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Elaine's of Palo Alto
Categories: Shopping Bridal Local Services Sewing & Alterations Bridal, Sewing & Alterations [Edit]
3332 Middlefield RdPalo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 493-1433
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 10 am - 5 pm
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Parking:
- Street
- By Appointment Only:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
14 reviews for Elaine's of Palo Alto
14 reviews in English
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Review from Dina P.
Hayward, CA
3/22/2010
I took a bridesmaid dress to Elaine. I was in a bit of a rush to have it done, and I felt pretty bad for the amount of pressure I put on her to have it done. She was extremely nice about it and my dress fit PERFECT. I looked long and hard for one little area that looked altered, and it was absolutely seamless. I can't say how much I appreciate her help.
It's true that it cost more than taking it back to David's Bridal, but it was fast and absolutely amazing. When it comes to this kind of work, the extra dollars as SO worth it. -
Review from Mei-Lin P.
Mountain View, CA
9/27/2011
One of the most important things for anyone to look good in their clothes is a tailor. Unless you're a fit model, chances are, things aren't going to fit you off the rack. I regularly take my clothes to get altered at another location, but for my wedding dress I wanted to find someone who specializes in wedding alterations.
My wedding dress was a rush job (my fault for waiting till the last minute) and did not fit me properly (for all those brides-to-be, wear the bra you're planning to wear at the wedding or the bust will not fit properly). I had also been working out to get in shape for the wedding, so I needed to have the dress taken in. The dress was too low-cut despite my request to raise the neckline by a couple of inches.
When I brought my dress in to Elaine, she was critical of the dress, pointing out all the things wrong with the garment. She takes great pride in her work and I think it disturbed her to see what was in her eyes, shoddy workmanship. I asked her, "Can this be fixed?" She told me yes. She redid the seaming on the darts to fit my bust better, hemmed the dress so it was even, and took it in on the sides and the back to give me a better shape. She also cut and hand-sewed a panel of lace to the front of the dress to raise the neckline. It was so well done, it looked like part of the design of the dress.
For simple jobs like hemming or taking in a garment, I think you can find a tailor with more reasonable prices. However, if you have a really expensive garment that you don't want to ruin or a difficult alteration, I would recommend Elaine. -
Review from A K.
Brooklyn, NY
6/4/2011
Brought a bridesmaid dress to Elaine's a few months ago. Although she is a sweet personable lady, the experience was subpar and too expensive. The dress just needed to be hemmed. It took 3 weeks.
When I called to pick up the dress for the first time, it wasn't ready. Elaine made an excuse, but seems like she just forgot about it. A week later I went to pick it up to find the hem was uneven. Sick of going back to her house, I vowed to pick up the dress on my third visit. And so I did.
However the craftsmanship was not good. The sheer dress had a 2.5 inch hem folded under. As you can imagine, this 2.5 inch border looked pretty weird with the light-weight see-through fabric.
At that point I was so over futzing with the dress that I just paid and left.
All in all, do not recommend. -
Review from Matt C.
Mountain View, CA
6/12/2011
I'm a tall guy and most things off the rack don't fit me unless they are "tall" sized. I bought a wool coat that had the right sleeve length for me, but was too big in almost every other dimension.
I brought this coat to Elaine, thinking she would just take in main torso part of the coat (so I wouldn't feel like I was wearing a tent.) She did that, AND took in the sleeve diameter, AND altered the cut of the coat in general so it fit my shoulders perfectly. All for a very reasonable price for the amount of work. And I get to wear a custom-tailored coat. I was super happy with the work and the pleasant experience! -
Review from Melanie D.
Mountain View, CA
11/18/2008
It was $30 to get wide-legged pants hemmed to a slimmer leg and $22 to get another pair of pants hemmed to a shorter inseam with the original hem. I was very happy because now I'll actually wear the wide-legged pants out! Before, I just had them hanging in my closet because they were so wide - the look on me was very short, fat mushroom. Not appealing at all! :)
She was really nice, but my email kept going into her spam, making communication somewhat hard. She says she prefers email communication to calling, too. Also, I think her personality is fun but I could see it rubbing some people the wrong way.
Her work is high quality. And she specializes in wedding dresses. After seeing her work on my pants, I would trust her with my wedding dress, which is what I'm about to do in a couple of months. ;) -
Review from K A.
Sacramento, CA
8/4/2009
I wish I could say I had a good experience, but NO! It was awful, awful, AWFUL!
I brought a very expensive bridesmaid gown to Elaine, tried it on for her and was quoted $50-60. When I went to drop off the dress, she jacked up the price to $120!! I felt like she took advantage of me. On the advice of a friend, I contacted her and asked if she could negotiate the price to come in closer to her original quote. She was passive aggressive and really unprofessional considering she had DOUBLED her quote.
