Rene Tailor Shop

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There are two main problems at Rene’s. Language and memory. A simple request to «take in» a clutch of shirts resulted in them being «taken up» instead, despite 3 clarifying requests upfront. The shirts are now unwearable, costing me more than $ 1,100. Rene is affordable for sure. But as my mum always said, ‘you get what you pay for.’ I should have listened. In short, best avoided.

My spot downtown for the fly custom clothes. If you see the new Maybach parked out side, I’m in the fitting room getting some suits made.

WARNING DO NOT GO HERE!!! Dropped off Bridesmaid dress for alteration on Sunday, they said it would be ready the next day. Wow I thought that is quick… I don’t live in the area, I told them I would be back the following Sunday to pick it up. Came back the next Sunday, and they cannot find my dress! The shop is also rather filthy, and they continue for 45 mins looking for inside bags on the floor (I brought it in on a hanger wrapped in plastic straight from the bridal shop). Finally they find it crumpled behind a bunch of other clothes and it’s not even altered!!! «come back tomorrow’ they say… I said I want to speak with the owner. They said he’s not there and the people there were saying they don’t really work there, they are borrowing the space from them. I get the owners # «Rene» and call him the next morning. I asked him what happened, he doesn’t speak any ENGLISH! He found someone in the shop for me to speak with and translate our conversation. I told him I don’t live around there, and I’m going to have to take a half day off work to come back and pay for another cab ride down there. He didn’t care, he said he would put my dress when it’s finished in a cab BY ITSELF to my apartment, I told him NO WAY and to send it with someone from his shop, he said he has no one he can go with it… I said I will pick it up Tuesday. I came to pick it up, he was very unapologetic about the incident, then I look at my dress and there are GREASE STAINS on it!!! He claims they were there before, HAHA NO WAY then he was mocking me in Spanish to the other people there… THEN I try on the dress and it was very obvious the alterations were done in a hurry, top was still WAY TOO big, hem was TOO SHORT, and now I have stains on my dress. I took my dress and left, I needed it for a wedding that week, I was able to get most of the stains out (or at least to where they were not as noticeable).
$ 80 for the «alterations»
$ 45 worth of cab rides
A half of day’s pay lost at work
A horrible altered and stained dress
PLEASE TRUST ME AND GO ELSEWHERE!!!

Don’t come here for anything complicated. He is quick, but not detailed in his craft.

I had 3 pants hemmed and tapered for $ 45. Excellent work and done in 2 hrs.

Just got back from Rene’s. I also came here on a recommendation from SuitSupply for a non-​SuitSupply suit. I was reluctant given the reviews here, but I got over it in part because Stanton was closed. They did a phenomenal job, and will likely replace Stanton for me. I bought a relatively cheap suit off the rack, now it looks like a relatively expensive suit made for me. They took the jacket (way) in, hemmed and tapered the pants. I looked so swell that I may have to have Rene make me a shirt or even a suit. We’ll see. I’m noticing that all the negative reviews are more than a year old, perhaps there’s been a recent change resulting in higher quality?

This place is a joke. Went in to get suits fitted and they butchered all of them. They tell me they took in the arms on my suit, but I asked them to take in the waist (not the arms!). I asked them to tailor the back of the suit and took them three tries to get it right and, when it was done, it caused other areas of the suit to suffer — no attention to detail and I honestly think I was taken. I would have been better off not getting my suits tailored at all.

charged well over $ 100 for some pretty simple alterations on two suits. when i got them back, one coat had a side that was longer than the other and then i spent a while listening to him try to convince me that the sides WEREN’T uneven. he did not fix the coat and i ended up leaving with it the way it was. other suit looked good but he just did the pants and brought in the waist a bit. i thought it was very expensive and disappointing.

Yes, the wait is less than Stanton or anywhere else in the LES. In fact, for most alterations they have same-​day service. You ever wonder why?
Perhaps something got lost in translation, but if by «alterations» they mean «we butcher your clothes so they look way worse than they did before you came into our shop,» then sure — by all means, bring your clothes there. If you expect a professional job, enter at your own risk.
The first time I went in to have a blazer fitted, they tore up the back, took in 2 inches, then put it back together. 30 min and you’re done! No attempt was made, of course, to adjust the sides or the arms, so it ended up billowing in the front and scrunched in the back. When I complained, monsieur Rene advised me that the jacket would need to be taken in the sides as well (duh!). But there was a catch, he continued: that would be $ 25 more. Alright, what’s 25 bucks more? Pissed but resolved to get this over with, I resign myself to waiting 30 min more.
When I tried the jacket for the second time, it felt like I was in a vice. Wait! Did I just gain 10 pounds by eating a sad burrito from the bodega around the corner, patiently awaiting the expert tailoring of my beloved garment? Nope. They took so much fabric out that unless I moved to Somalia and lived there for a year, there would be no way of squeezing into it without looking like a bratwurst.
When I went to my usual tailor in Chelsea and asked them if they can fix the damage, they said it was impossible: Rene’s tailors had removed all the extra fabric, so there was no way to let it out. In fact, it was already breaking at the seams.
So much for that: lesson learned.

