Cheryl A Lofton & Associates

I am so glad to have discovered this place. They do good work with men’s clothes: I had a suit and some pants (which I had just purchased via a catalog) taken in and altered to fit me. They look custom made for me now. You will definitely pay more than you would at the dry cleaners, but this is real tailoring, not just a pant hem. It’s a great way to take an off the rack discount suit and make it look like you spent top dollar. I’ll certainly be back!

Cheryl saved the day by completely re-​making my wedding gown, which had been tailored overseas but in a fabric that I later discovered was see-​through (I know, major bummer). Cheryl found a similar, but slightly heavier and non-​transparent fabric, and created an even more beautiful version of my design. She did all this in about a month’s time and handled every detail with care and professionalism. She and her team were great to work with and my final bill was around $ 600 for a custom made wedding dress, including the purchase of the fabric. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking to have something made, remade, or altered. Thanks Cheryl!

I was actually compelled to write this review after reminiscing over some of my wedding photos from last year. It was a great day, but what makes me sad is how terrible my very simple strapless mermaid-​style gown looks on me! No one wants to look back at their wedding day and think that their dress looks bad, but that’s what I’m stuck with after the poor alternations from this shop. I am shocked at the number of good reviews this place has because the work was truly amateur.
I took a very straightforward Nicole Miller strapless for alterations in the chest, sides, and waist, and for a hem. I was unimpressed (especially after the $ 400 price tag on a dress that was under $ 1000) at the time, but I did not notice how unsatisfactory the work really was until we got the photos back. There is a weird foldover gap in the chest (hard to explain, but the inner material comes over the top and shows if I’m doing anything but standing up straight), and neither the sides, waist, nor chest area are actually form fitting. I have had a number of people ask me if my dress was handmade!
I should also add the prices are just absurd. I took a bridesmaids dress for a simple hem at the same time as my wedding dress alterations and was charged $ 98. I took essentially the same dress to a tailor in Georgetown this summer and was charged $ 20. When I asked the Georgetown tailor why the price was so low he was confused as to why I would ever be charged more because it was so simple. Granted I still think $ 20 for a hem on a bridesmaids gown is cheap, but the nearly $ 100 I was charged at Cheryl Lofton is crazy. I should also add that there is no transparency in their pricing, so I’m pretty sure I was just taken advantage of. When I asked how much it would be in advance they told me there is no way of knowing.
Long story short, I would stay away from this place if you’re getting alternations done for an important day. I went to the shop based on the great reviews and am now stuck with wedding photos that make me want to cry!

Fellas, this shop isn’t just for the ladies! They do great work on men’s clothes too. I have been taking my alternation needs to Cheryl and her team for more than three years now. They have worked on pants and jackets for me. Everything from taking up the length my pants to repairing an alteration job that was done incorrectly by some other seamstress. I have never walked out of this shop disappointed. They don’t just sew, they offer recommendations on what works and what makes the most sense to do.
I love their work, I love the quality of service, and I love the staff. I appreciate the work done in Cheryl’s shop so much that even though I moved to southern MD, I still take all my alterations into DC to have the work done by Cheryl and her team. I recommend her to all my friends. If you want your alterations to make your clothes look and fit right, I recommend her to you too!

I really wanted to like this place since it’s a local business (you can see it from our front door). The bridesmaid dress came back looking ok. However, they are exceptionally overpriced. When taking in a hem and minor changes to the waist 60% more than the original purchase price ($ 190 total; $ 45 for waist, $ 135 for hem), there is something really wrong there.
My fiancé had a not so great experience there also with some pants that he needed taken in.
The bridesmaid dress was a dry run for having them potentially alter my wedding dress. They will not be getting anywhere near that dress now.

I brought a vintage wedding dress to this shop with a bunch of issues. One, there were sweat stains under the arms that had probably been there for 60 years. Next, the waistline was way too small for me (25 in. and I’m 30 in.). Finally, the petticoat purchased for it was too long for the dress. After three visits, great advice from the women in the shop on how to make the dress work best for me, the dress turned out beautifully!
The tailor was a miracle worker. I never expected to actually be able to wear this dress on my wedding day, but figured I may as well try to make this dream dress I found work.
I’m so glad I turned the dress over to the expert hands of this crew. On each visit I was treated with great care and every interaction I had was incredibly professional. I even got a phone call one afternoon just after my visit telling me about a place to purchase a little belt for my dress, should I want the look – they has just discovered this place from another bride and thought to contact me to help me with my look.
I’m so grateful for the gift of my transformed dress. Great shop, great people.

