Louise Austrie

First of all I can say is that this lady is a complete Hustler and she thinks that she can charge people ridiculous amount of money and not really have to work she tried to charge me $ 40 to bring in the waist of a shaper that I had $ 60 to replace the zipper on it and I had to go and buy the zipper this lady is nuts I would at all costs try to avoid going to her I know a lady in Alameda who does a way better job than her and charges very little

Absolutely the best seamstress in NorCal. My wedding dress was a challenge with the organza layers and Louise was amazing. She was referred to me by my dress designer in NY, and I am super fortunate to live only 2.5 miles from her. I bought the dress right after taking off a cast on my foot so I was not my normal body weight and Louise made sure to have me come in a few extra times as I continued to go back to my running self. The dress also had a few points on the layers that were too long, and she gave amazing recommendations on where to cut them along with making me a unique bustle that fit with the dress. I recommend Louise 1000x. She deserves all the incredible reviews written about her! If you have a special piece of clothing needing a great seamstress, I insist you call!

Louise did a great job with the two dresses that I wore for my wedding. She has an eye for detail (picking up on small tweaks she could make to improve the two dresses that I bought off the rack at Nieman Marcus), and has a great overall vision for a look.
For example, I first brought in pearl earrings as a jewelry option for my wedding. Louise suggested something different, and the end result (based on her experience) was perfect!
I originally brought in my ceremony dress for a shorter hem, but Louise was able to improve it significantly in other ways, too, tacking down material, removing part of the slip of the skirt to make it easier to walk in, and even altering some beading to improve the symmetry.
My dance dress needed a lot of alterations, and I was worried that I’d be told that it wouldn’t work because it, too, had a lot of beading. When I put it on, Louise knew just where to take it in to make it fit perfectly. Her confidence and skill is impressive and reassuring!
Both dresses received endless compliments, and I’m so glad that I was able to work with Louise to polish up my non-​traditional dresses.
I live in the neighborhood, so getting over for fittings was easy since I didn’t need to park. I made appointments with her, put them on my calendar, and she was always available when I arrived.
Don’t forget to bring cash or checks! Would be nice if Louise offered a digital payment option in the future!

Louise completed the alterations on my wedding gown back in 2012 and was great about making sure that it fit perfectly. There was detailed beading and embroidery stitches that she had to work through to bring the gown in, but she did it beautifully. I really enjoyed working with her — she’s incredibly warm and friendly. I highly recommend her.

I was so torn as to where to go to get my alterations for my wedding dress. I read a friends review about her wonderful experience with Louise so I decided to give her a try. The first day I went to drop off my dress I was so nervous but after meeting Louise she made me feel so much better about my decision. I wanted my dress to fit tight, I needed the breast area took in, I needed a bustle and it to be shorten. Closer to my wedding I started losing weight (Im guessing from wedding stress) and she was able to take in my dress more. I took in my dress on Aug 18, I came in for my first fitting Sep 9 my second fitting Sep 18 and picked my dress home on Sep 26. My wedding was a week later, so it was all perfect timing. I highly recommend her, she is the best.

Louise made my silk and lace dress fit like a glove! She was also lovely to work with and I enjoyed getting to know her. I highly recommend using her for your day. She was a big part of making my day beautiful, classy, and perfect!

She is so sweet and super helpful. We were looking for places for my sister’s wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses and she was capable of doing them and even gave suggestions about jewelry and what style veil. We ended up choosing another place because there were so many girls, but I would definitely recommend for future alteration needs.

Louise is not only a fun & wonderful person– she is a master tailor! I had a Lazaro gown I was basically swimming in (on advice ordered much larger than I needed) and she was able to make it fit like a glove on me. She had to do soooo much work to raise the layers and layers of tulle on my gown so that I wouldn’t trip on my dress and you can tell she knew what she was doing and was meticulous and careful with my gown. Nothing went wrong and the dress was even better than I could have imagined. She even added extra boning on the corset to give more structure — something I wouldn’t have even known to ask for.
She took a beautiful dress and turned it into my wedding gown.
I even accidentally smudged red lipstick on the FRONT of the dress during one fitting on accident (it was one of the most mortifying experiences of my life) but she fixed it without any issues! I was so impressed with her.
Tip:
Just trust her. Don’t try to second guess– she’s knows what she’s talking about!
And yes parking sucks in the area but that’s no reason to hate on her business. Just get there 10 minutes early and if all else fails, pay $ 5 to park in the lot next to her business. No big deal!