Sometimes the harder you try at something, the more you fail. It happens to me in golf, and it also happens to me with alterations. If you see my other reviews, I have been screwed by 3 out of 4 tailor shops in my 1.5 years in Manhattan. I searched high and low for this special dress all year long and miraculously found it on eBay — it was not cheap. Not wanting to get screwed again as I was with my Herve dress, I asked the seller where she got her straps altered since she had the exact dress and had the same problem with her straps. She referred me to Rene and said they have always done a great job for her at very reasonable prices. When I first walked in, I wanted to turn right around and walk out, as the setup does not look very professional or promising. It kind of looks like something in a third world country, and the dressing room is suffocating. I realize that you can’t always judge a book by its cover, and I realize that tailor shops are not glamorous places in general. The prices are very reasonable and Rene offered to have the dress ready by the next day without me asking, but I told him I couldn’t get there until the day after. So 2 days pass and I go to pick up my dress — it’s not ready. He says come back in a few hours since it’s a «delicate» task and needs extra care. HA. When I picked up my dress, instead of being properly shortened and reattached to disguise the adjustment, the straps had just been folded over and sewn such that they were lumpy and ugly. Looked like the job had been rushed in 60 seconds by a complete amateur. I complained and Rene agreed. I also pointed out that they had not put a snap in the bust area to secure it as they were supposed to. I agreed to come back the next day, begging him several times to please do a good job on my dress as I loved it dearly. I must have jinxed myself by saying that because when I picked it up today, even though the straps had been adjusted properly this time, you could see big holes from where the improper seams had been carelessly ripped out. The worst part is that only after I got home did I see that there is a large tear in the fabric of the bust area right by the snap button! There is nothing I can do — they will not compensate me for my dress nor can I even find another one anywhere. Words can’t describe my anguish right now.

I recently bought a suit from the J Crew Men’s Shop in SoHo. Unfortunately, J. Crew didn’t have my size so they suggested that I get it tailored at Rene. The place isn’t flashy and Rene doesn’t speak english very well, but the tailoring is excellent. At first I was a little worried because Rene wan’t very reassuring that he understood exactly what I wanted. But, this man knows his stuff! The suit turned out perfect and was exactly what I wanted. If you want a really «nice» looking tailor shop, or a place with SoHo-​esque customer service, this isn’t the place for you. But, if you need an excellent, no-​frills tailor, Rene is your man!

I had heard such great things about this tailor, and I have never had more problems with one. He tells me «come back sunday» I come Sunday, item hasn’t been worked on. He tells me he was «confused, his fault.» I say ok, call back 3 days later, he says it is done. I trek all the way there, and he can’t find my expensive item. He then finds it, crumpled in a corner, STILL NOT WORKED ON. Not a stitch, not a seam. He says give me an hour. I’m never coming back again.

I’ve lived in this neighboord for about three years and have tried out both Stanton Tailor and Nelson Tailor shops. I’ve taken my clothes to Rene for the following:
Pros:
1) Less wait than Stanton. Although Stanton Tailor is a superior shop, it is much more popular thus you will have to wait on large line at times and it is unlikely that you will get your work done on the same date.
2) Same day alterations. These guys do a good job on same day non-​basic alterations i.e. tapering pants, jackets, shortening jackets etc.
3) Reasonable pricing. Pant hems $ 5, tapering $ 15, waist $ 10, Jacket shortening $ 25. The prices are the same as Stanton Tailor shop.
Cons
1) Rene is not fluent in English and when his son is not there to translate, you may have some issues getting your full message across.
2) Rene’ sometimes charges you to fix the original work. Let say the pants are too tapered, when you bring it back to get it fixed, he may charge you half.
3)They can be a bit careless with the hemming so if you want some extra length just in case you want to make the pants longer, make sure you let them know.
Overall, its a great shop and they do quality same day alterations. If it weren’t for the cons listed above, it would get 5 stars.

Rene altered my friend’s 1960s cashmere coat to perfection. It was a simple hemming and sleeve job, but everything was finished uncommonly well for a great price ($ 40). Also, he seems very comfortable with avant garde silhouettes, judging from the items other customers brought to the shop. I would definitely return here for alterations that require expert attention to detail.