Cheryl A Lofton & Associates altered a bridesmaid dress I wore to a wedding. I found the alterations to my chest, sides, and waist were done well. I had 2 fittings before I picked up the dress. However, the dress was too long when I picked it up, and I ended up stepping on it all day at the wedding. Also, I paid over $ 120 for alterations to a $ 200 dress. Seems really really really overpriced.
As for location, this place is really easy to find. If you get off at the Shaw stop and go north, this place is west on T street, next to a pizza place. There are usually some sketchy folks hanging out around the corner, but it’s mostly safe. The only other thing that made my experience less than perfect was that the hours were not great for anyone with a job with semi-​normal hours.

I brought my tux (profile pic) in to get tailored for a wedding I was in back in August. The wedding was less than two weeks and the tux was ready for me to pick up within a week! The alterations were done perfectly because I couldn’t have asked for a better fit. To top it off, the price was very reasonable!
I also had a blazer I wanted altered but she discouraged me from doing so because she felt the fit was pretty good and wouldn’t be worth spending the money to have it altered. Wow! When you find a business that’s all about customer service, high quality, and not ripping you off that’s a business I you go back to, as I definitely plan to.

This place is great. I need two pairs of jeans altered and my dress pants I wear to work. Everything fits perfectly now. They also are friendly and move quickly. I’ll be going back for sure.

I had an excellent experience altering my lace wedding gown here. They created a bustle, took in at the zipper and pulled up the ‘straps’. My fittings were always very fast, the people here are extremely friendly and the dress fit like a glove.

The people were nice, but that’s about the only good thing. I brought my wedding dress here after reading some good reviews, but I’m now convinced that people only wrote good things so others would have their clothing destroyed, too. I brought my wedding dress here to have a bustle put in, went in for my final fitting on Saturday to make sure it worked, and was told I could pick it up today (Thursday) because it needed to be steamed out. Thank goodness I checked the bag before leaving, because my dress was a wrinkled mess. It had not been steamed at all, and upon inspection, I discovered that part of the bustle wasn’t even sewn it, it simply had a pin in it. Additionally, there were snags on several places throughout my dress. When I pointed them out, I was told that they just put the bustle in. Technically, they didn’t even do that, but they definitely snagged my dress in the process of not doing their jobs. I waited while my dress was steamed out, and it was still completely wrinkled when the woman finished. I pointed out the wrinkles, and she said they just wouldn’t come out. I now have to find a new tailor to fix my wedding dress with just two weeks until the big day. Thanks so much for actually making my dress worse. Only come here if you hate your clothes and want them ruined.

Fantastic service! I arrived late one afternoon into DC, needing two pairs of trousers tapered. Michele was incredibly helpful, the alterations were perfect and the service was outstanding; the trousers were ready by 7am the next morning!

Everyone at the shop is friendly and patient, and they did an amazing job altering my ready-​wear wedding dress to make it look and fit like something far more expensive!

I have been coming to Cheryl for just over 2 years now. Most of my clothes need to be altered, and I’ve gone to many tailors over the years, but none compare to Cheryl. They stand out because they know how clothing is supposed to fit and they know the best methods for altering clothing. I made the mistake of taking a new pencil skirt somewhere else and I thought it was ruined, but Cheryl was able to recover it and now it fits perfectly.
I can’t say enough about this business and I’ve recommended it to everyone I know. As long as I am within driving distance, I will never have my clothes altered by anyone else. My clothes fit perfectly and her prices are fair and if something comes out wrong, they’ll work with you until it’s right.

Ms. Christina did a beautiful job with the alterations for a bridesmaid dress I brought here. Like most bridesmaid dresses, this dress was not at all flattering when I first got it, but thanks to Ms. Christina and the rest Cheryl’s team, now it looks amazing and I am so excited to wear it!
The total price was $ 135, which was about what I was expecting given that the dress needed significant alterations (thick strap shortened-​$ 25, 2 layer hem-​$ 45, sides taken in from top to bottom-​$ 65) and it was worth every penny. They had the dress ready exactly when they told me it would be (1 week later), and when I went to pick it up Ms. Christina took the time to have me try it on and make sure everything looked good before I left. She even fixed the zipper so it was easier to pull up by myself.
I highly recommend this place and definitely plan to go back any time I need alterations. Thanks! :-)

Cheryl is wonderful. I’ve asked her to taper, hem, and both take in and out pants, as well as tailoring suits that didn’t fit well. She always does a fantastic job. I’ve seen her do all sorts of complicated alterations to my wife’s clothes and she’s always satisfied. She’s incredibly professional, but also very warm. I always end up chatting with her and her staff when I go in.
I’d also add that they’ve added a new wrinkle by letting you know via text message when your clothes are ready, which is a neat change.

