Alteration Specialist

This place is awesome brought my dress blues coat to get it altered for my wedding. I dropped it off on Monday and it was ready Wednesday in perfect condition and ready to go, fit exactly how it was supposed to and the ladies here are the best when I came in they took one look at me and it knew exactly what to do didn’t even have to take measurements came out perfect I would definitely come back here! And couldn’t beat the price and turnaround time

Perfect every time! The owner is super nice and professional. I’ve brought in jeans for hemming (forgot how much) plus several work dress hems $ 8 – 9.

I have been going here for years. I moved and still come back. Dropped off 4 pairs of pants for hemming ($ 5 each) and my roommate picked them up for me on Wednesday. Love this place.

I had the worst experience here. The owner — the old lady with glasses — has no sense of matching colors. She would NOT want to listen to what I tried to say. She was rude and ignorant. }:(
Very disappointing…

I’ve been going here for years and there used to be 2 nice ladies. Now there must have been an ownership change because the last 2 times I’ve gone a very rude Korean lady is all by herself. She doesn’t greet anyone and keeps changing prices for the same type of work. When I told her last month she charged me this price, she said, ‘it doesn’t matter.’ That is awful customer service. And I will not be returning. Such a shame as I need things altered often.

You can go this shop… If you want to RUIN YOUR EVENT!!!
They are NOT punctual at all! I have a event so I bought a dress and let them fix that dress. When I came back to pick it up, they even didn’t touch my dress, worst, they suggested me to pinch the dress with barbie pins and wear it. So rude… Not professional attitude.

The seamstresses here have very keen eyes & are very skilled at what they do. They are very helpful in making the right decisions to alter your items the best way to suit your needs. Whatever your heart desire, they will make it possible. All you need to do is verbalize it! ;) Their turn around time is fairly quick also, typically 3 – 4 days.

Ugh… I brought a blouse in for what I thought was a simple repair of a small torn v-​neck collar on a silk top and it was completely ruined! The tear was just pinched together and sewn back and forth all crooked everywhere and in white thread when the blouse was a magenta color!!! They charged me $ 4 but it cost me my $ 185 Diane vonFurstenberg blouse!!! OmG… I’m not a professional but I could have and should have just done it myself and not mess up!!! NEVER EVER COMING BACK AGAIN. I would advise others to not come here either because they are NOT Specialists in alterations and repairs as their business name claims.