In the end, she agreed to do the work for $100. But I didn't realize that for $20 less, she just wasn't going to alter the entire top half of my dress!! So she pretty much screwed me over for $100 and I was forced to take my dress elsewhere to complete the job.
The worst part is that she was legitimately rude during the situation. If you are going to jack up your prices, at least be understanding that customers are going to have questions. But no, she chose to be mean AND not do a good job altering my dress.
THERE ARE BETTER OPTIONS OUT THERE FOLKS!!!Comment from Elaine G. of Elaine's of Palo Alto 8/18/2009
I realize that it is impossible to please everyone, but I… More » -
Review from Geri S.
Palo Alto, CA
8/2/2008
Elaine has been my alteration maven ever since I relocated here from Washington D.C.
I have never known a better seamstress or creative professional in my life. The work she did on my clothes was nothing short of a miracle. She is always gracious, generous and professional.
She is the best... -
Review from Evan C.
San Jose, CA
10/20/2009
I had a mixed experience with Elaine. On the one hand, she is very personable with reasonable prices, and good about checking email. I took my tux in for a rush job since the wedding was in less than a week. In the end, the tux fit very well. So why did I only give her 2 stars?
My rating is more a reflection of all the little things. I was quoted a price of only part of the job and the total was higher than what I was expecting. She also left out the fact that she accepted cash or check only so it was slightly awkward and it totally cleaned me out.
All that, I can live with. The part that didn't feel too great was that when I dropped the tux off, I clearly stated that I needed it done by Wednesday because we were traveling on Thursday for the wedding. Then, when the end of Wednesday came around and still no contact from Elaine, I called in to check on the progress. The tux wasn't finished and she told me that I had given her a later date and started to blame me for the miscommunication. We figured it out and she got the tux done by the next morning and the story ends well. I would consider giving it another shot since her work was good quality and she was very nice but I would hesitate based on all the little things that made the experience such a chore. So, reader beware, she seems to be hit or miss.Listed in: My Neighborhood
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Review from Tanya S.
Palo Alto, CA
11/30/2009
Elaine is the only person I'd trust to get an alterations job done honestly and get it done right. She is wonderful!
My husband took his wedding suit to Elaine, and I brought my wedding gown and reception dress. Elaine's work was exquisite. Based on my positive experiences, I went through my closet to bring her all my items needing altering, and a few pants that had previously mediocre jobs from various dry cleaners.
Elaine understands fabrics, she understands your body type, and she knows what is flattering as well as possible. I will never take alterations anywhere else and recommend her work 100% !! -
Review from Daniel C.
Palo Alto, CA
11/22/2008
Elaine Goldman recently altered two suits and trousers for me. The suits were originally from http://Overstock.com and I would say that when I first received the suits in the mail and put them on, I felt like a midget in a space-suit.
Elaine's tailoring was, to say the last, beautiful and very reasonably priced. I have received so many compliments on my suit and how well it fits me, and I owe it in large part to Elaine.
So, for any guys who want to look for an excellent tailoring job with fast turn-around time and a reasonable price, I would strongly suggest Elaine.
- Daniel
P.S.
The one negative review I read below must be bogus, because the customer service I received was fantastic. -
Review from Leslie F.
Sunnyvale, CA
3/24/2009
Elaine is very professional and really nice. She tailored my pants with too wide legs and now they look great. I can recommend her without reservation.
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Review from b g.
Beaverton, OR
8/17/2009
I've always been overweight and store bought clothes have always been a nightmare for me. Elaine was my savior, making me professional outfits that fit my body to a T, made me look great and gave me confidence. Elaine's style is the reason I keep going back. She is frank, honest and tells it the way it is in addition to being creative, fun and entertaining. I have found that her prices are reasonable and that if I ask for something she will give me a quote but also suggest alternatives to bring the price down and still accomplish my original goal. There is no one better than Elaine.
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Review from Chris B.
San Francisco, CA
11/19/2009
Elaine is professional, talented, and community-oriented. I've seen the high quality of her work in the context of her mentoring youth from under-served communities in Redwood City, teaching them about fashion design as both an art and a business. I highly recommend her business!
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Review from Janessa R.
San Jose, CA
7/8/2009
Elaine is amazing. I've lost a great deal of weight due to an illness and I could not find a swimsuit to fit my body type. I contacted another tailor who was going to charge me $500 to make a swim suit from scratch. I could not afford that much money so I almost gave up on getting a new swimsuit to wear to the Bahamas. I decided to contact one more tailor. Thankfully, that tailor happened to be Elaine who suggested that I choose a swim suit off the rack for her to alter. I ended up with two gorgeous swimsuits for a fraction of what the other woman was going to charge. Since then, I have had Elaine alter several other items and it is obvious she takes pride in everything she does no matter how big or small the job. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that Elaine is a consummate professional who offers impeccable tailoring, quick turnaround, and reasonable rates.
