stalls, all major fabrics and tailoring services. Metro Line 9 to Xiaonanmen, then an 8-minute walk.
How much does a custom suit cost in Shanghai?
¥800–1,500 for a basic wool-blend 2-piece; ¥1,800–3,500 for Italian/UK super-100s wool. Those are post-bargaining figures; first quotes are typically 2–3× higher.
How long does Shanghai tailoring take?
Shirts: 24–72 hours. Suits: 5–10 days including 1–2 fittings. Qipao dresses: 5–7 days. Cashmere overcoats: 7–10 days.
Is Shanghai fabric market worth it?
Yes, if you have a week and are willing to be specific about what you want. For the price relative to tailoring at home it is hard to beat. If you have two days and vague ideas, buy shirts and skip the suit.
Can I get a qipao made at Shanghai fabric market?
Yes — Floor 2 has multiple qipao specialists. Silk qipao with detailed embroidery runs ¥800–2,500. Allow 5–7 days and two fittings, and specify collar height and slit height in centimetres.
What time does South Bund Fabric Market open?
9:00–18:00 daily, with many stalls opening earlier and staying later. Weekday mornings are the calm window; avoid weekend afternoons.
Can I haggle at the fabric market?
Yes — bargaining is expected. Start at 30–40% of the asking price and expect to meet around half. Quoting a competing stall’s price and being willing to walk are the two moves that work.
Should I bring photos or examples?
Yes. Photos of the style you want, and ideally a garment you already own that fits well, communicate more than any description. Copying the fit of something you love is the single best way to avoid disappointment.
Is the tailoring at Shanghai fabric market real bespoke?
No. It is made-to-measure — an existing block pattern adjusted to your measurements. True bespoke means a unique pattern cut for you and basted fittings, which is not what ¥1,500 buys anywhere in the world. Made-to-measure at this price is still excellent value.
How do I know the silk is genuine?
Ask for the momme weight and to see the printed bolt end. The burn test settles it: real silk smells like burning hair and leaves a crushable ash, while polyester melts, beads and smells of plastic. Genuine mulberry silk also feels cool to the touch and warms slowly in your hand.
What if the finished garment doesn’t fit?
Raise it at the fitting, not at collection, and be specific about the problem. Reputable stalls will re-cut without argument because their business runs on referrals. This is why you never pay in full up front and never order without time for a second fitting.
Can I just buy fabric and take it home?
Yes, and it is a good option on a short trip. Silk, wool and cashmere by the metre are the market’s real strength, and a few metres pack flat. Buy 3.2–3.5 metres for a two-piece suit and 3 metres for a qipao, and check the width before you buy — narrow bolts need more.
Plan Your Shopping Day
Combine with our pillar guides on Shanghai shopping, Shanghai markets & haggling, and our Shanghai souvenirs guide. Getting to Lujiabang Road is simplest on Line 9 — see our Shanghai metro guide. For background, see the Chinese silk entry on Wikipedia and the history of the cheongsam.
