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Quick suit alteration question...

post #1 of 8
1/28/08 at 3:13am
Thread Starter 
I have a new suit I need altered by Feb 6. I need the jacket taken in around the torso and the pants hemmed and possibly slimmed down a bit. The way I see it, I have have three options:
(1) Take the suit to my local Nordstrom or Saks
(2) Find a local men's boutique
(3) Find a local alterations guy

Who would do the best job?
Who could get the suit to me by Feb 6?
Will I pay about the same at each place, or will one of the options be cheapest?
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post #2 of 8
1/28/08 at 3:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kjm View Post
I have a new suit I need altered by Feb 6. I need the jacket taken in around the torso and the pants hemmed and possibly slimmed down a bit. The way I see it, I have have three options: (1) Take the suit to my local Nordstrom or Saks (2) Find a local men's boutique (3) Find a local alterations guy Who would do the best job? Who could get the suit to me by Feb 6? Will I pay about the same at each place, or will one of the options be cheapest?
These alterations are straight forward and any alterations place should be able to do it. I would avoid any Korean owned places though (bad experiences across the board). For more complicated alterations department stores usually outsource to a local tailor anyways. You can find out who Nordstrom or Saks outsources to and then go see them directly. Cheapest option would be (3) unless you bought the suit from Nordstrom, etc. If you take it in tomorrow, you should have no problem getting it by next week.
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post #3 of 8
1/28/08 at 3:22am
Not sure I agree with the whole Korean thing... the crux is whether or not they can speak well enough to communicate with you. In terms of skill, they can vary just like any other tailor. My 'main guy' is Korean and he does an excellent job most of the time and unlike most tailors actually does what I want to do instead of what he think he ought to do when it comes to styling my jackets and pants.
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post #4 of 8
1/28/08 at 3:53am
nordstrom doesn't outsource, they have in-house tailors. however, the costs for their alterations for stuff NOT bought at nordys is pretty expensive for an OK job, imo. it's also a hit and miss thing, since depending on location you'll have anywhere from 3-10 tailors, maybe more, working there. i worked there for a month as the data entry guy during one of their sales, and let me tell you that double-checking their work is not on their mind, but more of an "i should get this done ASAP." but like tiecollector said, those are basic alterations and could be done by mostly any alterations person.
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post #5 of 8
1/28/08 at 4:27am
Thread Starter 
I appreciate the input. I think I'll look for a local alterations guy.
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post #6 of 8
1/28/08 at 8:06am
I would disagree also with the Korean tailor comment. I live in northern VA and go to a Korean tailor in a trendy area. He makes custom suits as well. He knows what he is doing. He does a great job on fitting my suits if they are too big/small. I also went to an Italian tailor, straight from the motherland, back in upstate NY. The guy fugged up my a pair of pants and shirt pretty good. I knew a guy from Turkey who was a great tailor, he would do most of my alterations about 95% good but he fugged up 2 or 3 pieces.

I have had bad experience with dept store tailors from Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Saks. Nordstom tailors basically can't tailor for shit. Saks is a hit or miss. Only one Saks tailor that I went to did a great job on fitting a suit jacket to me. The other Saks tailors I went to at other locations around DC suck. Bloomingdales' tailor was ok, although the chick wanted my suit pant length to be a bit longer than the normal full break I prefer. I ended up going to my Korean tailor to have it fixed and he fixed it up nicely.

Don't believe the hype about having an 'Italian' or 'European' tailor do you suits because they are the best.....they are not. It really depends on the person and how much tailoring experience they have.
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post #7 of 8
1/28/08 at 8:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by noVA99 View Post
Don't believe the hype about having an 'Italian' or 'European' tailor do you suits because they are the best.....they are not. It really depends on the person and how much tailoring experience they have.

True, but I'm a betting man, and I would choose a crotchety old European tailor if I had to choose at random. No guarantees anywhere.
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post #8 of 8
1/19/12 at 10:44am

Who is your guy in NoVA? New to area looking for good guy, I'm in Arlington. Thx

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