- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Lai's Royal Tailoring
Rating Details »
Categories: Sewing & Alterations, Bridal [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Chinatown, Little Italy118-122 Baxter Street
Ste 205
New York, NY 10013
(212) 966-0951
Call 212-966-0951 for appointment
Please call for an appointment to avoid waiting.
- Nearest Transit:
-
Canal Street (J, M, Z, N, Q, R, W, 6)
Grand St (B, D)
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Sponsored Result
You Might Also Consider
Clay Pot
- 15 reviews
- Neighborhood:
- Park Slope
"Now I've got this ring which I love and cherish above most material objects. Its archaic, beautiful, the ring is made of silver and has…" read more »
6 reviews for Lai's Royal Tailoring
I got all of my wedding clothes from Lai's Royal Tailoring. Her prices are a great bargain compared to retail stores. I wanted everything to be new so I didn't go with the rental clothes from the wedding studio. My wedding dress was so elegant that people kept asking me if it's a designer dress. It was awesome! I also had all of my bridesmaid dresses done there too and they were great as well.
The qi pao (Chinese traditional dress) she custom made for me was one of a kind and spectacular. It made me looked so skinny yet it brought out my curves. She has many fabrics you can choose from but you can also buy your own fabric to bring to her. I described to her how I want the dress to be and amazingly it came out just the way I wanted. I would recommend her anyone.
The 5 star review is misleading. I went there especially because of the superb reviews. She had double booked our appointment so my wife had to change in the back sewing room instead of a dressing room. Mrs. Lai quoted us a fairly high price for a basic sewing job (taking a dress in at the waist) and the finally outcome was _adequate_.
To be clear, she's not a crook or a hack, but this place is nothing special. Just another tailoring shop. I've had better service, pricing, and tailoring elsewhere.
These days, Lai is my go-to tailor for pretty much everything (except hemming pants 'cause it's only $4 and really fast at those orchard tailor places in LES). The first time I went to her was because I had bought an Alexander Wang dress at a consignment store and needed it taken in -- it was black chiffon over white silk, and the seams were part of the design of the dress. She did a great job, the alteration is completely not noticeable and I loved how much she oohed and aahed over the dress (the lady knows high quality clothing!). It probably helps that we both speak Cantonese, but I'm confident that anyone could go to her and be just fine unless you want something super complicated.
Don't be unnerved by her unpretentious workspace -- there are a lot of bags from really fancy stores (Celine, Burberry, Prada etc) lying around, so you know her customers trust her with their expensive clothes. I wouldn't ever take my nice stuff anywhere else!
I was not happy with my experience here and will not go back again because the prices were not as inexpensive as I had hoped and the service was not professional.
I took a long bridesmaid dress to be hemmed. The owner charged me $45. I told her that the bride needed the fabric scraps asap to make handkerchiefs for the groomsmen. She promised to call me the following Monday so that I could pick up the scraps. She never called.
When I arrived at the arranged, agreed upon time later on Thursday, the dress was not ready. The owner asked me to mill about Chinatown and come back in 40 or so minutes. With not much choice I did that and when I came back in was done.
The dress is still too long even with my high heels. I had kept asking her to hem it on the short side, but apparently to no avail. I will have to be careful not to trip at the wedding.
However, I brought another dress in at the same time and the owner did a good job with that one and charged me $40 for it (because she was already charging $45 for the other dress), which was a good value. She took in the waist, which involved re-sewing the zipper, shortened the straps, and basically made the dress one size smaller, which I know was not that easy.
Afterwards, I got the sense that prices are negotiable, so if you do go, keep that in mind, and give the owner plenty of time to get your dress altered.
Also, as a side note, this place is hard to find. There's another building, a marketplace of sorts, that has the same address. Just go further north a bit and then you have to take stairs up to the shop.
Although there seems to be a slight communication difficulty (I do not speak Chinese), Ms. Yee tried her best to assist on my hard-to-alter all lace summer dress. The price was very reasonable, the result more than satisfactory. Highly recommended. Also she did a free service on placing a hook on my other antique lace shrug. Very efficient and friendly.
After a weekend's worth of shopping, I was hoping to hit up a tailor in Chinatown who would do a good job, within a few hours, and not charge me am arm and a leg like at places back home. My friend told me of this place she had been going to for years. Located on the 2nd floor, room 205 in this building off of Canal street, Mrs. Lai Wa Yee makes her business of alterations, custom tailoring, pattern making, and small productions. Her place is full of custom made Chinese traditional silk long dresses, chi paos, and everything else under the sun people need altering.
She was nice enough, even though she had some patterns due today, to squeeze in my alterations. They were done in a jiffy, perfectly, and given to me with a smile. I spoke to her in Mandarin so I am unsure of her English skills but I wish I could have taken her back to SF with me!
Bonus: there is a clean bathroom located on the 2nd floor of this building. I was so thrilled to not have to brave the McDonald's on Canal.
