Every alteration is done upstairs at Tsakalof by Konstantinos Vlachos, who trained in the Solonos atelier with Sofia’s mother and has been doing this for thirty-four years.
Nothing leaves the building. There is no third-party workroom, no courier to a unit in Peristeri, and no week in which we do not know where your coat is. The workroom is one room on the second floor with a north window, two machines, and a press that is older than the shop.
Free in the first year on anything bought from us, at cost afterwards, and open to garments bought anywhere. We alter pieces from other shops most weeks, including from shops on the same street, and we do not charge more for it or make a face about it.
| Work | Cost | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Hem, trouser or skirt | €15 | 3 working days |
| Hem, lined coat or jacket | €35 | 5 working days |
| Waist in or out, up to 4cm | €20 | 3 working days |
| Sleeve shortened from the cuff | €30 | 5 working days |
| Sleeve shortened from the shoulder | €55 | 7 working days |
| Zip replaced | €25 plus the zip | 5 working days |
| Relining, jacket or coat | From €90 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Moth hole rewoven | From €40 | 2 weeks, sometimes longer |
The turnarounds hold for about ten months of the year. They do not hold in the two weeks before Christmas or the fortnight before Easter, when everyone in Athens remembers the same thing at the same time, and we will tell you that on the day rather than promise you a Friday we cannot make.
If you need something faster than the list, say so. Konstantinos once took 4cm out of the waist of a Lemaire trouser in nineteen minutes while the customer drank a coffee. He will not repeat the trick on request, and asking makes it less likely, but the honest answer is that same-day happens perhaps twice a month.
We will say no to a few things. We do not shorten a coat from the shoulder unless the coat is worth it and you have thought about it for a week. We do not take a garment in more than two sizes, because what comes back is a different garment badly disguised. We do not alter anything knitted on a hand frame if the maker has told us not to, and we do not touch a vintage piece with a fragile lining without warning you first that it may not survive the press.
Everything we keep on file goes on file. Your measurements sit against your name in the customer book, so the second thing you buy is altered to the same body as the first without anybody measuring you again.