I really wanted to like this place. I really did. Because it’s located so close to my house, I wanted this place to be my go-​to tailor. Unfortunately, I had a horrible first hand experience with this place WITHOUT reading any of the recent Unilocal reviews. I will never do that again!
For my first visit, I dropped off a pair of slacks that I wanted hemmed. Straight-​forward. A young Korean-​American girl marked my pants while I tried them on with the heels that I would wear them with. I picked them up on the date that was quoted to me, but I noticed that the pants were not pressed. Ok. About a month later, I wore these slacks to a nice outing with the shoes that I had tried them on with. They dragged on the floor and looked like I was wearing some hand-​me-​downs. Ugh!!! Ok, maybe she just measured them incorrectly.
On my second visit, I took these slacks back and thankfully, they didn’t charge me for a re-​do. I also had a pair of jeans that I tried to do the original hem on at home. I didn’t really like how they turned out because my sewing machine is not heavy duty enough to neatly go over the thick side seams of jeans. All they had to do was re-​sew the hems. The third pair of pants were a pair of Paige jeans that I bought for a pretty penny at Nordstrom’s years ago. After I bought them, I took them to a place where «original hems» was their specialty. Over the years, I wore them less and less because I had to wear them with a heel. So, I wanted these jeans to be shortened to wear on a daily basis. I tried on ALL of the pants before I had them altered with the catty Korean lady that is mentioned in the recent Unilocal reviews. She wasn’t warm and fuzzy, but attended to me like she knew what she was doing.
I picked up my pants on the date that they had promised, BUT… My slacks were hemmed too short. I can only wear these with flats. Ugh!!! The second pair of jeans were only re-​done on one side. The other side was exactly how I had sewed them. SIGH! The last pair of jeans were a HOT MESS!!! I know that some people take short cuts with doing «original hems» by folding the pant leg over the hem and then stitching a line just above the hem. This is a SLOPPY short cut and it looks BAD!!! I was leary that they might do this, but thought that they’d get what I meant by «original hem» by the jeans that I had first done at home!
LESSON: The proper way to do «original hem» is to cut the pants to a desired length and them to re-​attach the hem. But FIRST, you gotta take out the seam of the hem and re-​sew it. Most times, the width of the hem is smaller as you move up the pant leg, so you gotta cut the excess on the sides to match the opening of the pant. Sorry, hope this makes sense. The point is, I know how original hems should be done and this is NOT it!!! Also!!! One side of the «altered» jeans was longer than the other. How does this happen??? My legs are NOT different lengths! Further!!! The openings of the pant legs were larger than they should be!!! Basically, they had pressed the ends so that they stretched to match the orginal hem. Really??? You need to cut the excess on the side to match the actual size of the pant leg!
Although I wasn’t completely satisfied with the first 2 pair of pants, I let it go. However, the third pair of pants were ALL wrong and I think that I had paid $ 12 – 15. I was going to give them a THIRD chance to make ammends. I called the «alterations» place and spoke to a Korean lady over the phone. It was not the same lady who took my pants in. She said to bring the jeans in and that they would fix them.
I explained to the lady why I was unsatisfied and EXACTLY what she would need to do to fix them. She had all sorts of explanations for everything I pointed out. When I finally asked her how she could explain the gross mistake in pant lengths, she says, «well, that’s our mistake». Ok, thank you! When I told her that the jeans just didn’t feel right and that I wasn’t happy, she took a piece of masking tape, placed it on the pant leg, and writes in Korean «to make her happy», I was just livid! Livid!!! Since they made the pant legs wider than they should be, I asked her to taper them. She said that she couldn’t do it and that the legs would be twisted. For a quick second, she offered to give me my money back. Why bother with this place again? I had to cut my losses and take the money.
PS. I don’t know what happened to Carlos, but he seems to be the «magic» in this place. The magic is gone, cuz I didn’t see a Carlos in the back area. :/​
PSS. Researched Unilocal reviews for a proper tailor… Style Today Tailor in Tustin. They are MAGIC!!!

The lady who owns the store has a bad attitude. She acts as though we need her service more than she needs our business. Worst customer service ever! I get everything I buy tailored and she lost tons of business from me because of her bitchy attitude. She made my dress too short and I kindly addressed it. She fought me on it at first and then said she would fix it. When I went back for the dress Carlos told me, «oh this is your dress? She didn’t want to iron the dress for some reason.» What a baby! Just own up to it, apologize and move on, lady! Since, I have found a new place called style today tailor in tustin and have been very happy with them. It’s a little further from me but well worth not giving Alteration Specialists any more business.

This was my go to spot to get all my alterations done. The place is nearby my home and the prices were very reasonable. I believe the store has changed ownership and the previous owner and their son/​employee Karlos is no longer there. His service was impeccable. No matter how busy they were, he would always stop to greet you, apologize for the wait and try to attend to your needs as soon as he could.
I haven’t had a need to come in for any alterations for a few months until this last Saturday. I noticed that Karlos and the elderly husband and wife was not present, to replace them this younger korean lady. I asked the lady if there was a change in ownership and she said no. So I asked what happened to Karlos? She claimed he quit months ago and has never seen him. I wasn’t really sold on her story that there was no change in ownership.
Today, as I went back to pick up my pants. There was another customer in the shop getting measured. The same lady was there by herself. She didn’t bother to greet or acknowledge me until probably 5 minutes later until after she was done conversing with the customer. As I approached the counter to pay and give her my money. She took my money, put in the drawer, while still conversing with the other customer and almost forgot to give me back my change. This entire time not providing me with any acknowledgement or service. I picked up my pants and walked out without even a Thank you or Goodbye. I would never come here again as long as that lady is there.

