Getting Clothes Tailored

Shopping in Senegal is very different from shopping in the states for starters most of it is done on the street at a market. There are all kinds of markets from ones that are permanent to those that move around, that sell all kinds of stuff from clothes to food to even fabric. Senegalese fabric is very important in a lot of aspects from local commerce to fashion. The Senegalese are very fashionable, and they often get clothes made for them by a tailor. Some families even have a personal tailor that comes to their house to take measurements and then will bring back the finished product. There’s also a lot of little shops that tailors have all over Dakar walk around on neighborhood streets and you’re bound to find at least one if not more.

Pictures of fabric from the little fabric stall we stumbled upon.
More samples of fabric available.

The process of getting clothes made requires a person to go to a market to buy fabric, the biggest market for fabric is the HLM market. I didn’t buy fabric here because you can find fabric all over but for people that don’t know where to go, this is the place. There are so many patterns to pick and choose from everything is super colorful. I came in looking for three different fabrics to make three different outfits and had to think would this pattern look good made into the outfit I was picturing it for, was kind of a challenge.

Being excited about the pieces I picked out.

After picking out the fabric then you go to a tailor with a drawing or picture, so they have an idea about what you want. I brought my drawings and fabric with me and then got measured specifying where I wanted things to start and end compared to my drawings. Then when it was finished I came back to try on the clothes. A lot of the time adjustments are needed, as was the case for me. The skirts were a little too big around the hips and the pockets were too small on the overalls. After these minor adjustments I had amazing new clothes to wear.

One of the sowing machines at the tailor’s shop.
The tailor taking notes down and writing measurements.

Important things to note about the whole process is the importance of bargaining and knowing the cost of what you’re getting. For fabric this means you need to know the quality of the fabric because there’s three different levels of fabric quality at the lowest level you shouldn’t pay more than 1000cfa per meter (about 2 USD) and at the highest level you can pay anywhere from 6000cfa to 50,000cfa per meter (about 10 to 85 USD). Then at the tailor you should know how much it cost to get items made about 5000cfa is a good standard for a dress and outfit (two pieces) can be up to 7000cfa you can bargain with the tailor too as is in Senegalese spirt, especially because depending on the tailor they’ll try to upcharge you as a foreigner. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you know is the right price.