Gary’s Custom Tailoring & Boutique

Gary is my go-​to. Great guy, great tailor. He’s altered several coats for me including leather, peecoat, and suit. All came out fantastic.

Gary is an amazing tailor and a great guy. He is there ²⁴⁄₇ and will personally take your measurements. He updated 4 – 5 suits of mine and made them look like I just bought them at Neiman Marcus. He is a classic, old-​school craftsman who takes pride in his work. On top of it all, he is a really nice guy and a pleasure to spend time with.

Gary is amazing and very kind! I was worried by some of the other reviews, but don’t be! He did a same day alteration on a bridesmaids dress (delicate fabric) for $ 25. He was professional and the location was clean/​comfortable.

I always go here for alterations on my pants. Gary does a great job, is very affordable, good customer service and always on time. Very highly recommend him.

Went to Gary’s for jeans alteration. Very nice friendly warm guy. He gave the jeans on time and it was done perfectly. Prices are also very reasonable given this place in the middle of UCLA student town area. This was my first visit but I will surely keep coming here as I was very pleased with the overall service.

One of the worst experiences I’ve ever had. I phoned ahead to see if they charged for suit measurements (since places either do it for free or charge a minimal fee) and the guy who answered said they didn’t charge.
When I got there, I discovered the place was small (not a deal breaker, since duh this was free), but the three men in the cramped back room seemed miserable in the heat. The one who took my measurements was in a really bad mood. He went so far as to insult my waist size.
As he finished, I left a tip and he threw it aside saying he was going to start charging $ 20 after me (I did not do or say a single thing to insult him. Even after the waist comment. I hardly spoke!). He told me to go to the bank to get more money because I insulted him with my tip. I’m sorry, was I expected to pay you $ 20 for a service that took literally less than 5 minutes when you initially said it was free? I will NEVER return to this shop again.

Gary has done a fantastic job with all of the tailoring I’ve brought to him. Surely he charges much higher prices than a lot of other places around, but we’re at the point of actually owning nice cloth and you don’t want to take the risk of some average tailor out of a dry cleaning shop f-​ing it up. Gary also remembers his clients very well. I never even need to give him the claim check and he knows exactly what I had.

Finally I found a good tailor on the West Side! Awesome guy. In LA, it’s hard to find someone to trust with your expensive clothes, but Gary is awesome. His prices are a little higher than, let’s say, Rancho’s tailoring, but not only is the customer service better, but the alterations are too.
Not to mention he’s a nice guy and actually tries to talk to you! He even remembered me since I came for the first time.
By far best tailor I have found thus far. Consistent work, nice guy, and he liked me, so he even cut me a deal. Definitely a new life long customer.

I bought a pair of jeans that I needed hemmed and tapered. The price came out to be around $ 35 and they were ready in a few days. The stitchwork was terrible! The stitches were extremely uneven, ranging from 1/​8″ to 1″ or more. I brought the jeans back and pointed it out because why should I have to pay any amount of money for a stitch job worse than I can do with my bare hands? He did redo the work free of charge. It’s still not perfect, but wearable. Why should you settle? Find somebody else.

Belligerent little man who can’t sew. Take your business elsewhere, especially if you have delicate material. My shirt is destroyed.
At drop-​off, things seemed fine, so I agreed to the $ 40 price tag to shorten the sleeves of a silk shirt, and switch out the buttons. When I returned to pick up the shirt there were several issues in both customer service and quality of work.
Quality problems first:
— Buttons were sewn on poorly, with threads sticking out every which way
— I could see someone had re-​sewn on the sleeves in the wrong place first, and then had to rip out sewing machine stitches… there is now a row of holes and small rips in the silk material on the shirt sleeves
— The shirt had french cuffs, held together with buttons. He sewed the new buttons on so tightly that the cuffs became too tight on my wrists (I have small wrists, so this was a pretty major error)
— Buttons on the front of the shirt didn’t align with the button holes, so the shirt didn’t lay flat anymore (I could have done at least as well myself at home)
— There were pen marks on the shirt, which were not there before
Customer service problems too:
— When I picked up the shirt, I was first told to come back another day because the owner wasn’t there, and apparently no one there spoke English (though, they spoke well enough to tell me to go away)… way to inconvenience your customers
— When I explained that I wanted the shirt that day because I needed to wear it, they let me in the back room to find it myself… I immediately saw the quality issues described above
— I pointed out the issues to the man there, and suddenly he claimed not to know any English at all, and just kept shrugging his shoulders, so I told him to have the owner call me. I took my shirt (without paying) and left
— Within 24 hours the owner, Gary, called me and left 2 sort of creepy voicemails «…be a good girl and come back…»
— I went back to the store, hoping he’d see the quality issues and agree to fix them (I wasn’t trying to get free alterations, just high-​quality ones). When I arrived he was so enraged that he just kept yelling at me, and getting defensive when I pointed out all the problems… he blamed ME for the pen marks (not true) and said the buttons I brought weren’t right (if the buttons weren’t right, he should have called me before to let me know there were issues)
— He refused to fix the problems, and instead tried to make me feel guilty by telling me he has 3 children to feed. I told him I’d pay if he fixed the shirt.
— He became enraged and screamed in my face that I wasn’t worth it, and that I should take my shirt elsewhere… so I left the store with my shirt, and did not pay (frankly at this point, I think he owes ME $ 120 for a new shirt)… I could hear him continuing to yell as I walked down the street
In sum, this was one of the worst customer service experiences of my life. Hopefully another tailor can fix the damage.

