Nelson Tailor Shop

What can I say about these guys besides that they absolutely kill it. I’ve had two suits fully tailored and both have turned out phenomenal. When I first went in Nigel asked me if I was getting married (I wasn’t). He then asked me if I wanted to look better than the groom (who doesn’t). Needless to say, he made sure that suit was going to be the best suit at the wedding. I highly suggest Nelson’s to anyone for any job, be it a simple hem job to a full suit modification. Thanks a million boys

My first visit to Nelson Tailor Shop was in July 2010 because I’d seen strong Unilocal reviews, and I have spent close to $ 700 here in alterations. I’ve had pants repaired, pants taken in, pants tapered, pants hemmed, sleeves shortened, sleeves tapered, pleats added, shirts tapered, and sportcoat work. Frankly, everything I’ve learned about tailoring comes from my frequent visits here. I live in Astoria, where there are dozens of tailors around the block, but I continue to schlep it all the way to the Lower East Side because of the strong work Nelson Tailor shop does. These guys don’t treat me worse or any better than any other customer, new or old — every person that comes in is granted the utmost level of professional courtesies. They will ask you again and again if the work you are requesting is what you desire, and work tirelessly to make sure they get it right. They will continue to double check and triple check the instructions that you give. If you aren’t happy with the instructions that you gave, it shouldn’t take away from the work that they put in.
I’ve always been charged a fair price for the work that I’ve requested, and find their prices to be very reasonable next to what other tailor shops have charged. In addition, it’s been consistent over the past five years that I’ve gone. They don’t play any tricks and even though they might quote you with one number, they will break down that quote for you one by one. Any suggestion that they are not transparent or are trying to cheat you is silly. And lastly, the insinuation below about «peeping toms» is disturbing and factually inaccurate. They do not have posters that are strategically placed to peep into changing rooms. It’s a solid, opaque wall. Period. After all, they are too busy on sewing machines and taking measurements to be snooping around on customers.
Besides all of that, Nelson has been in the business for twenty years, and at one point, was operating thirteen shops. The shop is quintessential New York City, and is reminiscent of the New York City of old. It’s been featured in Inside Man and in national TV spots, so even though the storefront looks very humble, it’s reputation speaks for itself.

This is one of those hidden gems that I don’t think many New Yorkers know about. If you read any bad reviews about this place, don’t believe them. They were probably placed by some disgruntled customer having a bad day or competing business. Nelson does amazing work and for such an amazing price. I would highly suggest this place to anyone who is simply in need of a great tailor. He only does the best work. Plus, he’s a great guy.

PEEPING TOMS!
I use to come here when I lived in the Lower East Side-​he had those ‘hot chicks’ posters in the changing area then. If it is still there BEWARE! One day I was changing into my clothes that needed to be tailored and I heard the paper move a bit. One of his workers were peeping through a hole in the wall. The pictures are used to cover these holes. DISGUSTING!

I love this place. They have done all kinds of work for me — including shortening the sleeves on my leather jacket. Their work is great and fast and very inexpensive. I don’t understand the bad reviews on here! I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

This review is long overdue. I first visited the shop back in 2013 when I lived nearby and had several pants and skirts tailored there. Everything was well done in a reasonable period of time and at very reasonable prices. This is a family run operation and everyone I’ve met has been friendly and knowledgeable. I now live in Brooklyn and go out of my way to go here because I know it will be done right and I don’t leave feeling swindled like at the tailor shops in my neighborhood.

