Elim Tailors & Boutique

I’ve been coming here for 6 years and I intend to continue coming here as long as I live in the area. Items tailored include wedding/​business suits (e.g., taking in suit jacket, taper legs/​take in waist), shirts (e.g., taper/​take in casual/​dress shirts), jeans (e.g., hemming), and jackets (e.g., customize jacket collar). Any minor issues I’ve had with the final product were remedied without question.

I’ve used Elim Tailors for at least four *big* projects. The tailor is very skilled, going beyond basic hems to adjusting whole dresses. Be aware they are a little high on the price point — if you just need a basic hem and nothing else, you might want to shop around for price. For quality though, they can’t be beat.

Jean, the owner, is really sweet and did she did a great job on the bridesmaids dress that needed alterations. My only complaint is that it was too expensive. It cost $ 150 for the alterations which was more than the dress itself ($ 130). I didn’t have much time so I didn’t go elsewhere to compare costs. That same week I came to her with a plain old cotton maxi dress that just needed a straight hem across the bottom, very simple. She quoted me $ 25. I went to the cleaner right next door and she quoted me $ 15 so I went with her and it came out great. Elim makes sense to spend the money on formal wear for weddings as she does a nice job (can’t imagine what it would cost for a wedding dress to get altered there though), but for the every day hem and tailor, I think it’s not worth the money.

3.5÷5 stars
I work in the building across Elim Boutique so when a custom-​sized dress I ordered online came out way too long, I decided to go to Elim for the sake of convenience. The dress had at least two feet worth of extra fabric which also caused the slit to fall above my knee rather than come up mid-​thigh.
I came in on a Thursday after work and the owner greeted me right away. I told her I wanted my dress hemmed so she had me try it on. She took a look and told me it would cost $ 100, which I thought was reasonable because there were four layers she would need to take up. She suggested different lengths and explained how they would fall. After agreeing to the varying lengths, I went on to mention that I also wanted the slit raised to mid-​thigh. She told me it would cost an additional $ 50.
By no means am I seamstress but I thought $ 50 seemed pretty steep. I thought it would be $ 35 at best but considering I didn’t get estimates elsewhere, I settled with that. I paid $ 150 in all and she told me my dress would be ready the following Thursday at 2 p.m.
I came in the next Thursday a little after 5 p.m. When I saw the owner, she told me the dress would be ready in another hour. From where I was standing, I saw what looked like my dress sitting on her sewing station. Hmm, okay. I came back after an hour and she had the dress ready to go. I tried it on as soon as I got home and I was very happy with the length. HOWEVER, when I looked at the slit, I noticed one layer was actually sewn an inch longer than where it originally fell.
I went the next day during lunch because I thought it would take some time and it would be ready by the time I got off work. When I showed the owner the dress, she apologized and said she would fix it right away. She asked if I could wait as it would only take 10 minutes. Sure enough, 10 minutes later she had adjusted the slit.
Overall, the owner was particularly sweet, the length turned out perfect, and I was glad she fixed the slit almost immediately. I suppose my biggest gripe was the price (particularly for the slit), considering it only took her a little less than 10 minutes to fix. It was also slightly inconvenient having to wait around another hour when she said the dress would be ready earlier that afternoon.

Having never had to get alterations done before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was flying out for a wedding on Friday morning and here it was on Tuesday morning and I came to this place to have them fix my dress, which was a couple of inches too long. I was pretty discouraged when I walked in because the cleaners next door flat out told me no when I mentioned the timeline. When I told the lady @ Elim that I needed it done by Thursday night, she first said she doesn’t think she can do it and that it was pretty short notice, offering to have it ready on Friday morning. When I told her I was flying out on Friday, she offered for me to leave the dress, call back on Thursday around noon, and at that time she will let me know the status, and that she will try her best to finish it by Thursday COB. When I called back, she said it would be ready for me at 3, saving me an extra trip from Reston and alot of stress! She did a beautiful job on the dress — the length was perfect and the color of the thread she used matched the original perfectly. Throughout the whole process, she was super nice and accomodating and I thought the price was very reasonable. Definitely recommend this place!

