Sew Elegant

Esin is a lifesaver. I bought my wedding dress at Kleinfelds in January 2015. I believe the dress arrived sometime in June and instead of getting my alterations done at Kleinfeld (starting price for Kleinfeld alterations is almost $ 700), I took the dress to a place my mom has used for making and altering several formal dresses. Unfortunately, that place was terrible and with less than 2 weeks to go until my wedding, the dress just didn’t fit correctly at all. My (then) fiancé found Sew Elegant and despite being completely booked, Esin allowed me to come in before store hours for a fitting. Esin was so sweet. She showed me the alterations she was going to make and I came back a few days later. There were still some fit issues, but Esin said she could fix it and I could pick up the dress the next day. I was a bit worried because she said I couldn’t try the dress on again after the last alterations (because the dress was already steamed). Fortunately, the day of the wedding, the dress fit perfectly. The cost came to $ 500, which I’m pretty sure is the minimum. She didn’t even charge me for the rush alterations. I would have absolutely willingly paid more for her quick and amazing work.
During my fittings with Esin, she kept reminding me that all that was important was that I was marrying the person I love. She is absolutely right, but looking and feeling amazing in my dress was also pretty important to me and Esin made it happen. I am forever grateful.

Esin was one of the BEST decisions I made during my wedding planning process. She was more expensive than other tailors, but she was truly worth every penny. She is such an amazing and experienced seamstress, I always felt so comfortable working with her and just knew that my dress would turn out perfectly in her capable hands — and it did! The added bonus of working with Isen is that she truly cares about each of her brides and wants her brides to be happy on their wedding day. I had a hard time selecting undergarments for my dress and it really stressed me out in the weeks prior to the wedding — but every time I talked to Esin she was patient, had great advice, and calmed me down. Just book her :). You will NEVER regret it!

Highly highly recommended! Very convenient location, Esin was a delight to work with. She did an excellent job on a very complex beaded top I had and I was so impressed. Not cheap but good quality work isn’t! Still very reasonable :)
I will be taking other things for sure now I know the quality of her work. She paid such attention to detail and kindly re-​assessed sizing after one fitting (not a small piece of work with beads!!) I was so grateful and she really is a master tailor!

Esin is a jewel. She transformed my 42 year old antique silk wedding dress into my daughter’s dream for her October 3, 2015 wedding in Connecticut. The fabric was nearly a hundred years old and she treated it with such care, while updating it to perfection. She brought tears to our eyes when we saw her work and she made a special day even more special when my daughter walked down the aisle. Thank you again, Esin!

Stay away. Extremely unprofessional. Confused my appointment with someone else. Stained my dress and claimed it was there the whole time. Hem was way too short — my shoes are fully exposed in pictures. The alterations on the top of my dress were thoughtless — completely changed the look I was going for. They added a bra which you could see in all of my pictures. Every time I tried to tell Esin that I was unhappy she yelled at me insisting she was right. Extremely over priced. I can go on and on. Considering how much thought and money you are putting into your wedding dress, you deserve better.

This women saved my wedding! After my Dad’s passing, we had to move our wedding to this year and I had lost a tremendous amount of weight from the original alteration. Now, you would think that I would go back to the original lady who did my original alteration, well, I was not that happy with the first person who altered my dress (who is listed here) so I started asking around for recommendations. A few ladies at my office who had their wedding dresses altered at Sew Elegant said that is was wonderful and that I should go, AND THANK GOD I DID! She listened to me, made recommendations and the day of the wedding, I felt like a beautiful princess.

Please note that this review is solely based on how sweet and professional Esin. Today at 8:30am, I was supposed to come in to have my wedding dress altered. However, when I picked up my dress this past weekend, I realized that it didn’t need any further alterations and I honestly just forgot to call her to cancel my appointment.
I called here immediately this morning apologizing and the first thing she said was «Don’t worry, I’m so happy for you.» Now to a bride who’s about to get married in 2 weeks, it’s so nice to hear something like this! Someone else might’ve reprimanded me for not calling earlier or just overall sounding upset or annoyed. So thank you, Esin for understanding! Hope to use your services for something else in the future.

Esin altered my wedding dress for me in 2012 and I am so sorry I never reviewed her! I just went back to her listing on Unilocal as I need a dress altered and noticed I had an unfinished review. She was wonderful– lovely and talented and a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend her! I am looking forward to seeing her again.

I bought an Anna Campbell dress for my wedding but the beading was making my skin react poorly. I brought the dress to Sew Elegant right after purchasing it and told the woman the predicament I was in. After a few appointments and a $ 730 bill I picked up my dress. They did not have me try the dress on the day I picked it up and that was a HUGE mistake. When I finally tried the dress on it was too long and I had to rush it to a different tailor to be shortened! After spending so much money I was extremely upset that something as simple as the hem was done at the wrong length.

