Silk Image

This is my first time getting ao dai sewing because my mom wants me to wear it for my wedding. I checked Unilocal before I went and tried to keep an open-​mind.
First impression this place is huge with a big selection of fabric
That was all the good impression I had for this store. The rest was horrible. Customer service sucks, which I never have any high expectations when going to Vietnamese places, especially in Westminster. They were all busy to chat or keep losing track of helping me, their customer.
Then, it comes to price and lies…
One of the lady was like oh if I choose this silk, it’s gonna be $ 90 for just the ao dai (top). If i choose the lace, it’s gonna be $ 140. Then after I called and talked to my mom, because I had known nothing about getting an ao dai myself, came back and asked if she can do the whole set (ao dai and pants). She said alright $ 140. I was like can you do $ 100. I mean adding a pants is almost ²⁄₃ the price of the top??? We agree at $ 110 in the end
Then, i, of course called my mom again to double check, come back to decide to add a dress. it’s just a simple long gown, white lace with silk layer. She said $ 250, which I guess somehow «mistakenly» understand $ 250 for everything. Which the price makes sense because a dress is just like an ao dai, without the arms. Not until the end, I was told $ 250 for just a dress. I mean come on, your shitty material lace and labor cost $ 250? FYI, I just bought a brand new Vera Wang gown at Bloomingdale for $ 200+ plus tax… and it has a guaranteed return policy… right after I left your store.
Anyway, that’s enough for the pricing part. Now on the deposit part. At first, a dress and an ao dai, the deposit is $ 80 for $ 350 total. fine that somewhat makes some senses. However, after talking to my mom, now I decided we just do the ao dai (top) like the original plan. They jacked up the price to $ 120 and swore they never said $ 90! ever! I also overheard someone called them and ask the price, and they said $ 90 for a regular ao dai. Anyway, they said no pants, it’s $ 100 in the end, but I have to deposit $ 70. I mean wtf… this doesn’t make any sense. If I spent this much time to get the right material and measurement, I won’t just waste and go somewhere else, especially I drove more than a hour to go here. I’m fine with paying deposit, but this amount is not right. What if something wrong and you don’t want to fix it… am I just gonna lose $ 70?
At this point, I am too tired with their flip flopping and being so embarrassed with my fiancée — a white dude, who doesn’t understand anything. They thought because my wedding is so close, I will accept whatever price they say. Wrong! They are not the only store in westminster. I also have an extra ao dai from my cousin, which is my backup plan.
A cheap business doesn’t mean lying and dishonest! I’d never ever recommend this store to anyone. if anyone wants to try, bring your mom, your aunt or whoever can bargain. Also, make sure to keep track of whatever they are saying too

Overpriced and poor quality ao daïs. I was better off altering my own ao daïs. I should have done more research on my ao daïs but only had a little bit of time to plan my wedding. Very disappointed at the service and quality of work here.

Update to previous post. I recommend this place for custom ordering ao daïs! I wish I had known about this place earlier since we ordered my mom’s from the shop inside Phuc Lop To (awful service, poor sewing skills. The only thing they have going for them is the good location and nice fabrics). The service at Silk Image is good, fabrics are nice, price is market. I got my bride ao dai here and my mother wishes she had gotten her’s here instead of the shop inside Phuc Lop To!

