Clayton Tailoring & Alterations

Terrible customer service. I dropped off a dress and specifically said I need by Thursday, the woman said no problem and they’d call when it was ready. I was charged $ 30 for sewing/​attaching five chains and was never called. When I spoke to the lady on Monday she said it’s not their responsibility to call when the items are ready. The woman whom I dropped off my dress to took my phone number and said they would call me, Monday the woman over the phone said «the person you dropped your dress off with had an emergency, if you can call now you could have called Thursday» now why would I call if they said they would call me? Makes no sense whatsoever!

(Update since this morning) I’M TAKING BACK ALL THE NICE THINGS I SAID EARLIER!!! $ 60 to shorten some straps!!! @K.P. — I’m checking out your place next time. Ridiculous!
Although they are incredibly expensive, they know their stuff. If you are in a rush, they are always accommodating. They are especially knowledgeable of vintage clothing. They have taken in several vintage dresses and completely remade a horrible, floor length, too small, 70’s style bridesmaid gown (the beauty was in the fabric) changing it into a gorgeous 50s style, tea length dress AND all within a week. I’m only giving 4 stars because they are expensive but for my vintage projects, I wouldn’t go anywhere else. I’m on my way later this morning.

Yeah, they charged me 35 dollars to take in some straps on the dress. I was in a pinch and didn’t have time to bid around for some lower prices so I went with it. I gave them two stars for the quality work they did– the straps weren’t a simple fix and the work they did was really invisible. In spite of that, the price tag is just not worth it. I’ll make a point to bring my alterations somewhere else next time.

BOTTOM LINE (Incase you don’t want to read my long review):
Don’t go here unless you want to hemorrhage money. Go to the Tailor at Manchester and 270 (by the McDonald’s, on south side of Manchester, just east of 270).
THE DETAILS:
I almost feel sorry for the Ladue Ladies who waste their money having their St. John Knits altered at this place. I know that everyone is guilty from time to time of thinking that because something is more expensive, it must be better quality. But, we all know this isn’t a universal truth and many times things are simply overpriced. Well, this place is overpriced. Outrageously overpriced. Read on… (Bear with me, it’s a long story.)
I went in with clothes I needed altered. I let the lady pin and chalk all my clothes and finally, when I was wearing my last pair of pants to have pinned, I asked her how much it would be to keep the original hem. For each pair of jeans I was having altered, she wanted to charge me $ 50 if I wanted to keep the original hem! If I didn’t want to keep the original hem, it would be $ 30. Surprised, I went in the dressing room to start changing back into my regular clothes and immediately googled «how much does it cost to alter jeans?» (impressive googling skills, I know). Well, google it yourself. It doesn’t cost $ 50 or even $ 30, it costs like $ 10 – 15.
After I changed and went to the register, the woman started writing up a tally for my alterations. For each skirt and shirt it was something like $ 20. All together, the total rounded up to be about $ 250. I needed some buttons sewn onto a few things (I’m that lazy) and she was going to charge me $ 5 per button. I asked to see a price list because no price list was posted anywhere. She said they didn’t have one! At this point, I decided that whether the high prices were justified or not, I needed to find a cheaper tailor. I politely told her that I couldn’t justify spending that much on alterations, so I would just have her alter the two items I needed to wear soon. She proceeded to not only unpin but also to wipe off the chalk marks off of everything else. Fine, whatever lady, you made your point.
Embarrassed, I drove to the tailor on Manchester by the McDonald’s and West County Mall. Before trying on anything, I showed the woman my clothes and told her what I needed done and she quoted me at around $ 90. Relieved, I told the woman what had happened at the last tailor I had gone to. She replied, «Was it Clayton Alterations? We have so many customers come here after they go there because they charge too much and their work isn’t any better!» (Remember: this tailor is really far away from Clayton Alterations; Clayton Alterations is apparently infamous on the STL alterations «scene».)
While I was in the dressing room there, another customer came in who had apparently gone through the same thing a few months back. The proprietor asked the customer to tell me her story. The customer told me that Clayton Alterations had charged her $ 400 to tailor a nice camel-​hair coat that she bought for her fiancé. She said that she bought the coat on sale and that the alterations ended up being half the price of the sale price of the coat. Apparently, that was her last visit to Clayton Alterations.
Save your money, you’re not paying for better quality, the only thing your paying for is the high rent of an office suite on Clayton Road. I am willing to pay a higher price for higher quality. This is not one of those circumstances where you’ll get what you pay for. I don’t think they do a BAD job. The clothes they did alter turned out fine – but so did my clothes from the Manchester Tailor.
I do recommend the tailor on Manchester though. They did a great job, they had a quick turn around and charged normal alterations prices. Also, the reason I knew about the one on Manchester in the first place is that a guy that works at Neimans had recommended it to me. He said it’s where they always tell people to go who have jeans they need altered that they didn’t buy at Neimans.
NOTE: I’m calling it the «Manchester Tailor» because the sign literally just says «Tailor» but I think their real name is Alexis’ Alterations, or Alexis’ Tailoring, or something like that.