South Bay (Los Altos) area tailor recommendations?

[dlareg]

Just moved back to the south bay area and so far I've had pretty disastrous results trying to find tailors from yelp. Most of the highly rated places seem to gather their ratings from basic alterations or their dry cleaning business.


Place I just came back from the tailor kept insisting my jacket didn't need to get in (tux ordered for me by the wedding party) even though it fits me like a box.


Anyone know of any good suit tailors in the Los Altos/Palo Alto/Mountain View area?

[glen_delossantos]

If you can handle the drive farther south, my tailor is Vitarelli Giovanni from Santa Clara. He's a 3rd generation Italian tailor and has been tailoring clothes in the same place for over 40 years. Nice guy, too.


I can also recommend Manuel, also from Santa Clara. He's a little more busy, though.

[thmage]

Ah, let me know when you find one. Like you, the only places I've come across (on the peninsula, that is) seem to be dry cleaners.

[greatish.ten]

I also second Glen's response.


Been going to Manuel on Stevens Creek (I work close to Westfield Valley Fair) and his work has been exact on all my coats. He even did a great job on my denim jacket.


Just ask him what you want exactly and it pretty much comes out perfect. Turn around time is long, about a week depending on the item.

[dlareg]

Thanks Glen and greatish.


Didn't have any other leads so I made the extra 30 minute trek and just came back from Vitarelli's.


Looks very promising. Without me even mentioning anything he pointed out several obvious flaws in my suit with much more fashion forward suggestions. Most of the other alterations peeps would refuse to acknowledge that my arms are different lengths and that my sleeves need shortening.


Thanks again. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

[joshua]

I can't recommend a location, but I can say that if you plan to go to Axess cleaners on Castro St. in Mt. View, make sure you only have the manager, Michael, measure you. Long story short, the employees, or the one I dealt with, don't know how to measure properly.

[nftmlk]

diareg, please let us know how it turns out!

[glen_delossantos]

@dlareg - I'm excited to see the results! He really understands the tailoring process and individuality of his customers. I have to have the collar shortened on every single jacket I own and he's the only man in town that will do that for me.


He says in a thick Italian accent "Nobody wantsa to do da work! You have to take apart the shoulder, see!"


I hope he treated you as well as he treats me. Oh, and please let him know "Glen" sent you. I don't get anything for it, just more conversation.

[dlareg]

hey guys, thought i'd chime in with a quick update on Vitarell's


Took in a terrible looking tuxedo which was bought for me at Jos Bank for a wedding. It really fit horribly. He shortened the sleeves, took in the jacket, slimmed and hemmed the pants, and took a bit of extra fabric off of the hump of the jacket back for 125 bucks. I thought it was a pretty solid deal.


My only nit would be that when I got home I noticed the hump area just below the collar along the back of the jacket still looked like it had a bit too much extra fabric, but I never would have even noticed this detail if he hadn't pointed it out. Or maybe he forgot to alter it, as I wasn't sure how it looked pre-tailoring.


Another tiny thing is that he was just a little reluctant to re-hem the pants, suggesting several times that it looked good with a bit more length (although always repeating he would make it done however I wanted). I insisted it was a bit too much break and after adjusting it came out perfectly.


Overall he was an incredible pleasure to deal with. Just an adorable guy. I can't say enough about the job he did on those ugly, boxy slacks which ended up looking so much more modern. The jacket looked so much better as well, even though it started off a bit oversized in the shoulders.


I have to say it wasn't much to start with, but compared to the other groomsmen, my tailored tux looked amazing!


Too bad he is so far away! I think I'll be bringing in a few more pairs of slacks and a blazer for him to work on.

[glen_delossantos]

Just got back from Mr. Vitarelli and I remembered this post.


@dlareg - Glad almost everything worked out! If you bring anything back that you're not 100% happy with, he'll fix it for you, no charge. I've done it twice due to my poor observations.

Also, in regards to the pant length, he does seem just a little reluctant to change the length, but he really will do whatever you want in the end. In fact, the first time I asked for a shorter length, he obliged. I had to bring back the pants after realizing they were too short! The old man really knows what he's doing.

Regarding the "bump" on the back, I need this done to all my jackets and he is only 1 of 3 tailors in the area that will address this - Manuel and Ricardo are the others.

[ravi]

@Glen Thanks for posting about Mr. Vitarelli. I had no idea that he existed before seeing this thread. I just picked up 3 pairs of Bonobos pants (1 pair of jeans and 2 washed khakis) that I left with him last week for hemming. They came out great and both his work and pricing ($10/pair) were way better than that of the other place that charged $15 that I'd previously gone to for hemming. Really nice guy as well. I'll definitely be going back.

[glen_delossantos]

@ravi - you're welcome. Glad he was good to you.


I'll be there picking up a suit on Friday. If anyone is in town, don't hesitate to say "hi".