Amazing work! Miss Louise is awesome and has a wonderful spirit. I love that fact that she transformed my gown from a zip to corset and made my day perfect. I had 2 dresses and a lot of stress, I lost alot of weight and she didn’t kill me. I highly recommend her. Thank you soooo much. Perfection

Louise made my dress perfect for my wedding. I was so glad that she recommended finishing the tailoring a few days before my wedding since it’s true that you can lose weight the week of your wedding. She really made it fit perfectly.

Louise is the best! I brought two dresses to her for my wedding that I was literally drowning in! I meet her in advance and she set multiple appointments with me for the fittings. Her fees are not cheap but it’s totally worth it because she is the best of the best! She also is really friendly and will give you her honest opinion which is really helpful since shes an expert on wedding dress alterations. Louise seriously is amazing and I highly recommend her for alterations!

Louise took a sample dress I purchase, shortened it significantly, bustled it, made a belt from scratch with beading I purchased and took it in within a matter of 5 weeks. Her work was incredibly detailed and she was very flexible and patient with me and my requests. I felt beautiful on my wedding day and am so thankful I was able to work with her.
Like others have said, Louise is VERY busy. Book at least 10 weeks before your wedding and when you go in for your first fitting know your schedule so that you can make appointments for all your remaining fittings. When you make those appointments, stick to them, because with Louise being so busy, it’s very hard to reschedule last minute!
Will definitely be back for *any* work I need done in the future!

I’ve already written a 5 star review when I had a bridesmaids dress altered, but I’ll add a quick follow-​up. Louise was in the process of altering my wedding dress when, after the 2^nd fitting, I got pregnant. She was my third call when I found out. She managed to work some last minute miracles (my belly was changing sizes every freaking day!), and the dress fit perfectly come wedding day, nearly 5 months (19 weeks 1 day) into my pregnancy. Attached is a photo. Louise is awesome.

This review is a year overdue! But better late than never, I suppose.
Louise is truly a miracle worker!
Without going into a ton of details, my custom-​made wedding dress arrived late (just 2.5 weeks before the wedding)! Too big! And too short! While I may have lost a little weight, the complete mis-​sizing reflected the poor measurements that a different seamstress in SF had taken and sent to the bridal dress company. I mean, a dress that is TOO SHORT is insanely difficult to fix without it looking like some horrible quilt. But Louise did it, she lengthened the dress and brought in the dress several inches. She did so with such care and detail, even taking off and replacing lace appliqué (not an easy task). And she did all of this in a very short time (I honestly don’t know how this woman sleeps.) The results were gorgeous.
In terms of her personality, I personally appreciate her candid and direct way of speech. I don’t need or want people to sugar coat things, and I personally grew tired of the more valley-​girl, squealing kind of talk that seems to be prolific in the wedding industry. Louise, though direct, is also very respectful and has a sense of humor that came out right when I needed it (like in my «oh my god, how is this going to work?» moments regarding my dress.) Ultimately, she is a «get down to business» type of woman, and I particularly appreciated that.
As for cost, it wasn’t necessarily cheap, but she basically did a rush order for me, and like I said, she worked a miracle. My dress was gorgeous for my wedding day; it fit like a glove, it was the right length, and you couldn’t even tell that it had once been too big or too short.
Thank you Louise!

Louise is a wonderful seamstress. I heard about her talents through word of mouth, and made an appointment. Long story short, she was a pleasure to work with and did truly excellent work. Yes, parking can be an issue in the area but I never had much trouble, just plan to arrive 5−10min early and you’ll be fine.
Unlike other tailors who give you a set number of fittings which you have to schedule before you know how your body will change, Louise charges a flat rate and brings you back as many times as she thinks will be needed in order for the dress (and you) to look great. As someone who never really gains or loses much weight, I wasn’t expecting my body to change much, but it did (just like Louise told me it would)– I lost quite a bit. She brought me back for ~ 5 fittings in total and the dress fit great in the end! Thank you Louise!

I found Louise on Unilocal and I am so glad I brought my wedding dress to her. My wedding dress meant the world to me and I trusted Louise to alter my dress. I just had my dream wedding this past weekend and here is the end result: My dress fit me like a glove. Everything was altered perfectly and it was more than I could have asked for.
Louise is very honest, kind and helpful. She will tell you the truth and give her honest opinions and that is what I respect most about Louise.
Thank you Louise for caring for my Ines Di Santo dress :) It was amazing!

