Fernando De Manila - Los Angeles, California

M L

The Tita who owns this shop is a real OG of this community. Be respectful and trust the process.

Parking can be challenging since it’s LA and you gotta street park. Lots of one way streets but the meters were cheap. $2 for 2 hours.

The shop isn’t hard to find — follow the directions and keep an eye out for the outdoor seating of the restaurant next door.

If you’re husky or wear clothes that are 2XL or more, you’re gonna need a custom barong, bro. Tita is charging about $280 without the liner. I recommend the liner so that your barong lasts longer and it’s not transparent for $50 more.

I will update the pics and this review upon delivery in 10 days!

John T

AAPI Woman Owned Small Business! We’ve been going here for years! Reasonable prices with fast turn around for those urgent requests! They also specialize in traditional filipino but also does general alteration so if you’re traveling the high seas in a Sky Suite or attending a traditional ethnic wedding, FdM is def the go to!

Deirdre Donnelly

They do a great job. They can even do custom work. I have been very happy with their service over many years.

Deborah Ridpath

We asked them to make a dress within a day from a photo. They not only managed to do it just from a photo but added a lining and it fit perfectly. All for a reasonable last minute price. GREAT experience. Very highly recommend and will be going back for all our tailoring needs.

Ryan Dawson

Great local tailor with quick service and fair prices.

Tom Wagner

To celebrate the upcoming Filipino Independence Day in style, I needed to buy a Barong--a thing my wife had been pestering me about (in her decidedly non-nagging way) for years.

One of the many things I love about the culture of the Philippines is their formal attire. In Western countries, formal affairs require the wearing of a tuxedo, possibly the least comfortable suit of clothes ever invented, obviously created by some sadistic woman who hated men. My guess is that she was French. However, Filipino men need merely wear this simple shirt over a T-shirt, along with nice slacks and shoes that will hopefully not embarrass their date or wife.

For those who have never seen one, a Barong is a long-sleeve dress shirt--usually white or beige, though occasionally colored--made from either the "bark" of a banana tree (that brown fur sticking up from where the branches meet the trunk) or pineapple leaves. It is a stiff, delicate fabric that is surprisingly comfortable and though it somewhat resembles silk, unlike silk it "breathes" very well, so the wearer isn't usually shamed by puddles of sweat pooling in the underarm regions. This is handy, as most Barongs are worn in the tropics, and you really don't need extra encouragement to perspire down there.

As I am somewhat herculean in build (which is a nice way of saying that I have the physique of Howard Taft), Fernando didn't have a Barong that would fit me. The one that came closest cost over $90, which, my wife assured me, was a good price for a Barong in the United States. Before I could start crying, fall to the floor screaming, kicking, and flailing at the air in my customary response to disappointment, Fernando assured me that he could custom-make a Barong for me with which I would be very pleased. He took about a hundred thousand measurements of every dimension of my upper body, wrote them down, had me select a fabric and pattern, then told me the most shocking thing: it would only cost $100, barely more than the off-the-rack item I had previously tried.

Three days later, I picked up my Barong. It fit perfectly; I could even button the top button, a thing I could not do with any shirt that I owned without suffocating.

Fernando doesn't stop with Filipino clothing, oh no. I believe he can tailor just about anything you can think of, do an excellent job and will charge you less than just about anyone in town. How can he afford to charge such low rates? That's simple; it's the reason so many successful businesses are so successful: high turnover. He treats his customers right, he's friendly, will joke with you, he exudes an air of confidence and he does great work. This is how he's managed to stay in business for over 30 years. The day I went in to place my order, no fewer than a dozen other people came in for his services in the span of 10 minutes.

In addition to tailoring, this is a dry-cleaners. And although Barongs should never be dry-cleaned, when my Barong needs a good gentle wash-and-ironing, I'm taking it back to Fernando's for the service. While there, I'll probably ask him to make me a nice Western-style dress shirt, too, as I can never find one that fits properly and--unfortunately--not all of the formal affairs I attend are sponsored by Filipinos.

Walter Davis

They did a great job on my sport coats. I am very happy with the speed and quality. They shortened my sleeves perfectly even with a lining.

veronica bruno- Bauzon

With awesome customer service…