So the wedding has come and gone, and I said I’d write an update. Feeling a little guilty for all of these brides later on who have had subpar experiences. I still love Co Chi and ended up really happy with my ao dai, but there is definitely some kinks to be worked out customer service wise.
So. I ordered in January, and Co Chi let my mom know that my now husband’s ao dai was done. Cool. I had to wait til June to redo my measurements and then I let her know nothing had changed. She said two weeks, and I went about my other wedding business. Fast forward six weeks and still no package. Okay… I have my mom call and then say that the khan dong aren’t finished and she’s waiting to ship. My mom suggests that my brother’s gf (Who lives in the area) pick up the stuff the next week since she’s visiting Seattle then. My brother’s girlfriend goes to the store on the agreed day and the employees (NOT Co Chi) are VERY confused and demand a receipt from her (Which of course, she does not have). I get a frantic phone call from my brother and finally after a 20 minute scuffle they get a hold of Co Chi and find out that it’s okay. My mom also calls Co Chi, who reassures her that everything is fine… except the glitter on the khan dong isn’t dry yet and that she had to come back later that day. Needless to say, I owed my brother’s girlfriend BIG TIME for being my courier service. It wasn’t the worst thing that could happen, but it was definitely annoying.
HOWEVER…my ao dai was beautiful. While the worksmanship was not as good as I expected (A lot of loose threads), I got lots of compliments on my wedding day. My husband liked his ao dai way better than his tux (Probably more comfortable to boot). My mom wasn’t as happy with hers because threads kept unraveling, but she still looked awesome.
I still think it was a great deal for what we got, but I think you definitely have to beware about expectations whenever you’re in Little Saigon… and not expect customer service to be on par with Western standards. Co Chi is still the nicest Vietnamese salesperson I’ve ever encountered. My experience with her was good enough that I’d return if I had to get one made in SoCal.

I was going to write a good review for this place after my 2^nd trip. I’ve taken my wedding ao dai here and have had wonderful service the first time, and the owner had let me know that they tailor pants and other dresses as well. So, 3 months after my wedding I stop by to take in some work clothes to be altered. I was careful to inquire about price beforehand, and negotiated a discount since I was bringing in multiple items. Unfortunately my Vietnamese isn’t the best and before I knew it, the owner quickly listed the total price and wrote it down on paper. After doing math in my head, I told her that she had forgotten to add the discount, and she brushed it off saying the price has already been written and she’ll give me a discount the NEXT time I came in… WTF? I’m not so much angered by the lack of a discount but the lack of character on her part. Going back on your word after negotiating a price is NOT okay with me… Sorry this could have been a great place to review, but I wouldn’t recommend this place after feeling deceived.

This place deserves 0 stars! I ordered my khan dong with them for $ 50, which they outsource to someone else to make. Because of this the owner co chi had us pay up front. BIG MISTAKE on our part. She said it would take a month, ok no prob since my wedding was 3 months away. I called a month later to see if it was done, co chi said she still needed to add the glitter detail to it and to come in the next day to pick up. When I came the next day she still did not put the details on, and since I was there I tried it on and it was completely the wrong style! It was way too high and wide. I told her this and she argued with me back and forth that that was the style I chose (which I clearly stated since the beginning I did not want the tall khan dong). I asked her to see the khan dong i had tried on a month before and she said someone came to pick it up already.
She yelled at me saying I was wrong, and she was right! Omg I know what I ordered and this was not it. I finally had to call my mom out to deal with her, and when my mom came she changed her tone. She then proceeded to bring out the khan dong I tried on a month before, which she had just lied about and said she didn’t have anymore, and guess what the one she made me was way taller and wider than the original!
Co chi says ok it will be easy to take apart and make smaller. My mom makes a deal with her to come back again in one week to pick up. If its not fixed we want a refund.
So one week goes by, my mom and I come in, and she doesn’t have it. She calls the woman that makes it for her and tells us to come back at the end of the day to pick it up? Wtf what a hassle! Plus she tells us they couldn’t take it apart and all they can do is try to mold the old one. ughh wtf?! She also repeated that that’s the way we ordered it by the round, which is untrue she never mentioned the rounds when we ordered, she said she would make it identical to the one I tried on. Again it looked NOTHING like the one I tried on.
So we come in before closing time, and she is just finishing up the glitter detail for the khan dong. So I have to try it on while still wet with glue, and nothing had been done to change the size. I am stuck with a skyscraper size khan dong. $ 50 down the drain and she refuse to refund our money. She refuse to admit it is the wrong size, we ask to see the original khan dong again and she says again a customer came to pick it up (again lies she hid it and no one would buy an old khan dong with black dirt on it).
Please DO NOT give them your business! They are horrible at customer service, and extremely unapologetic for their wrongdoings! Co chi is only nice to you in the beginning to get your money! After that she could give a rats a$$ about you.

