Irena's Studio

This review is 3 years late - I had a wedding dress altered for my July 2022 wedding. Throughout the process there was a lot of pushback on alteration choices I wanted. For instance, I had a lace fit and flare dress top part and tulle bottom train, and for the bustle I wanted the buttons to be on the very obvious lace edge between the dress and train. The seamstress pushed back really hard for some reason to bustle the train below this lace edge in the midst of tulle, even though other examples I saw of similar dresses followed the lace edge for bustling. Then, throughout the process I did lose weight slightly through exercise (maybe 1 dress size max), but the dress was ordered slightly larger to do alterations for my original size. Every fitting the dress felt loose, and as it was a strapless sweetheart neckline I did express concern about the looseness. I was assured at every interim fitting that this would be adjusted by the final product. On the day of picking up my dress shortly before my wedding, I arrived and the dress was still so loose. The seamstress INSISTED it was ok even though I could pull the dress down easily past my chest without unzipping. I left in absolute tears as the dress was completely unwearable. The only reason I could wear my dress for my wedding was a men’s tailor shop down the street that did my husband’s custom suit, did emergency alterations for me with a less than 24 hour turnaround. Run and do not trust these people! I am still so upset remembering my experience here and it really was the only negative memory of my wedding. If I still lived in the bay area I’d absolutely have gone back to demand a refund. Responding to owner: we are in fact actual customers for both businesses during the wedding. Here are in progress pics of the fitting at irena’s studio as proof. I was softspoken, and often alone for all my appointments, and at pickup the owner got pushy and rude and I took my dress to avoid a full confrontation. And yes, men’s tailors normally don’t do wedding alterations but they saw how awful it was and how upset I was at my husband’s pickup. My wedding was in Hawaii, and I moved almost immediately after my wedding and fortunately for the studio I simply did not have time or energy to resolve the issue. Throughout the process it was hard to reach them via phone as well, but I chalked it up to covid policies etc.

Irena’s Studio is a gem!!! I was initially hesitant to trust someone in general with something as important as my wedding dress, but Lily (the owner) did an amazing job and knew exactly what alterations would flatter my body. During our first meeting, Lily was thorough, clear, and explained each recommendation and steps of the alteration process. I loved how for each visit, Lily took a step by step approach to alter my dress so that she could confirm that I was happy before moving forward to other aspects. I also appreciated that if I had a recommendation or question, Lily really listened and did not make me feel rushed during my appointment. I received so many compliments on my dress during the wedding and my photos came out so good as well. I’m so grateful for Lilys expertise and would highly recommend her!

It’s always been my dream to wear my aunt’s wedding dress from her 1983 wedding. The 80s puff sleeves and the fact that I couldn’t zip it up the back (my aunt was smaller than me) necessitated an expert tailor experienced in vintage wedding dress alterations. Cue Lily at Irena’s Studio! Working with her for my June wedding was definitely one of the best decisions I made throughout the planning process. Right from the very first fitting, Lily’s kindness, patience, professionalism and keen attention to the most minute details were apparent. Over the course of four fittings, Lily and her team transformed my aunt’s 80s dress into something more modern and timeless, while still maintaining the integrity of the original dress. I was so happy with how it turned out! Alterations included: completely redesigning the puff sleeves into cap sleeves, making the sash thinner, removing the underlying crinoline so the dress would be less poofy, removing some decorative bows on the skirt and bodice, replacing the zipper, expanding/adjusting the whole bodice to fit me, and fixing some of the buttons and loops for the bustle which had broken. She charged a reasonable flat rate which I was able to pay in three installments. I really appreciated Lily’s expert eye and deft skills. I would try on the dress at each fitting and she would notice small ways to make the dress that much better for me–little tweaks here and there that made it fit like a glove. In addition, I was able to bring in my reception dress for tailoring during the process and she got it back to me fitting perfectly in no time as well (it just needed to be taken in around the bodice). I cannot recommend Lily and her team at Irena’s Studio enough! They really helped make my wedding day wonderful!

Lily was amazing. On top of being the sweetest human she’s an incredible seamstress. I’m so late because she did my wedding dress in October, but her work was outstanding especially given the complexity of my dress. It involved some deconstructing of the sleeves to shorten them, and they were done flawlessly. The bustle was perfect and so cute! She listened to what I wanted while also giving her expert opinion. Costing was very reasonable given what boutiques charge for things like this. I’d trust her with any important occasion and even my life.

Finally had time to write this review after everything going on from wedding, but knew I had to take the time for Lily. She saved my dress before my wedding and worked incredibly hard and quickly to make sure it would fit perfectly for the big day. I like many others had the unfortunate experience of dealing with Janene's bridal alterations. They tried pressuring me to have them alter both my dresses but they overcharged me by thousands of dollars and were going to do the amount of work others could but take longer and not meet deadlines. My reception had so many issues and thank god I had a bad feeling leaving it in Janene's hands and held on to. I was pressured into giving them my other dress since they said I wouldn't have a dress for the wedding at all so I let them alter my ceremony dress that only needed simple hemming but they charged over thousand dollars for. I have photos attached for reference the lace trim that Lily had to not only hem but reapply the lace trim at bottom so that it would have same affect just shorter. Couldn't find the after photo but just know it turned out perfect length and was able to bustle. I'm glad I listened to my instincts and found Irena's studio and took my reception dress there because Lily helped to make sure I had realistic price and worked hard to make sure my dress was done for my wedding which isn't easy with a lace glitter dress with floral trim. It was easy to come back for fittings for alterations, parking was street parking but easy to get. Every time I would come in Lily was so kind to ask me how I was doing and hear some of my stresses out that were occurring from wedding. I love how she doesn't demand additional cost besides what she quotes you and she doesn't make you pay everything up front like Janene's so you can have faith that she will show you her work speaks for itself. I recommended her to all my friends for their future wedding and if you were like me and got some weird vibes from Janene's alterations I suggest you save yourself time and money and go here instead. You'll have a much more pleasant experience that you need for your wedding dress experience.