The Best Tailors in NYC 2022

Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Getty

Dashnor Tailoring, 320 E. 81st St.; dashnorbegaj.com

Last year, Willa Bennett, the head of social at GQ, happened upon a $250 vintage Gucci suit at a thrift store that “needed quite a bit of work” to fit her frame. Knowing it was a steal, she bought it anyway and asked colleague Miles Pope, the associate fashion director at GQ, where to take it for a rush job — she needed it back in three days for an event. Dashnor Tailoring on the Upper East Side, he said — a small, old-school tailoring shop on the garden floor of a townhouse. Dashnor “Dino” Begaj, master tailor and owner of the shop, was able to do the job in just six hours and charged her $300. Now, it’s her favorite suit because it looks custom made. “People will stop me on the street and be like, ‘Where’d you get your suit? It fits you perfectly,’ ” she says. Bennett has since brought other vintage pieces to Dashnor for adjustments as well as some YSL pants she had shortened and taken in to wear to this year’s Met Gala. (From $25.)

Robinson Brooklyn, 209 Wythe Ave., No. 106; robinsonbrooklyn.com

Musician Brian Newman got his first suit made by Craig Robinson — a tailor who has done bespoke pieces for Morgan Freeman, Willem Dafoe, and Penn Badgley — in the aughts. Since then, he has “amassed a collection” from Robinson, including a white suit jacket and black pants he wore to perform with Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett. All of Robinson’s suits are impeccably made, expertly fitted, and have special custom touches, according to Newman, like a reinforced belt line to hold his clip-on microphone. And they last. “I have suits of his that are 15 years old that I still wear on the red carpet,” he says. Robinson will do any style, but his specialty is “showstopping” Italian-influenced suits with extra-large lapels and high waists. “I’m sure he will do English style or any style you want. But at the end of the day, you want Craig Robinson to do Craig Robinson,” Newman says. “He knows what he’s doing.” (From $4,200.)

Alteration Specialist, multiple locations; alterationspecialists.com

In 2019, voice actor Lauren Kammerling needed a jumpsuit hemmed by the end of the day. She took to Google and found Alteration Specialists — several people had commented that it could handle a quick turnaround. She dropped the jumpsuit off in the morning and picked it up before her holiday party — the length was perfect and the stitching pristine. She has since entrusted the shop with all of the outfits for her upcoming wedding — hers and her entire bridal party’s both. Most challenging was her extremely delicate tulle engagement-photo dress — the sleeves needed shortening, the train needed hemming, and the whole thing had to be taken in. Afterward, she says, it fit like a glove and “not a pearl was out of place.” Dermatologist Elyse Love also used Alteration for her wedding — she brought her (slightly too big) silk dress in only three weeks before her elopement. Two weeks later, she had it back — altered, as she’d specified, only ever so slightly, so it fit well but didn’t appear to have ever been touched. (From $18.)

G&G Cleaners and Alteration, 311 W. Broadway; 212-966-9813

Ghetto Gastro marketing director Malcolm McNeil first heard of G&G from his girlfriend, who had been a sales associate at A.P.C., which used the shop to hem and mend jeans for its recycling program. Later on, a friend at Thom Browne told McNeil the brand used G&G for alterations as well. “I figured if both of those brands use G&G, then I should use them too,” McNeil says. So he brought a pair of ill-fitting trousers with an unfinished hem into the shop. Before he could say anything, the woman at the counter suggested he get the “Thom Browne look.” A week later, the pants came back with the hem slightly above his ankle and a neat, subtle cuff (which, six years later, has yet to come undone). He’s since brought in several more pairs of pants for adjustments and jeans for patching. No matter the job, he says, “there’s a level of consistency there that is unparalleled.” Jenelle Manzi, a ballerina with the New York City Ballet, is also a G&G devotee. (She struggles to find straight-leg jeans that fit her muscular calves and smaller waist, so she typically buys a size up, then has them altered.) She’s had G&G fix up or fit at least ten pairs of her beloved vintage Levi’s and some black Gala pants from The Row. (From $20.)

Eddie’s Expert Tailor, 160 Allen St.; 212-254-1151

Coming Soon co-founder Fabiana Faria found Eddie’s Expert Tailor in the East Village eight years ago while searching for someone to resize a bomber jacket. Another tailor she tried was hesitant, saying the job might take three months — Eddie’s didn’t falter and was able to bring the bomber jacket down to her size in about two weeks. Since then, she’s brought in close to a hundred pieces, including a couple of suits and corduroy pants — but Eddie’s has ultimately become her go-to for T-shirts. Faria has a short torso and prefers a boxy tee — she likes a 22-inch fit — so she hems nearly every shirt in her collection, from merch tees to her Scarr’s Pizza shirt to designer-collaboration shirts, at Eddie’s. (From $10.) “He already knows when I walk in what I’m coming in for,” she says.

Sammy Dry Cleaners & Tailor, 650 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn, sammybk.com

Awoke vintage founder Liz Power has been going to Sammy since it opened right next to her shop in Greenpoint in 2019. What sets the place apart, she says, is owner Albert Kim’s willingness to do essentially anything to fix a garment. Recently, she brought in a ’70s jumpsuit with a broken extra-long zipper in the front. “He said it was rare but managed to find one for me, which is pretty amazing,” says Power. (According to Kim, “about a hundred” zippers are kept on hand for cases exactly like Power’s.) Creative consultant Jess Tran — who happened upon Sammy during the pandemic and since has dropped off between 50 and 100 pieces for fixes and alterations — also mentioned Kim’s obsessive attention to detail. She recently brought in a Cult Gaia dress that was missing a string in a specific oak shade. Instead of simply finding one in a similar color, Kim searched for the exact string on Etsy. “He is so careful and detail oriented,” says Tran. “And he’s also just an incredibly sweet man who deserves a day off.” (From $16.)