Terrible experience. I brought in my wedding gown for alterations prior to leaving for a trip to Europe and Irene suggested to wait until I returned as it will be closer to the wedding date. She then added that I should lose some weight for the dress to look even better. I am not overweight and I felt beautiful and confident in my dress. No matter what, no bride deserves to hear these kinds of comments in her wedding dress. Absolutely ridiculous and unprofessional. It made me doubt myself and cry for hours. Do not go here. I ended up taking my gown elsewhere for alterations. read more

I would never recommend Irene's to do bridal gown alterations, she's tortured I mean tortured my daughter's dress 2 weeks before the wedding , as you can see pictures, she cut & cut so badly & crooked, that she left no room to hem , I thought I had to buy another dress, I had to bring the dress to another seamstress to correct her mistakes and finish the job, she even left a needle and thread inside the dress. she was rushing us all the time when we were there, second appt .We had to leave bc she had another meeting , 3rd Appt. She sent us to get coffee as she needed more time. She left my daughter in tears for days because of all this stress. I have more pictures but saving to the BBB. We asked her to compensate us for her mistakes.... Her answer.... NO read more

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Irene is a wonderful lady!! She really took the time and effort to make my dress perfect! It fit me like a glove. Very accomodating, and easy going! Great experience. Not to mention, Irene made my beautiful veil for an amazing price. I was thrilled with her experience. read more

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Irene is a wonderful lady who is extremely passionate about her work. I brought my dress to her two weeks before my wedding because another seamstress lost my dress (do not go to pearl seto)! After locating my dress, i immediately brought it to Irene who was recommended to me by a friend. She had all the professional tools and issued me a receipt for her services. I purchased a dress that was two sizes larger and lost some weight before the wedding, she was able to alter everything and made it fit like a glove. Her suggestions were very accurate although i was skeptical a first whether to trust her suggestions, but everything was perfect on my wedding day. She also includes a free steam of your veil and dress when you pick up the dress. The only negative is that her studio is alway very busy and often has 2-3 bookings in the same slot which may feel a little rushed. But i was fine with it as she was less talking and more doing - a true business woman. Her price was much more reasonable than the lady who lost my dress too!!! I would highly recommend her to brides for wedding dress alterations!! read more

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My experience with Irene and her staff was amazing! I called her late one afternoon and asked her if I could come in THAT DAY for a VERY LAST MINUTE near emergency bridesmaid dress alteration. She tailored the dress to perfection literally maybe like a week before I had to take off [i know I know, I left it until the last minute. My fault] Irene and staff took it in, hemmed it, secured some straps in a position that flattered more than where the manufacturers optional hooks were [the dress was strapless, but came with some dainty little matching spaghetti straps you could to hook onto it if so desired, and she also decided it would look better to move them outward a bit.. she was right!] securely attached them because the hooks were flimsy, STEAMED the thing AND had all that ready in just a few days. I had the dress right on time-two days before my flight. And most importantly the dress came out PERFECTLY. it looked like it was made for me. [im curvy if it matters-it flattered me so well]. Prices were reasonable and service was absolutely terrific. So just a recap: I got a hem, got it taken-in, straps added, AND then she kindly steamed it, for a very reasonable price. Thank you Irene and staff! I'm so happy I found this hidden gem, and not too far from my place. Five stars all the way. I will be back when I need alterations. read more

I got married one year ago and it has taken me a very long time to write a review. I was conflicted about whether I wanted to say anything or not but I WISH I had done some research before taking my wedding dress to her to get altered. She was recommended by Becker's Bridal which is where I got my dress. I bought a stunning Allure Lace mermaid dress that I instantly fell in love with and now every time I look at pictures it makes my heart cry. I took her my dress 6 months before my wedding and initially felt very excited... I didn't get a second appointment until 1 month before my wedding and my third appointment was the Thursday before the Saturday of my wedding. Each time I went I felt very rushed and kind of shushed as I was saying what I hoped- and she was telling me what would INSTEAD work best. When I took it home Thursday I had to RETURN Friday because my dress was literally falling off it was way too big. Flash forward to day of my wedding.... 1. The dress was so big in my midsection but she said she didn't want to take it in because it would be hard to sit or move. 2. I had to actually PIN my dress underneath my armpits to keep from flashing a nipple because the cups she put were way TOO BIG and did not actually support me as much as they were heavy and dragged the dress down 3. The dress had actually stretched a little bit from the entire day of wear (and heat) and when I look at pictures I see the wrinkles from underneath my belt all the way to the floor because of the excess material. 4. At the end of everything it wasn't even a mermaid dress anymore... There was no structure to hug the curves of my body I am SO disappointed because I DID NOT cheap out on the alterations and did not even have many requests to be made. DO NOT GO if you have a LACE dress!!!! I am showing the picture of the dress on the model- How formfitting it is supposed to be to the body... and then there are pictures of what I wore on my wedding day. read more

