Alicia’s Formal & Tuxedo Shop

Unfortunately, Alicia’s either has or will be retiring shortly. They are/​were the best.

Alicia altered my wedding gown in 2012 and did a perfect job, even making suggestions I hadn’t thought of and for a very reasonable price, which was less than ½ that I was quoted by the store where I bought my gown. I have also taken numerous pieces of clothing to her over the past few years, and have been happy with the results.
I am sad she is retiring but understand there will be a new very experienced taylor opening in her location on March 1, 2016. I will definitely give her a try because I have heard good things about her.

I love Alicia! She altered my brand new wedding dress for my wedding November 1, 2014. I could tell from reviews that she has years of experience, and I wanted to trust someone else to worry about all of the details for my dress. Like many brides, I hoped to lose weight along the way, and she was realistic and helped me every step. I read a few reviews that talked about her personality being direct, but I saw her as having experience, and knowing what works and what wouldn’t work. She won’t lie to you! Her price was perfectly affordable, and she worked with my crazy travel schedule. She even helped me stay calm on a visit when I felt like I was overwhelmed!
I would trust Alicia with any dress in the future and would recommend her over and over again. Thank you Alicia!!!

I got my bridesmaid dress altered by Alicia and her friendly team several weeks ago. It took three visits and $ 50 to get the dress fixed. Alicia and her team were friendly and made the process easy. I docked off a star because I didn’t like the way the back of my one-​shoulder strap fit, but overall, the alterations were fine.
She told me she will be retiring and closing her shop at the end of this year, so I’m sad to see a successful small business in the neighborhood close.

I needed to rent a tuxedo quickly and Alicia made it happen within a week including getting measurements! She’s the nicest lady and renting a tux from her was so simple and easy!
Highly recommended!

We have been taking things to have fixed at Alicia’s for years. They are magicians at figuring it how to make things fit correctly, from the simplest of hems to more complicated situations. She is always so nice and helpful too. Thank you Alicia!

I had my wedding gown bustled here last week and may I say amazing customer service!!! I had my gown done by Seda and she is super sweet! Gave great recommendations on my dress and she honored her promise to have the dress done the day she said she will get it done! I’m amazed by the simplest bustled and I know that my gown will look amazing on my wedding day! So thank you and I will update my review back of my dress after the wedding August 1, 2015!
Quick tip: make sure u bring your wedding shoes and bra so they can adjust the gown appropriately.
You’ll have a great experience here!

My family has been going to Alicia for alterations on various formal wear (and costumes!) for over 20 years. Every time I don’t go to Alicia first for some strange reason, I end up kicking myself for not doing so and running straight back to her. I have driven all over Central/​Southern California so that she could fix other seamstress’ mistakes, and she makes it look like there was no mistake there in the first place. Her work is flawless, and best of all she’s much more efficient AND affordable than anyone else I’ve gone to.
Bottom line, you are doing yourself a disservice if you DON’T go to her.

Was in need of an affordable tuxedo for a film shoot and Alicia really went the extra mile to help us out. Brought our actor in for a fitting and picked up the day before the shoot. She worked quickly and was very professional, efficient and very nice. She really helped us out and she didn’t have to. You can go lots of places to rent a tux, but only at Alicia’s will you get top notch customer service and an experienced knowledgeable technician and a warmhearted person to help you along the way. Thanks Alicia!!!

great value for great service. friendly.