I don’t write many reviews and typically I reserve reviews for the places I want to support but… I can’t let this slide. I’ve worked in service and retail jobs since I was 15 and I know it can be a tough world to inhabit and that brides in particular can be high pressure clients. That said, I’m not exaggerating when I say that Esin ruined my dress. And she knows she did.
Here’s what happened: I bought a Marchessa dress at a sample sale. It was missing some beads and it had about four or five small pulls in the silk chiffon overlay that the sales girl told me should be easy enough to fix. She showed me what needed to be done and did one for me. We went over the dress carefully and agreed on a fair price for it based on the pulls and the missing beads.
A seamstress in Brooklyn who was booked referred me to Sew Elegant. There were so many wonderful reviews I ignored the negative ones. I called and made an appointment. When I arrived Esin was busy with someone else and had me wait a while and then attended to me in between fitting other customers. I showed her the missing beads and the pulls and explained that I didn’t need alterations, I just needed the beads and the pulls fixed. I had brought the dress in a shopping bag for transport from Brooklyn to Manhattan, but I asked her to please steam it when she was done and keep it hanging in the plastic garment bag. She said she could do what I asked, but I had to go get the milk-​white rhinestones for the beading on the dress. So I spent the next three hours scouring the findings and trimmings stores in the area to find the exact beads that were needed. Again, that seemed fine to me. I know they are unusual and she is busy. When I came back we came to a price agreement: $ 100 for the beadwork, the pulls and steaming.
She was done just a few weeks later and I was very happy. But when I came to pick up the dress, she rummages around behind a curtain and pulls the shopping bag out, puts it on a chair and walks away to go tend to another customer. My heart sank. Why was the dress still in the paper bag? I opened it and the dress was in a heap at the bottom of the bag, with the beading– with all of those little spikes that hold the rhinestones in place –laying on top of the delicate chiffon. As I gently lifted the dress, some of the settings caught on the silk and caused more pulls. When I took the dress out I saw there were dozens of pulls, some of them actual holes. The beads were fixed, and they looked good, but my dress was a wrinkled mess with bundles of thread poking out here and there.
Esin returned and saw me blanche. I asked her «what is this?» She told me to look at the beading first. I said the beading looks fine, but what *is* this? She immediately gets defensive and raises her voice at me and says «I didn’t want to hang it because it is too heavy!» which is just nonsense. It had been hanging in my closet for a few weeks, it was fine to hang. I asked her about the pulls. «Those were there!» she exclaimed. I told her a *few* of them had been there, and she was supposed to fix them, not make more! Who treats a wedding dress this way? At this point there were a few things going through my head: one my dress is ruined. Two there are other brides in the store and I don’t want to freak them out completely. Three, I don’t want to fight with this person. I just don’t. I just want to get the hell out of there and figure out what to do next.
I said «I asked you to fix the beads, fix the pulls, and steam the dress.» She said «I’m never working with sample sale dresses again. This always happens!» This struck me as an incredibly crappy thing to say and I said «that’s probably for the best. Just charge my card. We’ll figure this out.»
She had the nerve to charge me the full $ 100. When I got it home, I saw she didn’t even do what I asked on the beading.
I took a day to calm down and called and explained the situation to one of the assistants. She said Esin usually doesn’t give refunds. I said I’m fine paying for the bead work, but that was only ¹⁄₃ of what she said she would do. The assistant said she would ask.
She called me back shortly and said that, surprisingly, Esin had agreed to refund $ 50. I was fuming, but I accepted it.
I have taken the dress to two other highly recommended seamstresses. Both of them said there is nothing to be done for the size and number of the pulls on my dress. The holes are there and if I try to cut the threads, the holes will just get bigger.
This is my wedding dress and while it wasn’t perfect before, it now looks shabby. I was a good customer: polite, prompt, and clear about what I wanted. I did what she asked, agreed to a price and she screwed it up and then raised her voice at me. I’m sure she’s worked miracles on thousands of dresses, but I would warn anyone who has a sample dress or a used dress to stay the hell away from Sew Elegant. She may decide that you and your dress are not worth her time or care either.

Flawless job by Esin and her team on my Anna Campbell wedding dress. 4 stars only because of the high pricing.

Full disclosure: I was a bit of an unorganized bride. I waited until two months before my wedding to search for a seamstress, let alone get it altered, so I felt truly blessed when I met Esin. From the moment I walked into Sew Elegant, I knew I was in the best hands. Esin greeted me with such warmth!
I’d purchased my Pnina Tornai gown from a Kleinfelds’ sample sale, and although it was stunning, the dress was in poor shape and the bust needed to be completely reshaped. Esin provided a ton of reassurance and immediately began explaining the ways she would make it the dress of my dreams. Please note that they do require that your dress be dry cleaned before they get started — not knowing this cost me about a week; however Esin and her team still worked their magic in spite of my time constraints.
The final result was a thing of pure beauty and an impeccable fit. I felt like a queen, and it was all due to their dedication. To me, the entire experience was well worth every penny, and I highly recommend her.