PERFECTION! Cheryl and her team are incredible! I had a rushed trip from Peru to DC for National Geographic’s 125^th Anniversary Gala. My husband (clearly a great Explorer — lol!) found Cheryl to alter the gown I’d ordered. It was a whole size too big but Cheryl worked miracles and made it fit me like a glove. She is funny, fun, ÜBER talented, and reasonably priced. Michele is awesome, too! You will love this place ~ I’m saving all my future alterations for Cheryl. I’m convinced she can make anything fit and look fantastic!

I here after reading all the positive reviews, expecting to have a great tailoring experience. Instead I got one of the worst tailoring experiences I’ve ever been through.
I came in with two brand new suits that only needed the pants hemmed and the sleeves shortened and two pairs of jeans that needed to be hemmed. I was told they were really backed-​up and it would be over a week before I could get my items. That was fine as I was in no rush, but still seems like an awfully long time for simple tailoring.
I tried on each piece in turn and had them pin it exactly where I wanted it without any trouble. However, when I came to pick up the pieces, only 1 piece was tailored correctly. The suit sleeves were of different lengths, with one shorter than the other, one pair of jeans also had one leg longer than the other and the second pair of jeans was 3 inches too long.
After apologizing for the errors, they corrected each one, but it took another week to get done. I went in and the second time they still hadn’t correctly fixed the sleeves on my suit, so I had to have them re-​do it a third time. After all this pressing and seaming, the sleeve is now stretched out and misshapen.
When I went back to get the suit the third time I also had them do a quick hem on a dress that I wanted to wear on my vacation coming up the next week, so I asked them if they could do it in two days and they agreed.
I went back in two days and all my items were finally completed and looked great. I was at least satisfied. Now, three months later the hems of all of my pieces are coming undone. The dress hem completely fell apart after about 4 washings. The seam on my suit skirt is coming out and the seam on a pair of jeans has also come undone.

I brought my wedding gown in for extensive alterations. After spending thousands of dollars on that sucker (tons of layers and silk and tulle and petticoats), I wanted to make sure that it was altered by someone who knew what they were doing and I was not disappointed. The price tag for alterations wasn’t cheap but it was fair, and the work was top notch. They quoted me a flat fee and didn’t let me take the dress home until it was exactly perfect – in all, I think I had four or five fittings. Cheryl even gave one of my bridesmaids a discount on her dress alterations.
I bought the dress over a year prior to my first fitting, so it was at least 2 sizes too big, and Gayle did an amazing job making sure it fit exactly as it should. I didn’t spend any time on my wedding day pulling my dress up or around because it fit perfectly. Gayle added a bustle that looked amazing, and she taught my bridesmaids how to work it on my last appointment. I was worried that the delicate silk satin would get pulls in it throughout the alterations process, but there were none. That thing fit me like a glove and was obviously treated with care the entire time it was worked on by Cheryl’s staff.
Cheryl’s tailor also altered my husband’s «bespoke» tuxedo, which was supposed to be made and delivered to his exact measurements, but came to him looking like more like a very expensive, midnight blue potato sack. In 2 appointments it was back to its intended glory. We both looked fab on our wedding day.
Would definitely recommend Cheryl Lofton without reservation. This is my go-​to place. And they’re all so nice and fun, too!

I can’t speak to the quality of the work by these people, since I was stood up for my appointment.
About a week before Christmas I made an appointment to come in and discuss having them do the alterations for my wedding gown. On the day and time of the appointment (Jan 9^th, 10 AM), I took time out from my work day, and arrived at this shop. No one was there. I called and got a voicemail, saying they would be back from vacation on January 9^th. I left a message, saying I was standing outside, ready for my appointment. I still haven’t heard from them. (You couldn’t even return my call???) Even if I did, I’m not sure I would trust these seemingly irresponsible people with my expensive wedding gown.