Note: This tailor is in ROSSLYN not VA Square! (Right next to the Subway)
This is the best tailoring experience I’ve had in the DC area! The owner is really nice, and very speedy with services. Basically, you name the day and time you want everything done, she she will pull out all the stops to make it happen. This is especially great if you’re like me and realize you need major alterations done to a dress and you need it in a few days because you procrastinated!
I took 2 cocktail dresses in on Tuesday afternoon to get let out in the chest and fitted in the body, and received them both back a day and a half later on Thursday afternoon! Each dress cost $ 65 for alterations, which was cheaper than other tailors I’ve gone to, but still a little expensive than my liking. My only complaint was that she didn’t provide any kind of cost estimate upfront, so I was really worried about an expensive «surprise» when I went in for my 2^nd fitting, but it wasn’t so bad.
I asked about pant hemming and was told that is $ 15, which is about $ 5 more than most places, but I’d be willing to pay for the quick and friendly service.
Will definitely come back!

DO NOT GO TO ELIM BOUTIQUE.
THREATENED CALLING THE COPS ON ME, BECAUSE I ASKED FOR A DISCOUNT WHEN MY DRESS WAS DAMAGED BY THEM DURING AN ALTERNATION.
RUDEST OWNER EVER.
What happened is: I took a beautiful bridesmaids dress in and asked Elim Boutique to adjust it just a tad in the bust. When I got the dress back you could see the stitches still sticking out, and the chalk lines were very visible on the front bust of the dress. I asked Jean, the owner who works the front desk, if she could fix this. Jean pushed back several times then said… okay I’ll steam the chalk lines out and fix the seam.
15 minutes later I had a dress with melted stains on it. When I asked Jean what this was, she said, We buy chalk that comes from China, and when I steam it it melts and leaves a stain. SHE KNEW HER ACTIONS WOULD STAIN MY DRESS AND DIDN“T MENTION IT TO ME? I said so this has happened before and she said yes, many times. This is on the front of my dress! She gave no solution for fixing the melted chalk, so I told her I was unhappy that she did not communicate that steaming the dress would cause melt stains on my dress. She said, pay me in full. I said, are you serious? You’re not even going to give me a discount. She said no, and I told her that I didn’t feel I should have to pay for a messed up dress with spots, or at least deserved a discount. She picked up the phone, stood between me and the door, and said she would call the police if I didn’t pay her in full. I told her that she was crazy if she was willing to lose a customer over $ 27. She told me she didn’t care. She never apologized or admitted any fault at all.

WAY overpriced!!! I brought in 2 pairs of capri pants for hems. They charged me $ 40. I’ll never go back there.

I’ve been coming here to get my daughters’ prom dresses, bridesmaids dresses, and wedding dress custom made. The lady knows what kinds of fabrics work best and also what styles suit best for the body. She is very professional and kind and her work is very quality. I give this place 5 stars for amazing tailoring and custom made clothes.

Sigh. .. i wish i would have read these reviews before taking in a bridesmaid dress to be altered. It’s been ages since my best friend’s wedding and I still cringe everytime I see the dress in the back of my closet. It cost $ 99 on sale from J. Crew (similar to the ‘Cecelia’). Alterations cost me $ 110 and IT DIDN’T FIT AT ALL. I asked that the length be cut to tea length and the bust be brought in to fit my tiny tatas. I was surprised to see that one side of the dress kind of swooped up at the new shorter length when I picked it up, but I was sure it would fall while wearing it. It didn’t. I finally measured and realized that one side of the dress was 1.5 in (4cm!) shorter than the other side. On top of that, I couldn’t even tell a difference in the top of the dress. I picked it up just a few days before my flight and asked why they hadn’t done the top yet. She said they HAD lifted it slightly by pulling up on the sleeves but that was the style of the dress. .. besides small breasts were more fashionable. Well, that’s not what my bff and her (busty) sister thought. She said, «Didn’t you ask them to alter the top when you had it shortened?» Yes! and I paid $ 110 for a dress that still falls off me. :(

As my husband and I are moving cross-​country soon I have decided not to bring my wedding dress-​the box is massive and heavy.
I called Elim Boutique and asked if they bought wedding gowns. She said yes, so I asked what the process was-​do I email her pictures or bring the dress in. «Bring it in,» is what she said.
So I do. I pay for parking and carry the heavy box into the store.
The owner, the woman I spoke with on the phone, needed a translator, and luckily another woman was there to communicate with us. Apparently she doesn’t take wedding dresses, and obviously didn’t understand a word I said on the phone, so I brought the dress in for nothing.

