Kiki’s Alterations

Having recently moved to San Diego, I was unsure where to go to get a bridesmaid dress altered. I saw this little shop was close to where I lived and when I called, they said just to drop in. I was worried, as I only had 9 days to get the alteration done. My worries quickly disappeared as Kiki was fantastic! I walked in and she had me in the dress and pinned to new size within 10 minutes. 7 days later I returned to pick up a perfect dress!
I would definitely recommend kiki’s alterations, I will certainly be returning.

I needed a dress for my son’s wedding and could not find anything between «I think I’m a bridesmaid» and «I think I’m the great-​grandmother.» So I bought 2 dresses that were too short, elegant, but not too expensive, and Kiki’s created 1 dress for me from the 2. It was a custom piece so it was not cheap, but Kiki’s created a beautiful dress for me. It was perfect for the mother-​of-​the-​groom, and I could not have been more pleased. A friend wore it to her son’s wedding the next spring so it was more than worth what I paid for the extensive alterations. We take all our alterations to Kiki’s and have never been disappointed.

I just got my wedding dress altered here. It was the one thing with my wedding that I was seriously worried about, but it came out great! They did such a great job and added a beautiful bustle. I could not be happier!

Kiki’s Alterations was amazing! I worked with Tammy on my Katie May wedding dress and couldn’t be happier. All of my family/​friends live out of town so it was nice to have a «home» feel and Tammy was SO sweet to me. I felt like she really cared how the dress fit me. They also did my now Husband’s suit and many people asked him if he had a suit made just for him… it was THAT good! It was a great experience and a very reasonable price! I’ll go back to Tammy for all things I need altered! Thanks so much!

Wow! Tammy and Kiki did an amazing job for me! I have a large chest and so when I purchase a suit it has to be bought to fit that and then tailored accordingly. They did almost a complete reconstruction for me (pants hemmed, legs and waist taken in) then jacket back, sides and arms taken in as well. Even in the shop I got many compliments on how great it looked on me. As a wedding planner I have seen my fair share of suits that are tailored inappropriately and I have to say that my suit now feels like it was made custom for me! The shop was busy when I went to drop off, which is a sign of how wonderful the work is and that they have many many returning customers that are known by name ;) great job!!!

I have gone to Kiki’s for many years for hems and tailoring, and they are dependable, reasonably priced and do a fantastic professional job. Furthermore, Kiki and Tammy are very nice women. I would recommend them to anyone.

Fast and professional. Altered my wedding dress beautifully and they were so friendly too!

I’ve gone to Kiki’s quite a bit over the last few years and I love Kiki and Tammy. Yes, at times they are busy and you may not get the chipper greeting you want, but the more you get to know them and vice versa, you understand that they are just straight to the point and calm people, but very friendly and funny. I haven’t noticed anything alarming, and I completely trust them with my clothes.

My wedding dress needed very little in terms of alterations, just a hem, but even still I didn’t want to trust it to just anyone. A friend suggested Kiki’s and boy am I glad she did. I worked with Tammy who was friendly and helpful. She recommended that I come back relatively quickly after the quoted finish time in case anything else needed to be done. Luckily, it didn’t, so now my dress is hanging in the closet waiting for the big day! Thanks Tammy!

I found Kiki’s on Unilocal.I had a bridesmaid dress that needed to be altered. They were fast and did a nice job. I was pleased with everything overall. I will use them again in the future.

I have worked with countless tailoring shops. I even started my carrier in a tailor shop.
Kiki’s it’s a lovely spot with genuine people and a family own feeling. Their customer service it’s lovely and it’s not for the uptight. They work hard and in a relaxed matter. Which I like and it makes me feel comfortable.
I bring them only the most high end of clothing from Rick Owens to Balenciaga and they have pleasantly surprised me.
It’s hard to please everyone in this kind of business but I think they are doing a great job. Keep it up!

