City Alterations

A big nod to my fellow Edina Unilocalers for this much needed find.
I’m not a delicate lady. Where the normal gal might snag her sweater or pop a button every so often, I walk into poles, get tangled in gates and pitch into things on a regular basis. Call it Edinburgh newbie syndrome — I spend so much time with my head in the clouds that I rarely watch where i’m going. You guys, there’s a CASTLE in the middle of town! The wellbeing of my garments obviously come second to medieval architecture.
So after a particular nasty encounter with a gate, where I managed to both rip my favourite red trench coat AND pop off four of the buttons three days before a work trip where it would undoubtedly be needed — I was in a bit of a panic.
Thankfully, with a quick skip into Talk, I was led in the right direction. This place is cash only but that’s the only thing that is at all inconvenient about the little tailor shop. Not only do they do one hour alterations at no extra charge — my coat, which needed a mend in two places and four buttons cost an extremely reasonable £10.
Plus, they have drycleaning!
The work was excellent, and as i’m still in the head-​in-​the-​clouds era of my move to Edinburgh and i’m a pants-​challenged 5’2″, I daresay i’ll see the inside of this place quite often.

Fast, efficient, get’s the job done at a fair price. What else can I say? Oh, how do they take up jeans yet still make the bottoms look like they haven’t been adjusted? Amazing. I guess that’s why I’m not a seamstress, or is that a seamster… whatever…you know what I mean!

Quality Service doesn’t come cheap
Ok, I’m a short arse, if you looked at my measurements you would know that my waist is a greater number than my inside leg, and my arms are equally short. This doesn’t mean I look odd, and even if I do I have a dynamite personality to make up for it. Well, this isn’t a dating website, and I’m not trying to raise my own stock. The point is I often need suit trousers and jeans taken up, and sleeves shortened. I don’t go anywhere else, these guys are consistently good, and are also very good at hanging the cut on my denim to get them looking the way I like — Which is never the way they are on the shelf! They do charge a premium, and adding £15 on to the price of a pair of jeans often doesn’t sit we’ll with people, an I get that, it’s your call. I’m prepared to pay for quality, I won’t take a ripped jacket here, as there are plenty of places nearer my flat that do a perfectly good job for buttons.
That’s the end of my story, thank you!

Really charming people, providing excellent service in tight timescales. I am a demanding customer: most of my suits are bespoke, but occasionally I need something altering that I have bought off the peg, and I want it done in a proper tailoring way, e.g. not just chopping the sleeves and butchering the buttons. I have always been very pleased with the craftsmanship and the finished garment. Not the cheapest but you get what you pay for. Card payments not accepted, which is a tad inconvenient.

When I first got to Edinburgh I went to City Alterations for some adjustments to my suit and to have a half dozen shirts cleaned.
Apparently they send their dry cleaning somewhere else and do the alterations in house. Overall, I thought the alterations were quality and the dry cleaning service was what I expected, but nothing special (of course to me dry cleaning is dry cleaning, I’ve never had a bad experience).
Good central location, quick turn around time, and convenience of alterations plus cleaning in one store make City Alterations a great choice. However, the alterations prices may be on the higher end (and it’s cash only).

I do not recommend this store for dry cleaning. My husband and I picked up his dry cleaning last week from City Alterations and one of the shirts did not look like it had been pressed. The garment was very wrinkled. Thinking they perhaps just overlooked this on accident, we stepped back into the store and kindly requested they touch the shirt up. They said no. I then requested a partial refund since the cost to clean and press the shirt was 2.50, and they did not provide any pressing of the garment. They said no. They were utterly unhelpful and unapologetic about providing such poor service. We will not return and encourage others not to go here for dry cleaning.

If you ever want any of clothes altered, tailored or repaired, look no further than City Alterations! Situated on Hanover Street, City Alterations is right in the heart of the New Town area of Edinburgh, and it is just around the corner from the main shopping street, Princes Street, and so it is a convenient place to reach.
City Alterations perform a whole host of clothes altering including tailoring services, repairs, dry cleaning and fabric cleaning such as fur and silk — so handy! I came into store with a friend several months ago as she was wanting to repair a leather jacket and she was concerned that no where would be able to do it, but City Alterations was recommended as so she came here. The staff in this store were incredibly friendly and helpful and were able to repair the jacket and looked as good as new. The service was incredibly efficient and took hardly any time for it to be fixed. City Alterations also do shirt, trouser, jacket and skirt lengthening or shortening which costs about £12 — very reasonable.
City Alterations have great opening hours as they are open until 7.30 on week nights which makes it incredibly convenient for those working 9 – 5 who want their clothes tailored or altered.