Louise is a star. When I came to her with a two piece wedding dress and a huge list of things I wanted to do to basically redesign it, her face lit up and instead of telling me what wasn’t possible, she delved right in and made suggestions on how we could make it even better. She can literally do *anything*, with confidence and care and a smile. My dress was absolutely one of a kind in the end, and I loved every inch of it.
In addition to my wedding dress, Louise altered about six other wedding related garments within two weeks of the wedding, as well as my husband’s tux shirt which she let us bring to her last minute and super late at night in an emergency ‘omg what will we do’ moment– and then took everything to the cleaner for us so that it would be ready to take to our wedding.
And even though I always wanted to bring her treats when I visited for fittings because she’s just so generous and lovely, she also had a birthday present waiting for me on one of my post-​birthday visits.
I loved working with Louise in every way, and we already have a huge new pile of things to take to her.

Louise is wonderful, and I recommend her highly for wedding dress alterations! Her prices are very reasonable, her work is on-​point, and she’s both sweet and honest. What better combination could you want?
She worked on my wedding dress and made what could have been a very stressful situation so simple and easy I couldn’t believe it. After a mishap with my original dress, I had to start from scratch terrifyingly close to my big day. I found an alternate dress but needed a bustle and a hem on a lace dress with just five weeks left. Anyone who knows anything about weddings knows that could be a recipe for disaster. Seamstresses need time. I was prepared for the worst when I called, but Louise graciously took me in despite my last minute needs.
I had ordered a dress from BHLDN, and I thought it fit ok. But when I showed up for my appointment, Louise told me she thought it was a size too big, and showed me exactly where there was too much fabric. (What bride isn’t excited to hear that she’s smaller than she thought?!) Louise worked through the math with me to see if it was more economical to rush order a new dress in the right size or if she should just alter everything herself. It turned out it was less expensive for me just to get a new dress and for her to do more minor alterations. I really appreciated that she was so honest with me and that she saved me some money.
I rush ordered a new dress, scheduled a second appointment for a few days later, and Louise turned the dress around in just two weeks! It fit perfectly, looked incredible, and I got so many compliments.
Some other reviewers remarked that Louise’s comments are rude. But I just think she’s really honest, which I found so refreshing. She’s like your no-​nonsense aunt who tells you what looks good and what doesn’t, what works and what won’t. It’s your wedding dress, for goodness sakes! You want to look amazing. And who better to tell you what works with your body than the woman who’s job it is to make your dress fit like a glove. She knows. Trust her judgment.
And FYI: for those having trouble finding parking, your best bet is to circle around to Macarthur Blvd so that you can turn right on Grand. There’s almost always one parking space on Grand just east of the freeway that’s open. It’s only a short walk to her studio from there.

Working with Louise was great! The wedding dress process was so frustrating for me because my weight fluctuated so much during my engagement. Every time I had a fitting with Louise, I felt so defeated that I wanted to shove the dress out the window! In the end, Louise had to have my wedding dress hemmed, bustled, taken at the bust, inserted cups in the bust, and let out at the waist. Louise did a great job and managed to make my dress look incredible.
By the time I actually picked up my dress (2 days before my wedding!), I was so fed up with all the changes that needed to be done, that I actually considered wearing a random white dress I owned that costs $ 20. But after putting on the dress on the day of my wedding and seeing everyone’s reaction (especially my husband’s), I knew I made the right choice in having Louise fix my dress. I swear she works miracles!
I know there are some reviewers who felt that Louise is too harsh or too tough. She is definitely no-​nonsense and is honest about what work needs to be done. But I’ve never felt that she was offensive or rude, even when I gained weight during the process. She is a perfectionist and wants to make sure your dress is exactly how you want it.

Louise is amazing. If you’re getting married and need any kind of alterations on your wedding dress (trust me, you do), call Louise. And make sure you call her as far enough in advance as you possibly can, because she gets booked up quickly.
Louise will make you feel like a million bucks because your dress will fit better than you ever thought possible.
I worked with Louise on my wedding dress, my wedding party reception dress and my rehearsal dinner dress and they all turned out beautifully.
She’s a little tough on you — kind of like a mother — but she knows what she’s talking about, so just listen. If you are planning on losing a lot of weight before your wedding, try not to do it the week before, because she doesn’t like surprises and you don’t want to be stuck with last-​minute alterations.
Louise will be with you every step of the way — right up until your wedding day. She’ll go the extra mile to make sure everything is done right. I can’t thank her enough!