For many Vietnamese brides, you have to wear an ao dai not because you want to but because it’s what your parents want. I was in the same boat so I set out to buy the best looking one I could find for the cheapest price. This of course meant going to Orange County. I found a lot of shops that sold pre-​made ones, but they were all in neon colors and the fabric was polyester at best. It met the cheapness requirement but given that it was my wedding day, I wanted to make sure I looked good too so I opted for making a custom one — which was the best decision!
Silk Image has the best fabrics out of all the stores I visited. However, you end up paying for this quality too. My ao dai came close to $ 300. I didn’t choose cheap fabrics though and it was double the price I wanted to spend but this was partly my fault. My Vietnamese is poor so when the lady there quoted me the price, I thought it was for the total but it ended up being just for the fabric. So ladies when you go there, be sure you ask for both the fabric and labor costs so you don’t get any surprises. She had already cut the fabric so I just ended up going with it.
I came back 2 weeks later and it was completely done, fitted perfectly, no alterations needed. The ao dai totally blew me away too! It was absolutely gorgeous and totally exceeded my expectations. I had a specific style in mind and they followed it but added their touches to elevate the design. My mom loved it, my fiancé loved it and all my family members who saw it literally gasped when I came out during the tea ceremony.
So if you need an ao dai, come to this place to get it. It’s totally stress free and they get it done for you fast. It’s on the pricey side, but based on all the reactions I got it was totally worth it. Also I tried to haggle, but they didn’t budge at all. I didn’t have my mom there though which I’m sure would’ve made a difference.

I was a bit disappointed with the way my wedding ao dai turned out. I travelled all the way from San Diego just because I saw such great reviews on Unilocal.I was looking for the ladies here to give me some ideas on what would look good on me but they just gave me blank stares and just told me the colors that brides usually go for… I’m vietnamese so it wasn’t the language barrier that was the problem. I really should of done more research but having travelled about an hour & half to get here, things got desperate and I decided to take a look at the things they were currently working on. Although the fabrics I chose were quite nice, the end product didn’t fit me quite right and the sweetheart neckline was three inches too high.

I would like to say that I’m a non-​Vietnamese bride. I needed to find an a wedding ao dai set for under $ 300. This place even though it is small has a decent selection of fabrics. I chose a pink and red dress with a Phoenix and dragon embroidery. The lady who helped us was really nice, seemed helpful, she gave us a good price which includes the dress, pantaloons and khan dong. She gave us a 2 week time frame to make the dress. 2 weeks later we came in to get my dress I was a little disappointed, everything fits except my right arm was which was very tight. Making the dress harder to put on and to take off. They made the alterations but new issues arose due to time issues. I was told to come in on wednesday to pick up the dress. I couldn’t make the appoinment and recieved a phone call by a non-​English speaking employee. I couldn’t understand what she was saying so I handed then phone to my fiancée and he too was confused by what the lady was saying. They don’t have the full ensemble meaning, they only have the dress and pantaloon, the khan dong is coming from Washington in about a week. I was annoyed that they can’t get their information correct. We are coming from long beach and it’s not a long drive but it’s not a short drive either. Try driving back and forth from long beach to Westminster for a dress for 3 consecutive weekend is very annoying.
They are having a moving sale right that might be causing us to have timing issues. All in all it was decent experience, I love my dress and it’s much comfortable than I thought it would be. I just hated having to come back and forth and come out with nothing.