Unfortunately, the wedding dress alterations at Kiki’s Alterations was the worst experience I had in the whole wedding planning process.
I was referred to Kiki’s by the bridal shop where I purchased my dress. I took the referral and went in for a quote on how much it would cost to have my dress altered. Now, I should mention I was aware that Kiki’s was not the cheapest spot in town to have work done, however I believe that it is important to be communicative about the cost of the work as it changes. That being said I was quoted $ 500 for the work needing to be done in my particular gown (it had a lot of embellishments and needed to be brought in quite a bit). Over the next few fittings adjustments to the dress were made (nothing outside of what was originally discussed), Kiki was lovely to interact with, and there was no further discussion of cost. However, when I went to pick up my final dress she charged me $ 850! I felt completely ripped-​off and totally taken by surprise, as by then I felt that she and I had a friendly and chatty relationship (not to mention our families attend the same church). I tried to explain to her that this was nowhere near the quoted price, and that she had never informed me that the quoted price was changing; however, she just stated that there was a lot of beadwork on my dress which made it time-​consuming. Well, that was apparent from the start so why the steep increase??? What was I going to do, buy a whole new dress weeks before my wedding? So I paid her and left highly unhappy with her and the whole interaction.
I would definitely NOT recommend Kiki’s alterations to anyone. Especially not for your wedding dress. And especially not, if you, like I, are looking for a smooth, honest interaction.

I took my Ines DeSanto Ostrich Feather Wedding dress to Tammy and Kiki! I read a lot of the reviews before deciding and I was really glad. Any woman that is a bride or in a wedding knows 1^st hand the stress that we endure. Well, Tammy and Kiki made this dress alteration one less thing to worry about. I found their customer service to be amazing and personable. Especially being located in LJ, you never know how business owners will treat others. Their love of culture and to please the client is apparent. Not only did they alter my dress in ways I had no idea about, it was the perfect fit on the day of my wedding. They hand sewn a photo of my grandmother who had passed onto the dress. This was also a broach that had pearls from WWII and 2 diamonds. They took exquisite care of the piece and respected it’s meaning. Since then, I have taken 2 other pieces to them and been quite pleased. Be patient when bringing your items in. Don’t rush quality and genuine women. Be kind, be patient and respect their job. Anyone who gave these two hard working ladies a bad rating should really go back. I will continue to give them business and referrals. Oh, did I mention they like red wine!

After looking at the polarizing reviews, I feel I should throw my two cents in.
I’ve never had any problem with the customer service, maybe it’s because I’ve been coming here for years.
They do quality work, and their prices are reasonable. When I have an item to be altered, Kiki’s is the first place I think of.

Kiki and Tammy are great! They take care of all my suit, dress shirt, slacks, jeans, whatever clothing needs!
If you like your clothes slimmer or looser, tell them when you’re being pinned up. They know what they think looks good (and it does look good), but if you like a different look let them know and they listen to your opinion.

Go to this place to get your jeans repaired.
Other alterations for shirts and wedding gowns, etc. I don’t know about, but if you have holes in your jeans they will patch it up for you quite well.
Nothing super fancy like chainstitching hems and whatever if you’re a huge selvedge denim purist, but I’ve gotten a few pairs of jeans with big holes patched up, and I’ve been satisfied every time. Pricing is reasonable – better to get stuff repaired than buy new jeans.

