By Chen Nan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-02-19 14:04

Wu fits a jacket on a foreign customer. Photos by Guo Yingguang

Shopping in Beijing is an easy task now that the city has so much to offer that one is spoilt for choices. But if you have something specific in mind, it can be a real headache trying to find it. And when you finally get that perfect top or well-cut jeans, chances are you'll see someone else wearing the same thing on Wangfujing shopping street.

In Beijing, people drive fast, talk fast and think fast. However when it comes to clothes, tailor Wu Caiping recommends that you take your time. Wu thinks that the best clothing can't be found on shelves, they have to be made.

"People don't mind spending time waiting for satisfying outfits as long as they get what they are expecting," he says. "In other cities, made-to-measure clothes are reserved for the rich and privileged, but here they are still normal practice, like devoting time to a really good coffee. In fact, the two often go together."

Tucked away in an alley of East Fourth Ring Road, Wu, from Jiangsu province, southern China, has been making clothes for 34 years, first for other stores in his hometown and then in Shanghai, before he opened his first tailoring store opposite the Central Academy of Art and Design in 1984.

Beginning his tailoring career at 17, Wu spent days reading fashion magazines and practising. "My hometown is in a small village where no one knows what fashion is. But since I had been reading fashion magazines from Japan and America, I became fascinated about it," Wu recalls.

Most of Beijing has had the token silk jacket or qipao made, but Wu is not your typical tailor. Unlike other tailors who are reluctant to try new styles, Wu knows how to take risk and give suggestions.

"I want my clients to feel like themselves in the clothes and I believe everyone can be just like a Hollywood star on the red carpet as long as he or she dresses well," he says.

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