Jennie Ng Studio

I have been coming to Jennie’s Studio since 1997. She is one of the best seamstresses and fashion designer in NYC. She tailored a vintage Armani dress that I wore to my sister’s wedding. She has also done numbers hems and other adjustment. I highly recommend her. She not only works in her own studio but she also work as a consultant for Louis Vuitton and Chole boutiques in Soho.

I definitely procrastinated on getting alterations on my wedding dress. Part of it was not having picked out my shoes and undergarments (which I’m told is something you must bring to your alterations appointment), but also, I knew little about what I was getting myself into. I knew that I didn’t want to get alterations done at David’s Bridal, but I had no idea where to get them done, and how much they would cost. Turns out the cost varies a lot depending on where you get them done (just like with wedding dresses!).
After I finally sorted out my shoes and undergarments, I took a leap and started at Ellen’s Couture. We talked about what I wanted done, and she pinned me all over, talking about where to take things in and what work needed to be done. When I finally changed out of the dress and got the estimate, I tried to hide my shock, because it was basically my entire dress budget. I wasn’t ready to spend 5X the cost of the dress on alterations. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been so surprised, considering that it’s a bridal boutique in the Upper West Side, but I had no frame of reference for any of these costs.
I spent a lot of time researching a new place to get alterations, starting to panic because I had two months until the actual event. I found Jennie Ng Studio on Unilocal,made an appointment and took my dress in, hoping that a tailor in Chinatown would have better prices for me. Ann greeted me as soon as I came in, and even though we had a few minor miscommunications, in the end, she pinned all the right places and I had a good understanding of how she was going to alter the dress. Ellen had wanted to take the dress in on the two side seams, which is a lot of labor, but Ann suggested instead taking the dress in on the back zipper, which would require less labor, and result in the same effect. I have to admit, I was a little dubious of her methods, since I know nothing about tailoring, but when she gave me the estimate (which was 2X the cost of my dress), this was a reasonable option in comparison, so I went for it.
We had multiple visits to shorten the hem, add a bustle and adjust the shoulders, and Ann was very patient through everything. They do get very busy, so I had a few appointments that were cancelled or pushed back, but Ann always gave notice on canceling appointments, and the times I waited, I had a book to keep me company. When I finally tried the dress on after all of the alterations, the dress fit like a glove, and I loved how I looked in it. There was no noticeable downside to opening one seam vs. two. As as testament to her thoroughness, Ann noticed a small imperfection while I tried on the dress, and she spent another 15 minutes fixing it before she let me take it home.
If you are a bride on a budget, don’t care about having a fancy bridal boutique with tons of mirrors, and don’t mind carrying your dress up a flight of narrow stairs in Chinatown, Jennie Ng Studio is the place to go. Alterations took less than a month overall, the price was more than fair, and the work is good quality. A big difference between this place and other bridal boutiques, however, is that once your alterations are done, you have to pay to get the dress re-​altered if you gain or lose more weight before the event. I was glad that I took the dress in with two months left before the wedding, despite initially panicking that I’d procrastinated too long. I successfully did not gain or lose any weight before the event!
Highly recommended. As with most things in Chinatown, cash only.

Was VERY disappointed with the service I got at this place. My friend and I had a simple bridesmaid dress we needed shorten at the hem. Really, if you know anything about alterations, this kind of work is really simple for a tailor and easy money. Therefore, it was likely she didn’t need more than two weeks to alter our dresses. Upon leaving the appointment Jennie consulted her calendar and gave us a day that we could come pick it up. Two weeks later, ready with the rest of our balance to pay and pick up our dresses we learned that our dresses weren’t ready yet. She wasn’t even at the studio and we ended up talking to ppl she had overseeing the place next door. We also saw our dresses at a nearby rack with all the pins still in it, untouched. It was very frustrating, inconvenient and unprofessional. Instead she had us pick up the dress the next day; um, if it only takes less than a day to alter the dress, why give us two weeks and not even have it done w/​n that time. Ridiculous! Oy, btw, another one of our friends with the same dress went to a place next door to the studio, had more alterations than we needed on our dresses ended up with a cheaper quote and got her dress in less than a week! I say if you’re looking for a tailor or alterations… forget about it and just go somewere else!

I have been taking my garments to Jennie for alterations for over 5 years. She works in a small, unassuming space in Chinatown that may put some people off. But they shouldn’t be — she does excellent work at very reasonable prices. I’ve asked her to do everything from hemming pants to creating a skirt from a bolt of fabric. I’ve always been satisfied, if not impressed, with the results.
Call ahead before you go in — she works at Louis Vuitton a couple days a week and is not always there. It’s also much easier to reach her on the cell number than the work number.

I’ve always been lucky enough to be able to buy clothes off the rack and have it fit. However, there are times when I need to have alterations done due to weight gain/​loss and minor damages. That is when I head to Jennie. With her keen eye and honesty, she lets me know if a garment is salvageable or if I’m better off just buying another piece. (Let’s face it, you can only let out a seam so much, before it runs out of fabric; and you can only take in a garment so much, before the intended look is lost.) With that said, once you try on the garment for Jennie, her analysis is spot on, as is her workmanship. She listens to what your complaints are and then expertly corrects them.
No job is too big or too small; one of my favorite fixes Jennie did was how she seamlessly reattached a flimsy belt loop on my rabbit fur coat. (The matching belt was too heavy for the belt loop, so it tore the loop out of the side seam.) A few years later, the loop is still securely attached.
I’m so happy with the work she’s done for me that I even got my parents and my brother to bring their clothes in to her too.