I was initially worried about Gary’s prices but after trying him out, he’s won a customer for life.
I’ve brought him several suits, coats, and pants, and he’s done a detailed, impeccable job on every single one.
What sets him apart is his service. He once asked me when I needed my suit tailored. I, jokingly, responded «this afternoon». To my amazement, the job was actually completed perfectly a few hours later. Find another tailor who will do that!

After having my mother try to fix my botched dress. We keep finding even more horrible things that Gary did to this dress. I really wish he would have just told me that this dress would be too complicated… instead he took it on and completely ruined it.

Although I’ve been a Unilocal devotee for several years now, this is the first time I’ve felt passionate enough to write a post. (Yes, shame on me for mooching.)
After reading reviews for tailors around Westwood, I chose to have a silk chiffon dress hemmed at Gary’s due to the raving reviews.
Took the dress in. Gary himself pinned the dress and marked where it would be cut. After he marked the first layer (which is quite sheer), he lifted it all way to my hips to mark the lining underneath. Normally the lining is only semi-​sheer, but with the bright afternoon sun coming through the windows acting as a spotlight (and with him hiking the outer layer all the way up), my undies were unceremoniously revealed. Extremely embarrassed that Gary (face less than a foot away from my lady bits) could tell what kind of underwear I had on and that I was potentially flashing passerbys outside the store, I immediately pulled down the outer layer several inches. I was too mortified to say anything, and Gary’s either flippant about that kind of thing or didn’t want to call attention to his insensitivity. I also had the straps shortened, but that was relatively painless.
That was last Thursday. I came back today to pick up my dress and found that it had been extremely poorly done. If I had wanted a rough, uneven hem, I could have done it myself. Not only that, but the seaming on each of the shortened straps looked like they had been done by different people. I showed both the hem and the straps to Gary. Although he didn’t say anything in apology/​explanation, he did take the dress and tell me to come back for it in an hour.
An hour later. The hem is indeed better – though it still doesn’t match the quality of work done on the original hem of the dress. I notice the seaming on the inner lining also doesn’t match the kind of seam used in the original lining (which I had asked him to keep). The straps have been fixed and now look alike. I finally try the dress on.
It’s TOO SHORT. Rather than being a nice dress to go out or to dinner in, it’s really only suitable as a BEACH COVER-​UP.
I sincerely do not think that Gary had cut the dress that short himself. It was probably a lapse of communication with one of his workers. Also, all the male customers I’ve talked to while at Gary’s seemed very happy (astonished, even) with his work. Although Gary’s might be a good place to get your suit taken in, I don’t think he knows how to handle delicate fabrics or how they should hang on a woman’s body.
Ladies beware. (Sorry for such a long rant.)

I had a black dress that needed some nipping and tucking in the underarm area. I went to Gary’s from my friends’ recommendations and I’m glad he did! He altered exactly how I wanted and when I wanted. He finished in less than 48 hrs! He’s also super friendly, super fast, and super efficient! I would definitely recommend him!
I only took 1 star off because it is a little more expensive for my pocket full of student loans. But he is well-​worth the price… his keen eye for fashion and what looks good is priceless.

I used to go to Gary’s all the time, until I realized just how expensive he is… and inconsistent.
Over the years, I have had over a dozen jeans hemmed by hem, and the techniques have not been the same. If you rush him or whatnot, he does a crappy job where the threading is criss cross and hella loose. And have I mentioned it’s 20 dollars for an original hem?
Don’t get me wrong, Gary the guy is super nice and the location is pretty convenient but Rancho Tailor does as good, if not better job and they only charge 10 dollars for original hem. And then give you back your fabric! For a normal hem, it’s only 6 dollars! Gary’s may take credit card, but seriously, I’m a college student sick of getting gouged.

