Hollywood Studio Alterations by Alex
Sewing & Alterations
6420 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA 90028
I really have had low expectations when it comes to tailoring. My motto is: as long as it fits, I am happy. I could care less about the straightness of the stitching, or uniformity of it or silly nuances that nobody else would notice except the person who is wearing it.
Until now! Well I surprised myself with actually having expectations because apparently I did. I took one shirt (new) and two old corduroy pants here. I guess with all these raving reviews, I was surprised when I got back a slightly asymmetrical tapered shirt and two shorts with strangely uneven and high, almost an inch from the bottom, stitching patterns. They reminded me of how my friend Kiernan sewed me a pair of shorts cut up from jeans on his tiny Singer sewing machine from what he learned for a high school sewing course. The shirt was tighter on the left side than the right. I had to confirm this with my partner because I thought I was going crazy.
This tailor shop seemed highly recommended by Yelp and is about a mile away from me, which is why I came. The owner or the guy working here was really gruff and not ‘friendly’ as indicated in numerous reviews and he assumed I was from Yelp. Perhaps it was because I have a full sleeve of tattoos, long hair, and didn’t have a thousand-dollar suit with me that I am some goober from Yelp. In any event, he certainly didn’t treat me any nicer. Back to the two ratty corduroy pants I had: one pair was so badly faded and worn, that I wanted to turn them to shorts. The other pair I had picked up for $4 at a Salvation Army in the Inland Empire, originally from Old Navy. They were so fancy, the velcro on the back pockets still worked, sort of. I also wanted to turn these to shorts.
He tried to sell me on $50 for tailoring two pairs of pants into shorts. This is over double what I’ve paid for not only the pants but for other things I’ve gotten tailored in at least other two tailor shops. I declined, since I could go elsewhere for half the cost. He negotiated down to $40. Fine.
This guy’s accent made it hard to understand him. He sounded like the “YOU BUY, YOU BUY!” Roma street merchant on the Simpsons who tried to sell Lisa a dead octopus when she got lost in the Russian part of town.
After he negotiated down the ridiculously high price to a high price, he then wanted me to schedule a time.
Him: (In heavy accent, him missing some connecting verbs and prepositions) What day you want pick up?
Me: Anytime, it’s up to you.
Him: NO, what day you want pick up?
Me: Okay then, how about today or tomorrow?
Him: NO, you pick up Sunday. 3 p.m. Cash only.
What the fuck? If you are so picky about days, then pick a day yourself dude like I originally suggested. And cash only? There was a credit card machine not even a foot away from me next to the door.
I would NOT recommend this place unless I was a lame news anchor or suit and tie professional making a six or seven (or eight or nine) figure salary in the immediate area. I guess I could then brag to my colleagues at a chichi cafe about my adventurous trip to an off the beaten path tailoring shack on a crummy parking lot off Hollywood and Cahuenga.
Extra star because they still look decent. Bottom line, not worth it!
Useful: 6 Funny: 3 Cool: 0
11/10/2013