Have been coming here to this mom and pop tailor to get my alterations done for years. They have altered my dance dresses to my jeans and it has always come out better than I expect it to without making a huge dent in my wallet. They usually take a day or two to finish your order so just take your clothes in ahead of time!

No.
Comparing my first and second visit:
— first visit was good, prices were good, alterations came out great.
second visit only a few weeks apart from the first:
— they raised their prices
— didn’t alter one of my skirts at all so I had to make another trip and when I made that second trip — the skirt was still not done. When I finally did picked up that skirt, the back was longer than the front and I clearly remember the bottom of the skirt being completely straight. They disagreed and said they didn’t touch the hem. So now, I have a small high-​low business skirt that was originally a straight business skirt. I waited over a week for it and paid the new price for it.

Very nice Korean owned shop. They Hermes a few pairs of pants for me. Did a great job and it was ready by the next day. They have changing rooms there too.

LOVE THIS PLACE!!!
I found this placed based on their Unilocal reviews. It’s a little far from my apartment but I’m pretty picky about alterations so I figured I’d give them a try. It was SO worth the drive!
I walked in with 5 pairs of pants: two dress pants I needed the waists taken in on, as well as the inseams; two pairs of jeans that had HUGE rips in the butt that I was hoping could be salvaged, and one pair of jeans that needed to be hemmed. The woman pinned the dress pants exactly how I wanted (she would pinch the fabric and ask me if that’s how I’d want them before pinning it). She was SO sweet. And I was back out the door in 15 minutes tops (I went on a Friday around 11am). All 5 were ready for pick up by Tuesday, and the whole package was only $ 78!
My jeans with the rips look AMAZING, I didn’t think it was possible to fix them and you can hardly even see the stitching. My dress pants fit perfectly, and my jeans are the perfect length. I am BEYOND satisfied and will definitely go back for any future needs.
***Important to note: they only accept cash or check and you have to pay when you drop off**

Where so I even BEGIN!
Work is okay if it’s not a difficult job. The man Carlos who works here is the nicest guy and is grateful for the work that he gets. However, the Korean gal that works here and her Husband are INSANE! No concept of what customer service is. They own the shop and are the rudest most un-​polite business owners I have personally ever met in my life. I didn’t even want to pick up my pants because this woman is so rude! I even told her that I didn’t appreciate her attitude towards me and that I didn’t deserve it and she looked at me like I was poop on the ground… NO JOKE!
If you like being disrespected and looked down upon for services that you are purchasing I recommend this shop. If you want good customer service and quality work go somewhere else! Even in a pinch!

2^nd time I’ve thrown a dress at them and asked for it the next day. The lady is super nice and while she doesn’t seem to speak too much English, seems to always understand what I want done.
Came in to pick up my dress and it still needed a slight alteration added. They corrected it in 20 min.

