I was in Thailand last week, holding an event at the shop Decorum, and I have to say I was impressed with the local menswear culture.
I’ve travelled a fair bit round east Asia, but not much in the south-east – just Singapore many years ago. Frankly I didn’t associate Bangkok with menswear – I’d think of Singapore perhaps, then skip over most of the rest onto the likes of Hong Kong or Seoul to the north and Australia to the south.
But the city is really open and international, distinct and cultured, and has some good shops (including strong vintage), a couple of decent local tailors, and a lot of PS readers.
Speaking to those at the event, I learnt that business dress is pretty casual here – few people wear a suit, preferring a shirt and trousers. The weather doesn’t help of course, but fewer people wear tailoring than in Japan (which is also very hot and humid in the summer) or Hong Kong.
Yet there is of a culture of dressing up. It’s more common for people to dress up to go out here, to have dinner at one of the luxury hotels perhaps, than in somewhere like Singapore.
Decorum has a shop in Singapore too, and I spoke to the manager Charles about this: “Singapore is more dressed down, the norm is T-shirts and flip-flops,” he said. “Despite being a rich city it’s a harder market for us in many ways than Thailand.”
Bangkok is growing fast, particularly in luxury malls and the brands that come with them. Decorum started in 2017 but has expanded into six shops around the city, with a seventh opening in the new One Bangkok development next year.
The original shop was modelled as a townhouse, and both it and the Singapore branch still feel that way. But the newer branches – including the one we were in – are largely in those new malls. Decorum also branched out into areas like women’s clothing and fashion brands, to cover more of the local market.
Trunk shows have always been a big part of the business model. Decorum were the first to do them in both Bangkok and Singapore, and they now do two or three every month – Singapore did 22 last year. The ones in Thailand include Husbands (who were very popular), J Mueser, Ascot Chang, Yolo knitwear, Igarashi trousers, Sartoria Raffaniello, Assisi (Decorum were the ones that introduced me to them) and Bryceland’s.
Guy and Ball – the co-founders – asked me to bring out something from the PS Shop that local readers could try, so I brought a set of the Linen Overshirts, which seemed practical for the local weather and (being a lot colder in the US and Europe right now) not many other people are looking at.
Among other good shops in Bangkok are Pronto – which is the biggest workwear retailer and has several branches – and the various vintage places.
Bangkok is a big vintage centre, and one of the prime places Japanese dealers come to source pieces to sell back home. The best ones, such as Wooden Submarine, make most of their money this way.
You can see why, as the prices here are less than a third of what you pay in Japan or the US. Though the quality is also more mixed – you pay for someone to find the prime pieces as well as to import it to a shop near you.
After Submarine we visited Memories Brand, the beautiful and unusual Overall Days – which specialises in women’s and children’s vintage – and a big market known as the ‘Red Building’.
This is a multi-floor market with a mix of vintage watches, clothes, and furniture, and then a big flea market outside as well. The clothes floor has almost 50 shops, with some specialising in military surplus, others in band tees, others in sunglasses, and two or three with very high-end Americana.
I bought a couple of things, including a beautiful Big Mac denim shirt and an old camp blanket (I love how soft those things are). But there were ‘big E’ Levi’s in some of those stores for £200, for example, compared to something like £900 in Japan.
It never fails to amaze me that there are so many readers around the world getting both enjoyment and advice from Permanent Style. It was wonderful to meet those in Thailand, and I felt both honoured and humbled.
Thank you to Guy, Ball, Krittanan and everyone that helped with the event. And to Ethan, Janet and Cici for keeping me company. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I come back, and I can see much more of the country.
On the clothes pictured: I’ll do a separate post on those, so please leave questions until then. Thanks.