After picking up my horrible dress from Thanh Trang from the Asian Garden Mall, I had second thoughts about making a new wedding ao dai but it was one week before the wedding and I wasn’t sure if Silk Image would be able to make me a new one in time.. .
Well they TOTALLY DID! I came in 7 days before my wedding and picked up my gorgeous custom made ao dai and khan dong 5 days later and had 2 days to spare! :D
My wedding ao dai was AMAZING! It was so ME! And the khan dong (matching hat) was to die for! At my wedding, people could not believe how awesome my dress was because it was a perfect fusion between my culture (vietnamese) and my style (vintage glam). All the Americans at the wedding asked me where I got my khan dong because they wanted one! HAHAHA
Chi, the lady who is the sales person there, is really accommodating and has a good eye on what will look good on you. My dress was green lace over a different green material coupled with gold pants! Wouldn’t have chosen that combo myself but I LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT!
My sisters’ ao daïs turned out beautiful as well. Definitely worth the money!

Ehh… I’ll start with good stuff first, then the bad stuff.
I went with this store for my traditional Vietnamese wedding outfit because my mom was friends with the owner, and even though the owner didn’t carry a specific fabric and design that I had wanted (I had shown her a picture of what I wanted that was in another store), she said that she could order it for me. It seemed like she wanted our business, because I was tempted to go back to the other store that had what I wanted, but she promised that she could deliver, so I gave her a chance since she was my mom’s friend too.
The owner could speak in English to me, which is great because my Vietnamese isn’t that spectacular. I was going to get my «khan dong» custom made for $ 35, my fiancé’s wedding «ao dai» and his «khan dong» for a total of $ 150, and my wedding «ao dai» and wedding cloak («ao khoat») for $ 200. Altogether, the price was average, not the best deal but it was okay. At the time, the store didn’t carry the color of fabric that we wanted, so the owner told us to send her an image of what we wanted via email, and she would take care of it for us. I thought that it was great that she was willing to take care of it for us and trusted her. I also sent her a swatch of the fabric color that I really wanted. We sent her detailed images of what we envisioned our wedding ao dai’s to look like, and hoped that she would come through.
When she was ready to send us what she had done, we were very disappointed with her work. The color she had chosen for my ao dai was not the same color that I had given her — it was completely different. My fiancé’s ao dai was way too big for him (fit for a man that was twice his size!!). It seemed like it had already been used, because both his ao dai and his khan dong had some greasy stains on it. The khan dong did not fit his head either. I was mad because that is NOT what we had paid for — definitely not some used ao dai that the owner wanted to recycle. Plus, his ao dai was completely the wrong color. We had asked for a green ao dai, and she gave him a blue one. Green is not blue. I wanted a refund of everything, but she was only willing to make us new ao dai’s.
Learning from past experience, she made us both two completely new ao daïs with new fabric that she already had in her store — we didn’t want to order anything else from whatever factory she was using. My new ao dai fits and the color is fine, and so does my fiancé’s. I’m so glad we started several months in advance, because our wedding is now in a month and we just got our new ao daïs last week, even though we first placed our order with her back in January. Note to future brides — start early!
All I have to say is, that she is lucky that I’m a pretty easy-​going bride!

Although this place is teensy, and you might feel awkward if you’re a giant white person such as myself, you’ll be greeted and treated very politely by the owner of this shop. They have a pretty large stock (for a small store) of brocades of silk, silk/​rayons or polyester silk replica brocades in Chinese and Vietnamese patterns lining every wall and cabinet, in every color. I was REALLY happy to see they still carry all the Asian fabrics I need — particularly because a lot of those fabrics are disappearing from other types of fabric stores. Remember this is not going to be a typical fabric store — it’s for Asian bridal purposes. But YOWSA, they have some great stuff!

they speak english! yay! i know. i’m a bad viet :(but i speak horribly! john was very helpful and gave awesome customer service… asked me if i needed any help with looking at fabric but was not overbearing. tthey have some beautiful fabrics for ao dai and lots of chinese fabric options. i ended up buying fabric somewhere else but now i know where i’m gonna find my wedding ao dai when i need one ;). i’m prolly gonna get my sister’s dress made there… just gotta check on their experience with cheongsams…