Nelson’s is awful, and I would not go back. Save your money and take your business elsewhere, including to your neighborhood dry cleaner, as it will be same quality work and you will save money. Don’t get caught up in the hype, the recent negative reviews are on point.
The positive reviews are either old customers that Nelson knows and provides good service to or are people, like me, who really wanted to find a good NYC tailor and wanted to believe the hype. Believe me, if you are a new or non-​regular customer, you will NOT receive anything remotely like good service or quality work. The staff is indifferent and unhelpful while Nelson himself is usually hanging out in the back (i.e. not working) and avoiding eye contact with customers if he is there at all.
Brought three pants in to get taken in because I lost some weight and they all came back ruined. Despite measuring me and pinning it, they took the waist in about 1.5 inches too far which sort of works if I am standing and want them to ride super-​dork high; moreover they took out the fabric so the damage can’t even be corrected. This on top of being extremely expensive.
I deeply regret giving them second and third chances (I too was caught up in the reviews and wanted to find a good NYC tailor after I’d lost weight and needed serious tailoring work). After forking over literally thousands of bucks to this place, I am back to square one.
Also: When I went the CC machine was broken and they were cash-​only which conveniently meant you can’t dispute a charge through your credit card company.

Worst tailor shop I’ve ever been to. I brought in a coat to fix the lining in the pockets and was charged around 50 dollars. I picked up the coat and found that the pockets were still broken. I brought it back in and explained the situation. They took back the coat. I went back there two weeks later and found that the pocket was still not fixed. Seriously?! The guy explained I should have paid 35 to replace the liner not the 10 I probably originally paid. I told him I paid more than 10 and would he please get manager. Apparently the manager is on vacation. They have no records to check. Their whole attitude was basically sucks for you. Awful. Wouldn’t step back in there if they paid me.

I’ve been going to Nelson for three years for good reason: great customer and impeccable service. Always leave happy.

I don’t live or work anywhere near this tailor shop however I go out of my way to go to this shop. It’s great. SO reasonably priced, great work and it’s always done very quickly.
Honestly, couldn’t ask for much more.

Nelson takes passion and pride in his work. He is the finest tailor I have ever met and you can see it in his work and the way he looks at presents you with the finished piece. I got a suit and tuxedo for my wedding made by him and it was the best decision I ever made in my life. He is honest, professional and the suits he makes are a work of art. I felt like a painter was handing me one of his prized paintings. I HIGHLY recommend Nelson and his tailoring work.
P. S. He also had a great sense of humor And being in that shop makes you feel like your in Santa Domingo Dominican Republic. It’s Awesome !!!

One of those truly inexplicable overall Unilocal ratings to me. I had a couple suits tailored here, and I wouldn’t ever use them again.
A. Extremely expensive. Both suits required a moderate amount of work but nothing major, and I was charged about $ 350 total — no specifics, more of a holistic billing approach. But the Unilocal reviews were very positive (even better at the time than they are now) so I was willing to shell out.
B. The work was very clearly farmed out to someone else, and was done terribly. One of the pants was taken in so far in the seat that about half my butt fit inside it. Nelson’s response was to say «oh, one of my guys must have done that» and he fixed it in about ten minutes, and to his credit fixed it very well. I have no idea who that other guy was or how he could possibly have believed a human ass would have been covered by his tailoring, but he was not ready for his assignments. The other pants were cut similarly, but I was fed up and just left — before I even noticed that the sleeves on one of the jackets were uneven. Nelson himself is probably a great tailor, as evidenced by his cleanup job, but whoever he’s giving work to… well, you might as well do it yourself with nail scissors and floss.
C. It took forever. I finally called after 5 weeks or so and was told that «your suits have been here forever, we left you several messages, why haven’t YOU picked up your suits?» This was, of course, blatantly not true. .. especially since I then showed up, and only one of my suits was there (the other still with Tailor X, as he figured out how to eliminate more butt fabric).
PSA: take your stuff elsewhere. You’ve been warned.

Not sure how this place is getting the positive reviews. Took in 2 slacks for a simple alteration and the quality of the work was extremely poor. Taking them to another place to have the work redone.

CRAFTSMANSHIP!!!
A job well done. I have never been so satisfied with the way my attire SUITS me. A work of art. These guys know what they are doing. They give recommendations, know their fabric like a sowing machine. Ever heard of Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. Their Michelangelo, your clothes are the Sistine Chapel. I would definitely recommend their shop to anyone. Their prices are great as well. Keep an eye out for this shop.

