No. In fact, I never heard of an alteration store.

My friend André has an alterations shop and has been kept busy full time for about 20 years. She makes good $$$ and promises a one week turnaround. She even wrote a book on it.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/154888516/book-andres-alterations-and-clothing?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=alterations%20book&ref=sr_gallery_12

I have never heard of a place that just did alterations. I'm a bit confused as to why your friend's daughter didn't have her wedding dress altered at the place where she bought it.

I am petite and it seems I have shrunk even more making me about 5' and a bit. So, even petite clothing can be too long.

I have two tailors. One is an old world Italian woman who works from her front porch. She is very inexpensive, but her work is not stellar. I would not give her a cocktail dress or anything expensive.

My other tailor is a Korean older man who works at the dry cleaners. He works magic. He will also not alter something if he thinks it won't look good. He will tell me to bring it back! Once he charged me $12 to shorten straps on a dress for my daughter, when I baulked he said, no now it's $14. I had to laugh.

There are many alterations/tailor shops in my area. That is all they do. Some have been in business for 40+ years. I frequent one that is owned and operated by two sisters who are in their late 70's. They will also help design and make any garment requested. Prices are very reasonable.

Eld6161, I have recently been to several bridal salons and was surprised to find that some do not do alterations, but will refer someone.

I'm short so almost everything I purchase has to be altered. A good alterations shop is one of the first things I try to find when I move to a new area. Sometimes, the alterations cost more than the price of the item.

As an attorney, my husband had to wear suits to work most days. A bespoke suit, or a made-to-measure suit (there is a difference between the two), is custom fit to the wearer when it is purchased/made. Men virtually always have to have a suit tailored when they purchase it "off the rack."

The pants have to be hemmed to the proper length, and the wearer has to also decide if he wants cuffed pants or no-cuff. The suit jacket sleeves have to be altered to the correct length. Sometimes an alteration has to be made to the upper back between the shoulder blades.

My husband recently retired so he doesn't often need to wear a suit anymore, but he has 16 beautiful suits in our cedar-lined master walk-in closet!

I use an alteration shop every few years. My daughter needed a dress for her end of elementary school celebration last year. She's only about 4' 8", but wants a more grown up look. The dress that she fell in love with was strapless. I went and bought some blue satin and thread and then found a person to add wide straps and replace the ribbon tie with a satin tie to match the straps. That cost me $25. because I needed it done in less than a week.

Yes, shortening a too-long shirt or properly hemming a favorite pair of pants. Proper fit makes a difference. Some people can wear clothes off the rack, but I have trouble with that as I am short waisted, and long legged.

Actually, now that I am thinking about this, there is an alteration shop in my town. The vibe to me seems more geared for men, i.e. suit alterations.

Yes, I have alterations done. If a garment has sleeves too long, or pants too long, I feel uncomfortable and do not like to wear those items. It's worth it to me to spend a little to make the garment one I enjoy wearing.

The local mall has two little shops that all they do is alterations. I often get pants and jackets altered. They are really busy all the time.

In our mall, Winners moved right across from a long-time alteration shop and people walk from Winners straight to the alteration shop - me included.

yippee, I can do it myself but if alteration was more than darts, hemming, I just wouldn't buy the item.

Bridal shops around here don't to the alterations and this one was refereed from the bridal shop.

A lot of my friend's customers bring in nearly every item they purchase. Some because they are very short or have short or uneven arms or legs, or they've lost or gained weight, a hip that juts out on one side, or something like that. I showed her a dress I was going to donate and she asked why and I said because it didn't hang right on me. It had a long row of buttons down the front and they skewed to one side. She reached out, pinched a. bit at my right shoulder and they straightened right up. She could tell at a glance, my right shoulder was a tad lower than the left. I never noticed that!

I was happy to give away my custom made suits at retirement, it was symbolic. I got a new suit and I now make an effort to never wear it. The adoption of "business casual" in my area in the early 1990s caused a major apparel style shift and turned out to be a genie that never went back into the bottle.

Chisue, my Hubs is giving away all but about 2 or 3 of his suits (he's already gotten rid of some). A couple of our nephews are going to come by in a few days to try on some of the suits (the guys are similarly sized). They get "first pick," then the rest are going.

