Alterations tailor in Indianapolis

Title is pretty self-explanatory. Any Indy members out there that have someone they like to use for alterations? I've not had the greatest luck in finding one thus far.

BROAD RIPPLE ALTERATIONS
817 Broad Ripple Ave
255-2223

Nick and John do good work at a fair price. They are tailors and not seamtress.

Originally Posted by mr monty

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BROAD RIPPLE ALTERATIONS
817 Broad Ripple Ave
255-2223

Nick and John do good work at a fair price. They are tailors and not seamtress.
I have to give props to Lee's Custom Tailoring. Jin Lee helped me take in some dress shirts that were huge in the torso. It was my first attempt at 'slimming' some existing shirts I have. He did a great job. He actually found that what they needed was to raise the sleeve/armpit area up and take it in, which in turn, slims the upper torso area of the shirt. So, for $25/shirt I have a slim fit customized shirt. He also took a casual dress shirt and shorted it to a shirt tail hem, so I can wear it untucked with jeans. That was $18 and was done perfectly. He knew exactly what I wanted. His english is pretty good, but I could see a misunderstanding on occasion due to it. However, he likes to see pictures of what you are talking about, so bring photos of the look/cut you are trying to get, and I bet he can do it.

Originally Posted by mr monty

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BROAD RIPPLE ALTERATIONS
817 Broad Ripple Ave
255-2223

Nick and John do good work at a fair price. They are tailors and not seamtress.
This shop in Broad Ripple is where I take my clothing. They are very nice to deal with, and do terrific work. I didn't realize this was the place Mr. Monty mentioned until I dropped off a few items and saw the address. I highly recommend them.

Guys, thanks for the recommendations. I ended up going to Broad Ripple and was pleased with the results. The pants still had more break than I wanted, but I think that was more my lack of communication than their lack of execution.

Thought I would add to this thread rather than start a new one. Searching on here brought me to taking my suits to the two top rated places in Indianapolis - Lee's and Leon.

First and foremost, Lee's Tailoring at 70th/Keystone is the best as far as tailoring quality. You may be off-put by "Master Tailor" Lee's attitude - he isn't very talkative, he's extremely to the point, and he is not hesitant to tell you that the suit you have is just not right for you. I brought him a few suits (all thrifted and courtesy of CJ52Racers) and wanted to see which fit best before I purchased them. He immediately noticed my HF Tasmanian LP Super 130's suit without even looking at it for more than a split second when I tried it on in front of him. He was hesitant to reply when I asked which of the suits fit best, but told me that almost all but the Hickey were too long. Being an astute businessman, he of course told me that I need bespoke from him. This isn't actually a terrible idea considering his bespoke starts at $1400, MTM at $789. He also does Oxxford Bespoke for 4k, and has a wide range of top shelf fabric to choose from.

He took in and tapered the suit jacket sleeves on the Hickey for me as well as made my pants fit perfectly (let out slightly and shortened cuffs with just the right amount of break). I have to emphasize the quality of the work - the stitching, seams, everything is perfect. I am now not even the least bit concerned taking him my new, recent as ****, and badass (thanks again CJ52Racers) Isaia jacket and wouldn't think twice about taking in even higher end clothing to be altered or repaired. Turnaround time (without asking for it) was ONE week. Total cost $116.
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I brought the rest of the suits down to Leon Tailoring, a place that has been around forever (they probably suited my grandfathers). Overall, the attitude there was much more relaxed and I felt like I was back in time. The building was old, full of fabric rolls, had an old cash register on display, and there was a Colt's player there picking up his shirts - this is definitely an institution of downtown Indy. The owner helped me go through my pile of suits and determine what to keep/toss out - giving me great advice and admiring the suits that I brought him, still bearing the GW tags (because I have class). He told me "You don't know how much this jacket costs," point to my gorgeous Zegna 15milmil15 that was soft and looked fantastic. I attempted to explain the wizardry skills my friend Chris possessed. He was sold (as was I) on the vintage Harris tweed for BB, making it a definite "keep." He told me of the jackets was fine (saved me $), and brought up a pair of pants. The Harris got the sleeves brought in and buttons moved. But the problem child was the Zegna. It needed to be brought up a little and have the sleeves brought in. Because of the buttons, they would have to re-do the holes to match. Overall, this jacket was going to cost me some but the owner reassured me it was worth it - because that jacket is too good.

I wasn't at all worried about their work until I got home and discovered my Zegna jacket looked like someone who was high in junior high home-ec took a rotary cutter to the corner of the jacket to "shorten it." I took it back down and the owner helped me out, taking it back and reassuring me the jacket was totally fixable, they just didn't match the re-cut correctly. He chalked it, checked it twice, and apologized. I'm sure this was a total fluke, but the quality of the pressing and stitching just wasn't the same as Lee's. Next visit down, and it appeared they had done absolutely nothing different to the jacket. The other owner couldn't even tell what I was talking about, and defended their work by saying the houndstooth pattern is inherently confusing and it won't look even because of it. He then went on to talk about how the jacket was fused (?) when he opened the seam to show me their work. Very confused now, I showed him the part where it was cut unevenly and told him it didn't pass the girlfriend test from 5 feet away. He continued to tell me he couldn't see what I was talking about and I was about to recommend my optometrist. He said he would have it redone, and it was done that afternoon. It looks better, but still not perfect. I'm sure some of you can understand.. Once you see it, you almost can't un-see it. They didn't refund me or even offer to, and I was happy to just be done with them. I wish I could recommend Leon for basic tailoring, but their handiwork is just a C-average compared to the honor roll quality of Lee's.

In subsequent visits to Lee's, he has warmed up considerably and even did a quick stitch job at the tail of my overcoat for $10 - unbeatable. I'm taking a pair of trousers, two jackets, and a new Brooks 1818 Saxxon suit I just picked up from Marshalls for a steal that fits me like a glove, but needs finishing (again, credit to Chris for calling me on that).

Best tailor in Indianapolis, no matter the distance or slight increase in cost: Lee's Tailoring

Best dry cleaning in Indianapolis: Morellis

I started using Morellis at the recommendation of a few high-end shops around town and began taking a few things to have done. They recently did my two new to me/thrifted overcoats in cashmere and cashmere/mink PERFECTLY, even removing a little grime from the camel colored one. They got a nasty grease stain out of my HF suit (I'm an idiot) and their turnaround times are just incredible. Don't use anyone else.

Hope this helps any Indy area guys. And again, if you are in doubt - PM or reply. I can give you more reasons than you probably care why you shouldn't mess with other places.

In case you would like to see what kind of "quality" Leon puts out, this is what they sent out of the gate after my first visit, before being "fixed" two visits later.