Awesome tapering job on my jeans.
Taper from the knee down — $ 10
Taper from the jean pocket down — $ 25

I’m in LOVE with this place. I went in late Oct, 2013 in a state of panic. My interview suit and skirt was basically two sizes bigger than I had remembered (I had wore it maybe 3 yrs ago). I showed up at the shop, the guy at the counter had me put on the suit and skirt and one of the seamstresses started making marks with his chalk.
Basically, my suit sleeves (which had a very customized design at the cuff) was too long so it had to be shortened from the shoulder which is a pretty big task. Also, the skirt was too large at the waist and hip and had to be re-​sized to fit me.
The whole time I was there I felt very comfortable, I was told to call the next day to get the estimate on how long it would take and the price.
I picked up the suit and skirt in 3 days to the price tag of $ 80 (AMAZING) and I couldn’t be happy w/​their alterations. I have gotten many compliments on the suit so far.

Prices have increased yet again! Brought in an $ 8 cotton maxi dress that needed hemming, charged $ 10.
Nelson,
Please don’t let the popularity Unilocal gave you into your head. Bring back the lower prices and friendly neighborly service. Also, we liked in when we saw you at work. Your present employees are grumpy and not as accommodating as you.

I gave them a fairly basic first job in tapering some pants and taking in a dress shirt, but they turned it around in less than a day and the results were solid. Plus they had a crotch rocket inside the shop, just chilling next to the sewing machines.
No reason to give them anything less than 5 stars.

Don’t believe the hype. After reading the reviews I was excited to meet my new tailor. Besides the reviews I wanted to like the place, tucked away in my old neighborhood. And what’s not endearing about rows of senior Latin gents cutting and sewing away to salsa? Well. the actual tailoring.
I took in a suit, an extra pair of pants and a dress shirt. The jacket needed considerable work — taken in on both sides, the sleeves and the back. Both pants needed to be taken in the waist and hemmed. The shirt sleeves were also long.
It took a hot minute but Nelson needled and chalked me up, scribbled on a receipt and told me how much I owed: trip digits. (Who’s got time to itemize prices? Not that guy.)
First pickup: drunken by the five star reviews, I paid and happily went home without trying anything on. Big mistake. I pull out the jacket at home — it still had pins in it! (Amateur.) No work had been done. (Annoying.) Ditto for the second pair of pants. (Robbery.)
I returned the jacket and second pair of pants. No apologies. They take the jacket and pants and tell me to come back.
Second pickup: I try the jacket on and there is a fold in the shoulder, above the collarbone. The second pants were still too long. I was told to come back in two hours. Still no apologies.
The suit is now mostly fine. But later, I wore the altered shirt with the finally fixed jacket. The jacket sleeves are longer than the shirt’s! WTF.
A trip to Nelson’s, the gift that keeps on giving. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t believe the hype.

I am happy to join the long line of ‘Fans of Nelson’. I traipsed all around the city looking for just the right fabric for a skirt that I had in my head that I wanted for a VERY special occasion. When I finally found it I was tempted to have a go at making it myself — but with just a few days to work with and no budget for more fabric I decided to find a reasonable tailor. When the trail for tailor Bang Fun (real name?) went cold I found myself drifting aimlessly down Orchard popping into the many tailor shops there — they all referred me to another shop on Orchard, where the classic, older tailor seemed perfectly nice, but I was skeptical whether he ‘got me’ or would understand what I was looking for.
So, I drifted on, finally landing on Nelson’s doorstop. Reassured by the calm, orderly atmosphere in the shop, and by Nelson’s hipster sensibility I put my dream (vanity?) project in his hands. This was at about 6pm on a Thursday. The next day he called me at 11am and told me the skirt was ready for a fitting. I got there around 2pm and by 4pm I was walking out the door with my fantasy skirt — that is LESS THAN 24-​HOURS folks! It was a pleasure to work with him and to spend a little time in his shop — watching he and his team efficiently handle the constant stream of customers who all seemed to leave happy — and not too much lighter in the pocket! He even made me a miniature version of my skirt for a Barbie Doll, out of one of the scraps! What?! Way above and beyond. Do yourself a favor and give Nelson’s shop a try.