I came here based on the great reviews and was shocked to receive such bad quality service and customer care. I’ve had a lot of jeans ruined here (because I was stupid and took more than one to get altered at the same time) but I’ll narrow it down to the most atrocious experience from the others.
I bought my mom a pair of Paige denim for over $ 200 but the length was a bit too long so we took it to these so called «specialists» to get the original hem done on the jeans. I’ve gotten original hems done on many of my jeans in the past from another tailor and know what it looks like but my goodness, they just butchered my mom’s pants!
This is going to be a long post but please read about my experience before you consider going here.
My mom went in and wore sandals that were about two inches high and the guy, Karlos, measured the jeans and pinned them for that length (to the bottom of the shoe) as to make sure they weren’t going to be too short (just in case). However, when we went to go pick up the pants, the length was indeed too short while trying on the pants barefoot. It was an inch too short to be exact and like I have said, my mom got these pants measured wearing high sandals! How does this happen?! Okay, so people make mistakes and that’s fine AND we got the original hem done so I’m thinking it’s going to be okay.
…Actually, no, it’s not going to be okay because the lady «specialist» had cut off all of the remaining length and just kept the original stitching to make it «original hem.» That’s not all what ORIGINAL HEM is supposed to be about, it’s also about keeping the full length of the pants. I checked with other tailors after this incident just to make sure I wasn’t mistaken and all the tailors I had asked stated that you’re not supposed to cut anything off from the pants if the client asks for original hem.
Anyway, so we take the pants back and ask the lady what she can do and she says there really isn’t anything that she can do and goes on to explain why that is and, really, it doesn’t make any sense. She’s just trying to make excuses for her mistake. She tells us she will do whatever she can to make it «wearable.» We leave the pants and hope for the best. We go back in a few days to pick it up and she’s basically made the pants into franken-​pants. She took the hem off and somehow reattached it to the bottom. Why would you cut off the length to begin with?! What if you want it longer down the road? What if the person measuring it made a mistake?
In the end, she said that was all she could do and continued to make excuses without apologizing! I hate how people make mistakes and they can’t own up to it. If she had simply apologized for her short comings it wouldn’t have aggravated us further. In addition to this, she has the audacity to tell us to keep our voices low so her other clients can’t hear our conversation about the ruined pants.
Oh, and she says that for future reference we have to ASK them to make the pants longer even though they measure it. Ummm… so why the hell do you measure it in the first place if you have to ask for it be longer? I mean, in the end it didn’t even matter right? Seeing how my mom wore higher shoes to compensate for marginal measuring errors and it still ended up looking like floods on her.
Also, I don’t think we are the only ones who had a problem with the pants being too short because there was another client there with us who wanted her velour pants to be shortened an inch and they took off 3 inches. That lady seemed pretty angry too because she was cursing on her way out. It looked like she had a pretty simple hem job on those too, as did my husband’s jeans but they still managed to make it crooked. Like, my husband had said, maybe they have a blind person in the back hemming the pants.
I guess if you want to rock the «floods-​look» you will be most happy here. As for me, I am done with this so called «Alteration Specialist.» Please take a look at the franken-​pants photos and see what kind of job.
Whew! It feels a little better to put that out there. Thanks for reading!

For quick, cheap, and quality alterations, Alteration Specialist is the place! At some point in my life, I was very much into designer jeans but being Asian, it’s hard to get just the right length of pants without having to alter it. I don’t like paying more $$ on top of my already expensive jeans at Nordstrom soooooo I used to ask my friend to drop it off at her alterations place somewhere in LA where it’s obviously a lot cheaper. UNTIL I came accross this place! $ 13 for original hem and $ 5 for regular hem in Irvine?! Oh heck yeah! The lady who is the owner of this shop is really sweet and nice. She’s the one who normally takes the measurements while her son works at the back for pick ups and payments. Speaking of payment, they only accept cash or check so come prepared. I never had to wait for more than 2 business days to come back and pick up my pants. Great service!
It’s a bit tricky finding the place because of the staircase in front of it but it is situated in the same complex as Northwood Pizza… right across from the Chase branch. Not to worry about parking, there’s plenty.

I went to Alteration Specialist because I was in a huge panic to get my bridesmaid dress altered for a weekend wedding. I waited until the last minute and knew my regular tailor would never be able to get my alterations done in 24 hours. I also wanted to find a place near my work so I could go on my lunch break.
The location is a little hard to find and tucked away in a shopping center. It’s on the left hand side of a grocery store, so do not get impatient if you cannot find it right away.
When I walked in, Carlos immediately greeted me and I told him my plight of procrastination. He quickly ushered me into a dressing room and I tried on my taffeta dress. He recommended how we could quickly and cheaply alter the dress without taking the entire thing in. As many know, alterations can cost a pretty penny especially when it comes to dresses.
I was able to get the strap altered for under twenty bucks. The service was prompt and I picked up in less than 24 hours. As a side note, they only take cash or check so come prepared!