A friend of mine who lived near Elim recommended it to me for the alterations on my wedding wedding dress. She said that she had taken clothes to Elim for years and was always satisfied.
I took my wedding dress in, and needed to get it taken in, the ruching on the front needed something, as well as a hem, a wrist-​loop and a couple of additional items. She did a phenomenal job and was always polite and helpful. The cost was lower than average for wedding dress alterations in the area and the result was that my dress fit me perfectly.
In the time since my wedding, I’ve taken Jean multiple projects, from pants and jeans that needed hemming and the waist taken in to a sari that I wanted made into a dress. I’ve never had any problems with any of her alterations and the dress she made me is absolutely gorgeous.
I’ve recommended Jean to friends all over the area for their alterations, from wedding gowns to a pair of jeans. I’ve never heard anything bad about the results and some of those alterations have been fairly complicated.
Jean is polite, professional, exceptionally skilled and reasonably priced. If you want cheap alterations, go to your dry cleaner. If you want excellent results, go to Elim Boutique.

I went to Elim to get my wedding dress altered. I was desperate. I was getting married in a few weeks and no one would touch the dress saying there wasn’t enough time. The owner of Elim was very uncomplicated and took on the dress.
She did a pretty good job. At my fitting she pinned the dress in really tight and I hadn’t eaten that day. So after I left my fitting, I called her up and asked if she could make it a little looser. I did want to be able to eat and it was so snug I questioned if I would even be able to sit! She said, no problem, she would take care of it. When I went back for the dress, the backside had these runs in it and it had no shape around my butt. When I pointed it out to her, first she tried to dismiss it. Then she said she would fix it and told me I had a really good eye.
Here’s the thing. She did fix it though it still wasn’t perfect but she charged me another hundred bucks b/​c she had to revisit the backside. She even made a point to say that she would have to charge me for the additional work and the reason the backside looked like that was b/​c I had called up and told her to make it looser. When I called up, I was only around the corner and I asked if I should come back in but she said, it was no problem so she shouldn’t have made it seem like I should be responsible for her lack of quality. That really put me off.
In the end I paid close to 450 dollars and she made it seem like she was cutting me this big break. When I left the shop, I felt like when a police office writes you a ticket and then he says he’s ONLY going to write you up for… and then you find yourself going, «Thank you Officer» when after he leaves, you’re like, «hang on, why am I thanking him for writing me a ticket???
I considered going back to her for other alterations but in the end, I couldn’t help feeling like she would overcharge me again if she could.

Overpriced, and sneeky.
Work quality was good although they push you towards the «expensive way» when instead they could have just moved a button. This I could deal with if it wasn’t for the following.
Outrageous prices for men’s suite tailoring. 120 per suite was the original price. which is high for me. Then when I came back, the woman tried to claim that the 240 (for 2 suites) was actually per suite. The woman obviously knew better but tried to play her immigrant accent to avoid discussion. I finally got her back down to the original price after a time wasting hour of discussion.
B/​c of the deceptive practices I would not recommend this place.

I took a pair of Seven For All Mankind jeans to get shortened. (I still don’t know why they make them 2 feet too long!) Jeanne was particular and a perfectionist. She made sure that I was pleased with the length before she took it to the machine. She also had a number of shoes with different heights.
The jeans were done in a day, and I paid exactly what I figured I would. The hem looked just like the original, and she even matched the thread.
The shop very conveniently located (very close to the Rosslyn metro) and very quick, clean, and accommodating. I’ll definitely go back.