Let me just start by saying that Alicia is a true professional and really knows wedding dresses. I bought my wedding dress down in Santee Alley because I was on a budget and knew I could find a great deal down there. I found the most perfect dress and it was everything that I wanted but it was a bit too big for me in all the wrong places. However, the deal was so great I took it anyway and then went on the search to find someone to alter it and make it fit me exactly how I needed. I did a lot of looking and was also a little over a month away from the big day and needed to find someone I could trust. That is when I found Alicia, I read her reviews and figured I would go in and see what she had to say and how long it might take. I made an appointment and when I got there she was ready for me. She had me try on the dress and asked exactly what I wanted to have done and she took note of everything and told me I would need my shoes (which I didn’t have yet) to make sure the dress would also be the perfect length. She had me come back the following weekend once I found the shoes and so I could try on the dress again and see how I felt about it. She again took some measurements and asked how much more I’d like to take it in and suggested a few things to make it fit better. After that I came in once more and it was just perfect! She wanted to do just a few more small things that I needed (a bustle for the train and some final touches to the length as there was a lot of tulle in the bottom). She was very accommodating to my schedule to make sure it was done in time for the big day and assured me I would have plenty of time to pick it up. I also needed a veil and couldn’t find one I liked and she told me she had some I could look at or she could make the veil for me depending on what I wanted. What a saint! She had a beautiful veil that I instantly fell in love with so that also saved me money and time! Alicia is very sweet and very professional… she listens to what you want and makes suggestions based on her long experience and I put my complete trust in her with my dress and she delivered! I honestly cannot say enough about her experience… you look around her shop and see the amount of dresses she works on you know she is the real deal. She made my dress everything I could have wanted and more and for what I thought was a very reasonable price considering all the work she did to it. The fact she was able to work with me too with just a month till my wedding really impressed me. If you are in need of someone with experience that won’t let you down, look no further! Alicia is the lady to see and I would recommend her for any alterations one would need… I know I will be using her services again and again!

I needed a white tuxedo that had a similar 1940’s look. We were going to a friends Oscar Party. And I looked at 4 different places and couldn’t find the right one. Once I spoke with Alicia on the phone she assured me that she ha something I would like. Well, she was right! She was so helpful and found the PERFECT white tuxedo that I was looking for. It was also the least expense one that I had seen. It’s small place, but the service is great. I will definitely come back!

Wow Alicia is the best she saved me. I bought a wedding dress it was so small that I had to rip the back to take out my dress. I was so mad that had to get another dress. Until I found Alicia wow this lady is the best she fixed my dress so nice right on time for our wedding. The dress looked amazing she is something else. Thank u Alicia :)

We were referred to Alicia after a horrible experience at the bridal salon where I bought my dress.
I needed to have my wedding dress changed from a zipper to a corset and my chapel length veil brought to fingertip length. She did an AMAZING job! The dress looked flawless and the corset was absolutely beautiful. The corset color matched the dress perfectly and the little fixes she did to the dress were perfect.
My veil had holes in it (which we did not know when we bought it from the original salon) and Alicia was able to use the material and make it the length I wanted and without the holes.
Her prices are so reasonable too. Every appointment was short and to the point, no fussing around which was really nice especially when you’re scrambling around weeks before the big day. She gave great advise and made sure that my mom was comfortable lacing me in the corset before we left.
My mom is getting married in June and we took her wedding dress and my MOH dress to be altered by Alicia too. :)
I will definitely be back!

Thank you Unilocal for another stellar recommendation!
I came to Alicia’s for what I thought would be a pretty simple wedding dress alteration and Alicia went all out. Not only did she hem my extremely long flowy dress, but also found a way to allow me to (Guys, turn away) wear a particular bra with the dress! It was great. She found material that looked exactly like my dress’ thin strap, and subsituted it for the bra strap, making the bra look like it was part of the dress all along. It wasn’t something I asked for, but she noticed it and took it upon herself to make the suggestion. On my wedding day last Saturday, everyone commented that they loved the additional thin strap, and totally thought it was part of the dress. I loved it.
Thanks Alicia for taking the horror out of wedding dress alterations. Her prices are very reasonable and she is efficient as well.

My wife bought a bridesmaids dress from David’s Bridal that was too big. We considered getting the dress altered by the David’s Bridal, but we hadn’t had the best experience there. For starters, the woman who was assisting us during our last visit said that «alterations start at $ 60… but it’s never really $ 60, it’s always more.» On top if that, it always seems like David’s Bridal needs MONTHS of advance notice to do anything.
So we turned to Unilocal to check out the reviews of DB and other tailors. As we figured most Unilocal users were tearing into DB. That’s when we found Alicia’s. We read the reviews and she’s really close to our house, so we figured we’d check it out. When we got to the shop she was pretty busy (a good sign). She seemed a little disorganized though. I couldn’t understand how she was able to keep track of her entire business with post-​it notes. Our meeting with her was brief and to the point. She gave us a quote on the cost which far lower than I was anticipating.
We left the dress with her for 4 weeks. The week of the wedding we called in to see how it was going. She said we could «pick it up tomorrow after 12:00.» My wife and I were still a little skeptical of the whole situation. We had no idea what to expect really.
We got there, she tried on the dress, and I will say it looked perfect. I know nothing about tailoring, alterations, etc. etc. All I know is when we dropped the dress off, it was too big. When we picked it up, it fit like you favorite pair of jeans. While we were there, my wife noticed one small thing on the dress that was bugging her. Alicia happily took the dress, made the adjustment on the spot and didn’t charge a dime extra. She billed me for the same amount she quoted me when we dropped off the dress.
In my opinion, if a business charges you what they quote, they do what they say they’re going to do, and they do it well, that’s 5 stars. We were very happy with Alicia’s and we will certainly be going back there the next time we need alterations.