I have been a customer of Irene's for many years. She is very attentive, NEVER rushes and always does an excellent job. She is phenomenal at looking at something and making it perfect. Irene is very talented and has repaired some of the most delicate clothing items I own. I have a sheer top that I constantly snag on my jewelry and Irene's gentle hand when repairing this item was unreal. I was ready to throw it out and now it looks brand new again! Irene is honest and will give you the straight goods - she wants you to look your best and she will do everything in her power to make sure you do. She is reasonably priced and always goes above and beyond. In my mind there's nothing Irene can't fix - she is one in a million! read more

Irene is AMAZING! She is skillful, personable and accommodating. She has altered each and every seam of my daughter's wedding dress and my mother-of-the bride dress to perfection. Thanks to Irene, my daughter looked gorgeous in her beautiful wedding dress on her wedding day in May 2016. With Irene's skillful hands she has turned my daughter's lace wedding dress from a sweet heart to a V-neck sleeveless bodice by adding a V-neck bodice to the dress with matching lace. It was seamlessly done! No one could tell it was an add-on, even I told them so. My daughter received many compliments! Irene is superbly personable and accommodating. We didn't listen to her professional advice on the shape of the V-neck during the 4 fitting sessions. We picked up the wedding dress 3 days before the wedding. My daughter tried the wedding dress at home but didn't like the shape of the V-neck. She was so unhappy. We went to Irene on the following day asking for rescue. Irene has kindly agreed to alter the dress again even though it was our fault and not her fault. She has efficiently altered the dress again at the very last minute, the day before the wedding. It was beautifully done. It made my daughter a very happy and beautiful bride. In fact May is the high season for wedding dress alternation. Irene's schedule was fully booked and had no time to do our last minute alternation but she agreed to do it on her own time. Thank you so very much, Irene! read more

Irene is amazing!!!! I live in NYC but bought my wedding dress in Toronto. Irene came highly recommended by the Bridal Store so I decided to go to her for alterations, despite the traveling back and forth. I was blown away by Irene's expertise, patience and attention to detail. Nothing was too much trouble for Irene. For example, I know she spent days searching for lace that was an exact match to my dress. She reassured me along the entire alteration process that the dress would be perfect, and she could not have been more right. It was beyond flawless. If you're a perfectionist, and want to feel like you are in the best hands for your wedding day: GO TO IRENE!!! read more

I was a loyal customer of Irene's for nearly 20 years. I even continued to go to her latest location when she moved even though it has been an extreme inconvenience for me. I thought it was worth it. However, she has recently nosedived big time with customer service. I dropped off 5 items that weren't complicated to mend--mainly just ripped seams. I told her she didn't need to rush. By that, I meant she could take a few extra weeks and give her brides/bridesmaids customers priority. Well, it took 2 months!! I kept calling and calling. So much time had passed that she separated my 5 items & even lost their serial number tags!!! She couldn't give me a definite answer on the phone if my things would be ready since she didn't know what was all mine!! So unprofessional! Well guess what?? When I went to pick them up, 2 items weren't even done yet!!! Can you believe it???? She expected me to make a separate trip to pick them up. But, I was so livid that I said I'd rather not return and just pay for the 3 finished items. But it got arranged that I could sit in Irene's Studio and wait while it was being done. Irene made an excuse about one of the 2 items, saying that she couldn't work on it until she saw me in person because I had to try it on for a fitting because "I am not such skinny person". That's right, she insulted my body type! Very classy, eh? Moreover, why didn't she get me to try it on for size when I dropped it off in the first place??! When my 5 items were finally done, I was way overcharged for the simplicity of the work that needed sewing. I wasn't even given an apology for the hassle I went through. I was just given excuses. I was given no kind of discount or compensation for the extremely unreasonable wait time. Irene didn't try to go above and beyond to make it right for me. Obviously, she doesn't value me as a nearly 20 year loyal customer. Moreover, if I had not put my foot down for all my items to be done after 2 months, who knows how many more months it would have taken for them to be ready???!! It has been absolutely disappointing for me. I will NEVER go back to her ever again!!! read more

Very Poor Service I was referred to Irene's by a friend who told me she was excellent and had moved to Wicksteed Avenue. I took a piece of material and a completed sample of what I wanted to her new location giving her one month to finish a very simple design. When I arrived for my fist fitting nothing had been done and I was asked to wait while she made a pattern. This took approximately one hour and seemed useless to me as she had the sample and could have made "the pattern" before I arrived. Two weeks later I came back for my "final fitting", and again nothing had been done, but to compound the problem I was booked in with 4 other customers - all brides with fittings for wedding dresses! I waited 2 hours for my cape to be finished (or started) and wound up paying four times more than I was charged by a Bayview Village high end dress shop for the same article in a different fabric. There is nothing to read in the shop and no where to go if you have to wait for your dress. I came home exhausted and frustrated - I'll never to back! read more