Golden Needle Tailoring

I thought I needed a zipper replaced on a feathered ballgown. Metal zippers are so difficult and time consuming to replace. However, upon examination the gentleman thought he could effect a repair. He repaired the zipper while I waited for about 15 minutes, and now it works beautifully. The only drawback was having to pay cash, but I am satisfied.

Won’t be bringing my dress here. The woman acted like she was way too busy to help me and said «why do yall come so late» like I was bothering her.

I took several pairs of pants and two pillow cases here for alterations recently. I am less than satisfied.
One pair of pants had a hole in the seat. They fixed it. For $ 10.
Another pair of pants needed the pockets sewn down. Fixed those, too. For another $ 10.
The button hole on a third pair of pants needed to be made smaller. This didn’t happen at all. The button hole is exactly the same size it was when I dropped the pants off. I don’t know if they just forgot about these pants, but yeah, same giant button hole. They charged me for it, though.
Lastly, I dropped off two large pillow cases, and one pillow case that was the correct size, as an example. All I asked is for the two larger pillow cases to be made the same size as the example one. A gentleman assured me that he just did this for another customer and that he’d be able to do these as well. For $ 20.
Well, when I got the pillow cases back, they’re smaller, yes, but NOT EVEN CLOSE to the same size as the example pillow case. Seriously, they’re still huge. If I put the sample case on top of the other one, there’s still a good 3″ of fabric difference all the way around. How hard is it to make the pillow cases the same size? Apparently, very.
I pre-​paid for all of the work. When my husband tried to pick the items up, the man insisted that I hadn’t paid and that he pay again. The woman tailor finally sorted the mess out and pointed out that «PAID» was indeed written on the ticket. UGH.
I’m at a loss for a good tailor in Alameda. The search continues… won’t be coming back here again.

Came here to get a suit tailored for my wedding and it looked fantastic! Really happy with the outcome and with how nice they are in the shop. Actually just dropped off another suit for another wedding too. Seemingly fair prices.

Sorry for the long delay on the update. The long and short of it is that this shop ruined my custom made dress. I sent it back to the maker, who basically had to put a whole new skirt on to replace the one that had been cut and hemmed so unevenly that there was no way to salvage it as a maxi dress. Obviously this was an additional (unecessary) expense, particularly after having been charged twice the posted rate at Golden Needle.
My attempts to resolve anything with the shop were unsuccessful as well. I called repeatedly, and was told that the owner was «not available» or «not there» and when I called when they said he would be back, I got the same response.
Having seen how the owner responds to complaints here, I am unsurprised and have no expectation of any resolution. Caveat Emptor on this one, you won’t get any help or resolution if they destroy your precious item.

This place is amazing! I came here for my 8^th grade graduation and rented out a tux and it looked awesome. I looked fit, taller, and the people there were very serious about their line of work.
Now that I’m a senior in high school, I came back here to see if I could get my blazer altered. They got right to measuring what would look good on me, and even told me the process of altering my blazer. They told me it was imbalanced, and that having a balanced blazer would make me look a lot better, and a lot taller since I am on the shorter side. Came out looking like a beast for prom, and I have them to thank for it.

Golden Needle altered and tailored my suit with professional care, accuracy and speed. Lois reworked the fine details until it was perfect even though that meant staying after closing by 15 minutes. The owner, Del, is an old-​school tailor and has a joke repertoire that may come off as insensitive to people who are easily offended. If you are the type to get deeply offended when someone mentions your waist measurements, you probably should avoid tailors.

I’ve been to the Golden Needle Tailoring for a couple different services and was very impressed each time. They have a great selection of Tuxedo’s to rent or purchase, and their tailoring service is exceptional. Also a couple months ago I had a hole in my favorite leather jack, and took it in, they fixed it up and it looks great. Del and the rest of the staff are knowledgable, friendly, and willing to go that extra mile to help.

Finding blazers that fit off the rack is challenging for me, so when I needed to have my favorite blazer fixed. I was so glade Golden Needle Tailoring was able to fix the torn lining. Don’t know how they did it, but it fits even better, and they saved the quality of my blazer.

We went to Golden Needle on the recommendation, but was very disappointed with the customer service we received.
We dropped off my fiancé’s pants he would wear for the wedding on 9÷6÷2014 and they told us we could pick it up on 9÷20÷2014, two weeks to shorten and taken in the hem? Kind of odd, but since they are open on Saturdays we still went with it.
My fiancé called onThurs, 9÷17÷14 to see if they were ready, tailor said they weren’t, but he could get it done by Friday. We still stated that we’d pick it up on Saturday, which they said it’d be ready by. We arrive at 10:30am on Saturday, they were not able to locate the pants! The tailor told the female tailor that she was working on it but she didn’t recall anything. We mentioned that we thought it we saw it on a rack that was located near us, but they dismissed that notion, stating that it was only for incoming items.
Tailor finally goes to the owner in the side room to say they can’t locate the item. Lo and behold, the pants were on the rack that we previously mentioned (the pants were not tagged without our name, whaaat?). This is where it gets worse, the pants were not completed or even worked on!!! It took two weeks to do a 45 minute job? Very unacceptable, even when promised to have it by the day before. Since the pants were unmarked/​untagged, how did they even know when the deadline was?!
Mind you this is a week away from our wedding and added stress is not needed. We had planned our whole Saturday running around w/​wedding errands. They said they could get it done in an hour. We asked for a discount due to miscommunication and inconvenience, and little confidence since they couldn’t locate the pants. After going back and forth a bit, they agreed to a discount. The owner made a comment, that we could take the pants elsewhere if we wanted… why was he yelling like we were in the wrong?
Story is not over, we come back and the tailor said that they could not give a discount since they had until 5:00pm to do it. Mind you, when we dropped it off they never mentioned the 5:00pm pick up time nor did they say they had until 5:00pm to finish. Again, the pants were untagged, how did they even know those pants were due later that day?! What type of business owners says they will give you a discount then go back on their word? What kind of customer service is that?
With the owner’s attitude, we will definitely take our business elsewhere. If you read the owners responses to the bad reviews on here, he seems to blame the customer. Definitely not a way to get repeat business.