I found out about Kiki’s through a recommendation, not Unilocal – so I really didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I needed someone who was confident enough to alter my ballgown (not ruin it!) and to have it done within 1.5 weeks. I’ve come to Kiki’s for ballgown alterations, and simple things like sewing on buttons or fixing a 3 inch hole in a jacket. I’ve been a fan since 2009.
My First Experience
Kiki and her daughter Tammy, know their stuff. My first time to the shop, I had a BCBG gown I wanted to shorten, and completely alter from a short sleeve to a halter. Once I told Kiki what I was imagining, without skipping a beat, she grabbed scissors and started cutting the straps! I was scared, but I had to trust her. They told me it would be done in a week and it was. I came back for a second fitting, and in total, everything was done in less than 2 weeks – which was awesome because my Marine Corps Ball was in 2 weeks!
My Most Meh Experience
I brought in a delicate jacket that needed some beading placed on. Came back in a week, paid, took it home, and saw that they had placed the beading gawd knows where, but my sleeve with missing beading had been untouched. Returned to Kiki’s to point out the problem, and Tammy apologized and had it fixed without charging me extra.
Not all businesses are perfect. Yes, Tammy does not have the most pleasant customer service attitude, but at the end of the day, you’re paying for their expertise to alter your clothes, not a new friend. I’m not sure who does the alterations for things like wedding dresses/​formal eveningwear, but I do know they outsource their other smaller projects like sewing buttons, hemming, etc to other tailors.
I guess if you want to feel pampered, go to Nordstrom or wherever. But, if you live close to La Jolla and want a good job, come to Kiki’s. Oh, and they now take credit card!

I’m gonna tell you straight up how it is at Kiki’s. I’ve been going here consistently for over 8 years. I go here often, however, I do feel Kiki and Tammy have their strengths and weaknesses like any good business.
STRENGTHS/​What they do well: jeans (original hem or regular), men’s and women’s slacks, any kind of take in or let out (on basic clothing), designer wear (suits mostly)
WEAKNESSES/​Lacking: it’s a small shop with a lot of customers and it is only Kiki and her daughter Tammy. If they have a few people in there ahead of you, it could take a little while to be serviced because they do the measuring themselves and only have 2 small (yes closet-​like) changing rooms. The longest I’ve ever waited was 15 minutes, and yes, it felt like an eternity, but so what. If I can’t wait, I’ll run another errand and stop back by later. It is a very modest/​simple shop, so don’t expect Margaret’s of La Jolla.
I was recently married (OCT 2011) and chose not to bring my wedding gown here — I had it altered through the gown alterations specialist at M Bride, where I purchased my gown. I did so because I feel gowns may be a weakness of Kiki and Tammy due to the size of the shop, time they have and the amount of simple alterations they commit to.
I take everything else there and it is ready a week (or less) later — leggings, jeans, suit jackets, slacks, blouses, repairs. I’ve only had one problem with an alteration in all the years I’ve gone here. It was shortening the sleeves of a Burberry coat and I was not happy with the initial turn out and they fixed it for me no problem and I was happy with the fix.
Again, because this is a mom ‘n’ pop shop (minus the pop!) the service is much more casual and basic, however, once I got to know the gals and they know me, we chat, they take my clothing needs seriously and the prices are fair. They know my name and treat me well.
I think once you know what to expect, you can decide if this is the type of alterations shop that will work for you or not.

I took a pair of designer jeans here based on a recommendation from a friend. The process was anything but customer friendly. The store was very busy and it took about 30 minutes before I was serviced and when I was, I was asked to step into a closet and not a changing room. Again, they were very busy so this really didn’t bother me.
I came out, got measured and then I had to fill out all of the paperwork myself; they provided very little input into the process. After a week, I went to pick up my jeans and the customer service was about the same; again it was packed. I got my jeans, which were perfectly done — original hem just as I had asked and for $ 16.
So…the two times I’ve been it has been crazy busy. The customer service was below average. The actual product that was delivered as perfect.

Kiki and her daughter Tami are very friendly and seem to always remember you. They really know what they’re doing. They always make you try on what you want altered so they can mark and pin it accurately. They will generally be able to accommodate whatever turnaround time you need. I have to get nearly everything I buy altered, so finding a good alterations place is as hard as finding a good hairdresser. I’ve been going to Kiki’s for years and am very pleased. If I had to say anything negative it’s that every once in a while it’s pricier than my other alterations place but most of time, it’s worth it.