For real though, Gary is the man who finally motivated me to write Unilocal reviews.
I’ve known about Unilocal for years and have used it for as long as I can remember to find, well, everything, but no service has been so great that I wanted more people to know about it. Gary does that for me.
I purchased a $ 10 dress from H&M’s sale department because I had no idea what to wear to a music festival. It looked decent, but being slightly shorter than average, its knee-​length hem was dragging me down. I loved the floaty look of the dress and wanted to be able to sit on grass without my bottom getting all rashy, so I came up with the idea to make the front hem shorter than the back.
I was concerned that an older male tailor wouldn’t understand the look I had in mind and would butcher the dress. Gary wowed me. He had me try on the dress multiple times after he pinned it, to make sure that it was the exact length and angle I wanted. I had time to spare, so he even cut the dress while I waited and allowed me to watch every step of the process.
I had to run off to work, so I couldn’t return that evening to pick up my dress. Gary said he would finish it in two hours! Now that’s speedy service.
His services aren’t exactly what I’d call cheap, but the quality is excellent. Gary’s my go-​to man for alterations now.

«The two most important people in a guy’s life is his tailor and his barber»
I have yet to find a spectacular barber, but I got my tailor. I have a huge shoulders and a pretty small waist so I have to get pretty much everything tailored to prevent my clothes from looking like a dress. I have had him tailor everything from my Rocks and other denim, to my suit. He’s actually also really good for tailoring shirts. For me, he takes it in at the sides and at the back ($ 15 a shirt). With Gary as my man, I pretty much buy clothes based on their material and color, and just let Gary worry about the fit.
I have to admit that he is a little pricey. So I recommend going to him for only extreme and difficult alterations like a suit. If you just need a pair of slacks hemmed, go do this somewhere else because I pretty much trust any tailor to do this. But if you just made your AMEX cry at Bloomingdales, Gary is the only tailor I deem worthy.

He does a really good job. He’s not too expensive. He’s friendly and knows/​understands what you want/​need. Got my boyfriend’s jeans hemmed here and asked for the 15 $ regular hem job and he just went ahead and gave us the original hem because he liked us. He has good taste!
Also, I got a dress hemmed by him that had a really difficult uneven seam at the bottom and he did it effortlessly and fast too!
Thanks Gary.

Who do you trust with a $ 100+ pair of denim? I had to ask myself that after moving to Los Angeles and in need of a pants hemming. Granted I wasn’t going to shell out $ 44 at Nordstrom for an original hem and I would die before I took my denim to one of the local cleaners scattered around Westwood.
So after reading reviews of Gary’s I decided to walk over from my apartment to check out the place. And the rest of the experience could have easily been taken out of a movie script:
[Customer (me) walks into a classy looking shop with hardwood floors, nice lighting, two dressing closets, and filled with suits and pants. There is a nice very ambiance to the place and some scattered decorations that does give the place a sort of ‘Godfather’ feel. Gary (I assume its him although he wasn’t smoking or picking his nose, but working in the back) greeted me and politely ask me to try on my denim in the closet and then placed me in front of the fitting mirror.]
[Gary adjusts length]
Gary: Is this length good?
Me: Let me try it out and I’ll let you know. (I usually prefer some stacking or length to cuff my my jeans)
Gary: Whatever you like, my friend.
[I try out the length walking around the shop and sitting down in a chair]
Me: Maybe another inch or two?
[Gary re-​adjusts length]
Gary: Is this good? There’s no hurry, take your time and let me know if you want another half-​inch longer but you definitely won’t need any more than that.
[Gary goes to the back to allow me to try the fit again, and comes back again to check on me]
Me: It’s perfect!
Gary: Sounds good, my friend, do you want to wear it today?
[cue my jaw drop]
Me: You mean you can have it done today?
Gary: Of course! Shall we say an hour or so?
Me: Sounds terrific!
[I eagerly pay Gary and go get lunch and do some grocery shopping. I come back an hour later and Gary shows me his work on the jeans (A+++ work!) and even digs into a bin in the backroom when I requested for the scraps that were hemmed off. He puts my denim on a hanger and puts a plastic cover over it.]
Me: Have a great day, and thanks!
Gary: Thank you!
Gary is so down to earth and his work is superb. I honestly did not expect getting the denim back the same day as I felt that most tailors would take at least a few days. Another key point was that when I asked to have an original hem on the denim, Gary actually pointed out that a regular hem would work out the same — he could have done the hem and charged me more — and he later compared the original hem to the hem he did, and there were no differences. This was what really helped me give it the five stars. I will be going back to him for all my alterations. I’m positive you will walk out of Gary’s feeling and looking good (if you happen to wear what he worked on out the door of course =))!

I’m bumping this place up a star!
I admit that the first few times I went to Gary’s was out of convenience. It’s right next to my house. However, I’ve since been by a few times and have to say that this guy is one of the most pleasant and capable tailors I’ve been to. He has a good eye for how to fix something that seems irreparable (e.g., when boyfriend puts a 3 inch rip in $ 1000 suit pants!), and actually holds a discussion with you about what your options are and what you want him to do. If you want your jeans hemmed for cheap, then maybe Gary’s not your guy – but if you want something complicated to be done with quality work, then definitely come here!