I want to post this here out of the immense difficulty and frustration of trying to find someone who could make an Ao Dai near the DC/VA area. I tried to get a few recommendations, and was told by almost everyone that I could only get an Ao Dai made in Vietnam, and that the only way to do it was to have someone take my measurements to Vietnam (either by friend or family). The other choice was to fly to LA to get them made. You can imagine how frustrating this was to hear, on top of all talk that if an ao dai was made in the US, it would be extremely expensive. BUT, I was finally able to find a shop close by to where I live (baltimore), in Philadelphia.
I am writing this post mostly because I could not find any accurate or recent information on the internet about where to make an Ao Dai, so this is to help others in the future if they are looking to make custom Ao Dais and live in the NYC/Philly/VA/DC/baltimore area.
The shop is called Phuong’s Tailor and Fabrics located at 757 S 4th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147. They charged $240 for a male Ao Dai and $340 for a female Ao Dai (2 fabrics were picked, a base fabric and a lacy fabric that would go on top). You pick out the fabric (they have several basic varieties and the cloth comes from Vietnam) and they will custom make the Ao Dai. They do not make the traditional ao dai hats unfortunately. I picked mine up the other day, and it was perfectly fit, looked great, and I was extremely happy with both the price and quality of the workmanship. There also was another Vietnamese tailor shop down the street, and I would guess they could make them too, but I didn't use their services (Anh's Custom Tailor).