I came to Alicia’s a number of times to alter a bridesmaids dress, go with my friend to get her wedding dress done and then finally to get my wedding dress done. On all these occasions, Alicia was efficient and fairly priced.
Bridesmaids dress– she altered the bust to make it fit me. It was all ruched, but she was able to work with it and made sure the folds were in place.
Friend’s wedding dress– she turned a straight across neckline into a sweetheart neckline and added a bustle. The bustle wasn’t complicated at all and on the day of her wedding, I was able to bustle it with ease. She also added clasp to hide the bra straps and an extra band to prevent the bride from constantly pulling it up.
My wedding dress– again I needed alterations on the bust on a ruched sweetheart neckline. She made it look great! She also added a clasp/​bustle because I didn’t want a long train. She couldn’t hem the dress because there was lace at the bottom and she didn’t have time to do it before she left on vacation, so it was a little long on the day of, but worked fine. She also completely fixed my petticoat– it was originally for a ballgown and she slimmed it to make it work for a mermaid gown. Finally she added lace cap sleeves to my dress. I bought the fabric ahead of time and she put it on exactly the way I pictured it.
Overall I would say Alicia’s is a good place to go for formal wear. Make sure to go 8 – 10 weeks in advance. In my case I went 8 weeks early from my wedding, but she was leaving on vacation so I did feel a bit rushed and again missed out on hemming my dress. Definitely try to make the 1^st appointment of the day because she gets extremely busy. When it’s busy, her customer service drops. So with that in mind– I would for sure go to her again. Her prices were also great.

Excellent in every way, and one of my favorite wedding vendors.
I bought an Alfred Angelo wedding dress, and their alteration charges were ridiculous. I looked up bridal alterations up on Unilocal,and found Alicia. I’m so glad I did– she’s incredibly sweet and wonderful at what she does.
She adjusted the length of my dress perfectly, and I can’t tell where Alfred Angelo’s work ends and hers begins. Her pricing is incredibly reasonable, and she finished the dress quickly.
Best part: She also didn’t bat an eye when I asked her to sew a Princess Jasmine teal petticoat into my dress, underneath the ruffles, out of sight. I never felt judged for my unique request. I’m now a secret magical Disney Arabian princess underneath my gown.
All I need now is a Bengal tiger to ride down the aisle. BAM.

Do not go here for your wedding dress. My wife and I both brought our dresses here for alterations and were very disappointed. The owner did not listen to us at all, in fact she actively dismissed our concerns and feedback. She sewed crooked seams and changed the hem of my partners dress. She tried to convince me my dress fit when it was all bunched up at the hips. I am large busted and Alicia repeatedly told me that the bust of my sleeveless dress would be fine and would not sew in extra support. I ended up spending my wedding day needing to hitch my dress up repeatedly.
My wedding was amazing and my dress was fine-​but it could have been much better.
She was inexpensive.

What a sweet lady. On New Year’s Eve, she came to the shop… found me a veil, steamed it and rented it out to me so I can take it to my client (a bride who had last minute issues with her veil).
It made me the makeup artist hero… for finding a veil last second.
It made my bride happy.
And it made me find a vendor that I will always go to from now on. Not too many people are willing to rent out veils, but Alicia did and it was so reasonably priced ($ 40 or so)…
She also has wedding gowns, tuxes to rent, bridesmaid dresses, tiaras, etc.
Such a sweet lady!