Once, (many, many moons ago) I found out that my brother was charged $20 just to have 1 pair of pants hemmed up. $20 back then was a lot of money for us. Ever since, mom and I did the family alterations. I'm glad I learned how to sew. It saved me a lot of money since I too, am short; 90% of pants I purchased need to be shorten.

Never had anything altered. But I do have to try stuff on since I wear a 2 ,4, or 6. Amazing how inconsistent sizes are. Wore a size two Banana Republic Capris today and yet trying on a 2 the other day,I found they were too tight.

I'm a fortunate do-it-yourselfer in the tailoring department thanks to excellent training over the years. I had a wonderful Home Economics teacher 4-years in high school who taught us tailoring since most of us already knew how to sew our clothes (thanks to our mother's and 4-H). We were making fully-lined wool plaid jackets and skirts with a blouse our junior year.

My best friends mother was an excellent seamstress (and former home economics teacher) and would help when I was a teen and making my own clothing - especially when it came to measuring and altering the patterns. I made both of my prom dresses with her help, and the last one using patterns from 3 different pattern companies for a near-original design, and I also made my wedding gown.

I also took several sewing classes through the County Extension Office over the years, and learned how to make patterns - we tailored the patterns so our pants/skirts fit us perfectly and made muslin sewing patterns. Now you can get custom-fitted patterns made by a computer.

Back in the 80's I taught a kids class at the Extension Office on how to make your own "jams" (shorts) which were all the rage back then. I taught basic sewing/altering skills to both our son and daughter.

When I needed better clothing for work than what I could easily afford to buy, I would purchase men's suits at thrift stores and turn them into a jacket, weskit, or vest, and slacks or a skirt (depending on how many pieces the suit had - loved those with two pairs of slacks ;-) for a fraction of the cost of new.

I'm also the "repair queen" when it comes to clothing and knits.

Grain lady, would you mind sharing a picture of your wedding dress? I think that making a wedding gown is the ultimate achievement!

I tried learning how to sew, but I just wasn't good at it.

When I was working I used to go to a woman who altered my clothes for me. Now that I'm retired, I do it myself. But definitely, if your body is not "ready to wear" sized then alterations are going to be your best friend. It is amazing how even a less expensive clothing item will look more expensive if it fits properly, and no matter how expensive it is, it won't look good if it doesn't fit.

@eld6161-

Thank you for asking, but I don't post pictures on-line... A.) I don't know how. B.) I am not interested enough to learn how. My children say I'm "computer Amish" ;-)

I did hand embroidery in silk (white-on-white) on the bodice and it was made out of milk fabric. Weird, huh? They have been making fabric out of milk since WWI).

i'm very short, and used to have all my pants hemmed. Then i learned that if i bought capris, they fit perfectly as full length pants.

I have altered dress pants for myself and my husband.

My mom helped me make my prom dress and my wedding dress.

My mother in law was kind enough to hem a bridesmaid dress for me when I was 8 months pregnant. It looks quite comical now, like a reverse train!

I have also sewn dresses for my daughter's and myself but I've never used a store pattern.

I'm very grateful that my mom taught me to sew and I've never needed to visit a tailor.

Other than having a bridesmaid dress altered, I've never had anything altered. Didn't know it was an option, and I've learned to let my tall body adapt without that feature.

A question for the folks who say they do their own sewing an alterations and "don't need a tailor."

When someone goes to a tailor, they put on the clothing that needs to be altered, and the tailor puts in pins and/or uses tailor's chalk to mark the places that need to be taken in / let out / hemmed up / have the hem dropped, etc., etc. How do you manage to accomplish this all by yourself?

Well for my pants if I don't have someone to help me pin, it's a lot of eyeballing, bend over, pin, stand up straight again, etc.

Usually I try to grab hubby or a kiddo and tell them, "move up, up, too far, down a little more, OK, put the pin in there."

Then a run a tack stitch, try on again to make certain hem is at the right length and stitch it up properly.

Yes. Pants, coats, skirts, dresses, etc...

In answering to Lindsey_CA question, that's what the adjustable mannequin is for. I have one that can be adjusted to my body size. Height can be adjusted as well.

Years ago when I couldn't afford one, I did what Texas_Gem did for the first piece. Then, used that piece to measure for the pieces after.

ntt_hou- Wow! I never even thought of that as I didn't previously have the space for a mannequin. Where did you get yours from?