I needed an emergency hem last Saturday. Not only were they able to accommodate me with VERY little notice, they were incredibly kind! I think I’ll move to Alameda just to be closer to this tailor.

I’ve been working with Golden Needle for 11 years. They are MY tailor. But you can go there too. :-) Incredibly competent, professional, lovely people. My clothes look great when I get them back because they give me well-​informed opinions that I always follow. Love, love, love Golden Needle.

My son decided to go to Prom the Sunday before the event. We waited until Wednesday and the Prom was Saturday to find a place to rent a Tuxedo. So go figure! We were late and I had no idea what to ask for, when it came to tuxedos.
We walked in, they gave us a book and we had no idea what to do with it. I said I want a tuxedo, you pick. I don’t know his name, but the person who helped us was friendly and fast. We asked can you have it by Saturday and he said I have 5 minutes to call in your order.
In less than 20 minutes, we had picked a tux, gotten my son’s measurements, paid and walked to the car. The day of the prom, the tux was clean, it fit him perfectly and they charged me $ 20 less that I was quoted over the phone.
You can’t beat that!

I was looking for a place that could do some tricky alterations on a bridesmaid’s dress. I went to Best Alterations and they said they couldn’t handle the request and suggested I find a tailor. Checked Unilocal and found Golden Needle. I would have never called them because the business name implies that they do tailoring (they also specialize in custom made suits for men), but they absolutely do alterations on women’s clothing, and they do it very well. Really nice people, too.

Golden Needle did a great job on a custom job. I brought in special fabric that I wanted made into a pencil skirt similar to one I already had. They supplied the lining and the zipper, and turned it around in 1 week! It looks extremely professional and I get compliments on it when I wear it. The price is a little steep (though comparable with a shoddier looking place I checked out in Oakland), but the quality is extremely high. I definitely recommend this friendly and professional place!

No one likes to have to go to the tailor (what a drag!), but these guys do a good job. The first time I was here was with my BF when he got a suit tailored for a wedding. It came out great, doing all sorts of stuff with the jacket and pants. I took some pants here recently and was also really pleased with how they turned out!
I love the old pictures on the wall from when the place must have first opened in the 1970s!
(Just wish they were a little cheaper!)

Umm yeah, so my previous review was mostly due to the great service I received from the Mediterranean man I used to always deal with. Unfortunately, he went on vacation during one of my next visits and the service was not nearly as good.
My pants ended up getting tailored by the older African-​American lady who wasn’t as skilled. The hem lines weren’t straight at all and looked nothing like the original. When I complained, the manager just brushed it off and was like, «Talk to her (the seamstress). She did it.»
Yeah, not coming back here.

Remarkably disappointed!
I recently lost a lot of weight and had to buy all new slacks for my new figure. Now, I know how to sew, but didn’t have the time to shorten 4 pairs of slacks. So, I schlepped them to Golden Needle based on the Unilocal reviews and proximity to my house.
I tried on each pair, with different shoes, to make sure they’d be tailored to fit every shoe-​eventuality. I like my pants to break at the instep and cover half of the heel of my shoe – a bit longer than some like. The man marked each pair so that they would be perfect.
Well, I got back the pants (it took a week) and each pair was TOO SHORT. It looked like I had grown a foot instead of lost weight. All the pants exposed my ankle. One pair has so little selvage that I don’t know if I can salvage them. Granted, two of the pairs of pants cost only a little more than the hemming (it was $ 14 per pair!), but still now I have to go out shopping again to replace the pair that they ruined.
Also, I came about 30 minutes before they were to close on a weekday. The man seemed peeved that I brought in something so pedestrian as a pants hemming project! I tried to be speedy in trying each pair on so that I wouldn’t delay him, which made the experience none too positive.
Next time, I’ll hem them myself… sigh.

I just picked up my 3 piece suit for friend’s wedding and I must say that John and Lois did an immaculate job here.
I am in between suit sizes so suits look too tight or too baggy if they aren’t tailored for me. This time around I got the cuffs of my pants hemmed and the suit jacket was tucked in at the sides, shoulders brought in, and sleeves lengthened for the low price of $ 141.
Lois and John are a riot and it is a very pleasant tailoring experience. Lois measures and cuts away like a pro. John did the majority of the work on my suit and brings it all together. The suit looks perfectly finished and they do not leave any stray marks or loose strings hanging around. They also press the suit before you get it so that it looks perfect. You will look like a Savile Row bespoken James Bond after you get a slim tailoring at this place. Also, I brought in this suit late Tuesday and the work was done by Friday afternoon.
John also took all my measurements and gave me suit and shirt buying tips after I paid. It also feels good to support a solid Alameda small business too. Needless to say, this is my first of many return trips to this business.

I brought my dress in to get it hemmed and tappered. The price was $ 40 originally but he gave me a 10% Unilocal disount. Thank you Unilocal!I tried on my dress and told my tailor how many inches I wanted off and how much I want it to be tappered. He marked my preferences with chalk and pins and ensure that it was how I liked the dress to be altered ebfore i changes again. The expereince was very friendly and professional. I cant wait to see the reults next week!