I got my dress from Glamour Closet and it needed hemming, a bustle, and letting out in the corset part. I called quite a few places but from the moment I spoke to Esin on the phone, I was impressed. She was very friendly, patient, and straightforward. She did not mind answering my 100 questions and made an appointment for me without any issues.
At the first appointment she was very thorough, paid very close attention to details and was very clear with me about what needed to be done and about the price. She knew I had a deadline and assured me everything would be done in time. Her professional and very friendly way made it easy to leave my dress with her — I knew it would be in good hands.
I had 2 more appointments after that before I picked up my dress. Each appointment was very thorough. She looked at every detail and took her time to carefully explain how my bustle would have to be tied. I knew she was busy but she never made me feel rushed!
When I finally came to pick up my dress there were no surprises. The dress was pressed and steamed and ready to go. It looked beautiful and I remain very impressed with the work and overal experience. Esin was pleasant, professional, thorough, detail-​oriented and quick. Thank you Esin and your team.
I can’t wait to wear my dress in three weeks!

My Vera Wang wedding gown was size 10 when I bought it from Glamour Closet. It was way too big for me but Esin and her team helped me to make it perfectly fit me! The dress is so pretty after the alteration and I couldn’t be more satisfied. Now I send all my dresses to Sew Elegant because I trust them and I know they will make my dresses perfect.

Esin was great to work with. I was a bit nervous when deciding where to have my wedding dress altered, and she exceeded my expectations. No, it was not an inexpensive process, but for your wedding dress you want the best! She created a beautiful removable cap sleeve for me, and her alterations were flawless. She was patient and comforting, and very flexible with my schedule. I can’t say enough good things about Esin, don’t hesitate when choosing her for your alterations!

I purchased my Vera Wang wedding gown from Bridal Garden, a consignment shop. It was a great deal but in terrible shape. I came to Esin and she first recommended a dress cleaner and gave me a discount card for the cleaner. She completed a tremendous amount of work on my dress including taking it in, reapplying the delicate flowers and completed changing the back to a low back with a rhinestone clasp. She did this all in two months. I adore her! Highly recommend her to everyone. You get what you pay for and she’s pricier because she’s just that good!

Esin was incredible!!! My dress fit me perfectly=) She is very professional and worth every penny. I am barely 5 feet tall and I was worried that too much of my dress would be cut off and it would change the look of my dress, but Esin made it all work! You will not regret it if you choose to get your wedding dress altered here! I was obsessed!!!

Esin is wonderful! My dress was perfect, and several guests at my wedding mentioned specifically how well it fit. She is also very sweet and easy to work with.

These ladies are amazing!!! Esin made the most gorgeous wedding dress for me. It was such a wonderful, collaborative process and I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome!!! Thank you!!!

I’m no expert on sewing technique, in fact, I’m the last person you would ask to thread a needle, but what I do recognize is garment construction and quality. What I also know is that brides are the most psycho population on the planet. Their negative Unilocal reviews should all be taken with a grain of salt because these women are so nuts, thinking the world revolves around them when there are starving children in the Congo. «Me me me, my my my, want want want» is the mantra we’ve all grown used to hearing. So when my friend, a very level headed bride, enlisted me to find her a seamstress, I took the task seriously. I asked around through my connections in the fashion biz, and I was lead to Esin.
Esin, the wizard behind the astounding quality at Sew Elegant, is a master at her craft. I do not say this lightly. I’ve been to, oh, a zillion weddings, a zillion fashion shoots, and a zillion fittings in my life. I recently attended three fittings in Esin’s shop with my friend who was having two very intricate dresses altered for her wedding. The bridal gown had complex bead work with a raw seam (a not-​for-​rookies rookies alteration) and the 2^nd gown was vintage number in silk with a built in velvet sash that was so antique, it was falling off.
Esin not only provided expert alterations, but surpassed even my decidedly suspicious eye. Not only did the dresses look good, they were sturdy, something a lot of brides forget about. I’ve seen my friends’ wedding dresses FALL APART at their weddings (Vera Wang off the rack, I’m looking in your direction.) Not only did these gowns last through the wedding, but my friend had a photo shoot in her dresses several months after and the stitching held up beautifully and looked gorgeous on her hard to fit, extremely muscular, slender frame. She looked bodacious. radiant and amazing. Esin was always kind, considerate and welcoming in the way that only that generation of European women are. We always looked forward to going to her shop when a the next fitting came. At her final fitting, I’ll admit, I got choked up, the dresses were so perfect. Thanks Esin!