Clothes from the rail rarely fit perfectly. A jacket that works across the shoulders may sit too loose through the body. Trousers that are right at the waist can be too long or too wide in the leg. Off-the-peg sizing covers the average — but most people are not average in every dimension at once. That is where a local tailor comes in.
Angelz Dry Cleaners & Tailoring has been working on garments in Angel since 2013. Our tailoring workshop is on Arlington Way in EC1R, a short walk from Angel tube station on the Northern Line. We work with customers from across Islington, Clerkenwell, Pentonville, Barnsbury, and King’s Cross — people who want their clothes to fit properly and last longer. Below is a full guide to the tailoring and alteration services we carry out every week.
A well-made suit deserves to fit. Many suits that come through our workshop have been bought well — quality cloth, solid construction. The fit, though, is slightly off in one or two places. We shorten and lengthen jacket sleeves, adjust the body length, and taper the jacket through the chest and waist for a closer silhouette. Sleeve work on a jacket is one of the more involved tailoring jobs. Done properly, it means resetting the sleeve head so the shoulder sits naturally after the adjustment.
We also work on jacket pockets, cuffs, and buttons. Pocket linings wear through with daily use. Cuffs fray at the fold. Buttons loosen over time and need tightening before they come off. These are the small repairs that keep a suit looking right over the years. For customers who want a more fitted line through the body, jacket tapering is one of our most regularly requested jobs. Full details are on our suit tailoring in Angel page.
A coat takes more wear than almost any other garment. It goes on and off multiple times a day. The sleeves get scuffed. The pocket linings wear through. Buttons loosen or go missing. We carry out sleeve shortening and lengthening on coats, adjust the body length up or down, repair pocket linings at full or partial level, and replace and tighten buttons.
Coat work requires patience. The fabric is heavier than most garments, and the seam allowances leave less room for error. We work on coats of all weights — wool, cashmere, tweed, and technical outerwear. Each one is treated as a piece worth keeping for another decade. For customers around Upper Street, Sadler’s Wells, or commuting through Angel tube, a coat gets heavy use across the winter months. Getting the fit right is worth the investment.
The lining is the first part of a jacket or coat to fail. Years of putting a garment on and pulling it off wears the lining at the back seam, across the shoulders, and down the sleeves. When the lining tears or frays, the outer shell often has many years of life left in it. A full relining is a fraction of the cost of replacing the garment — and the result is a coat or jacket that feels new from the inside.
At Angelz, we carry out full jacket relining using new fabric cut and stitched to the original shape. For customers who want a premium finish, we offer jacket silk relining. We also replace jacket sleeve linings separately, for garments where the body lining is still sound. Coat relining follows the same structure — full relining, body only, or sleeves only depending on where the wear has occurred. Trouser and skirt relining is also available, as full or half lining replacement. Research from WRAP, the UK’s sustainable textiles charity, identifies repair as one of the most effective ways to extend the life of a garment — and relining is exactly that kind of repair. Full details are on our jacket relining in Angel page.
Trouser alterations are among the most common jobs that come through our workshop. Leg length, seat width, waist size, and leg taper vary widely between brands — and off-the-peg trousers rarely match a person’s measurements across all four. We hem trousers on both legs or a single leg, taper the leg from hip to hem, adjust the waistband in or out, and shorten trousers with a professional steam press finish.
We also carry out more detailed repairs: crotch patching on one or both sides, pocket stitching, full pocket replacement, partial pocket repair, and hook-and-eye replacement at the waistband. Trouser button work — replacement and tightening — is available for all trouser types. Many of these jobs turn around in two to three days. More information is on our trouser alterations in Angel page.
Dresses and skirts carry their own fitting challenges. A dress that works through the bust may be too loose through the waist. A skirt bought to size may be too long. We shorten and hem dresses with and without lining, taper the body for a closer fit, adjust or shorten straps, and repair side seams. For skirts, we offer hemming, shortening, lengthening, waist adjustment, and elastic replacement in elasticated waistbands.
We work across a wide range of fabrics — everyday cotton, silk, satin, chiffon, and formal occasion wear. The approach varies by fabric and construction, and our team assesses each garment before starting work. Many customers bring in a dress and matching jacket to have both adjusted together. We look at the two pieces as a set and make sure the finished result works that way.
Ready-to-wear shirts are sized by collar and sleeve. That leaves the body fit largely unaddressed. A shirt that sits right at the collar is often too loose through the chest and waist. We taper shirts through the body, shorten sleeves, and reduce the body length where needed. Collar turning is also available — a service worth knowing for a shirt that fits well and is made from quality fabric.
When a shirt collar begins to fray at the fold, the collar can be removed, turned so the unworn side faces out, and restitched. The outside of the shirt looks fresh again. For a shirt worn regularly and kept well, collar turning extends its life by several years. Button replacement and tightening are also available alongside any other work on the same garment.
A broken zip is one of the most frustrating garment failures — and one of the most straightforward to fix. We replace zips on trousers, jeans, skirts, and dresses. Our zip replacement service covers standard zips under and over 22 inches, invisible zips in both short and long lengths, and the metal jeans button that often breaks alongside the zip on denim. Most zip replacements are completed within a few days.
We match replacement zips to the weight and finish of the original where possible. On trousers or jeans worn daily, a zip that is too light for the fabric will fail again quickly. We choose the replacement based on the weight of the garment, not just the opening size. Full details are on our zip replacement in Angel page.
Wedding dress alterations require more care than any other tailoring work. The fabrics involved — silk, lace, chiffon, organza, tulle — are delicate, and every adjustment must sit invisibly within the construction of the dress. We carry out wedding dress fittings for brides across Angel and Islington, working to the measurements taken at each appointment.
Common wedding dress alterations include taking in the bodice, shortening the hem, adjusting straps, and repositioning fastenings. We recommend bringing the dress in well before the wedding date. That allows time for an initial fitting, the alteration work, and a final check before collection. Our wedding dress fitting in Angel page has full information on what the process involves.
A pair of jeans that fits well is difficult to replace. The wash, the weight, and the way the fabric has shaped to your body over time is not something a new pair recreates. We hem and taper jeans, replace broken zips, and replace the metal button at the waistband. Jeans tapering requires careful work at both the inseam and outseam. The aim is to improve the fit without disturbing the original fade pattern on the fabric.
Our team works with denim regularly and understands the difference between a jeans alteration done well and one that disrupts the wash. We work at both seams so the taper sits naturally in the finished leg. More details are on our jeans tailoring in Angel page.
Angelz has been based in Angel since October 2013. Our tailoring workshop sits alongside our dry cleaning service on Arlington Way, which means many customers bring garments in for both at the same time. If a suit needs dry cleaning before alteration, or a dress needs adjusting before a final clean, we can arrange both in one visit — with one collection date for everything.
The area around Angel tube draws professionals, families, and long-term local residents from across EC1R and N1. We see City workers needing a suit taken in quickly, residents bringing in a coat that has served them for fifteen years, and brides from across Islington looking for careful work on a wedding dress. Each garment gets the same attention. Our team inspects every piece before it is returned to the customer, and we do not return work we are not satisfied with.
We offer a full range of tailoring and alteration services for men’s and women’s clothing. This covers trousers, jackets, coats, shirts, dresses, skirts, and jeans. Services include hemming, tapering, waist adjustment, sleeve shortening and lengthening, zip replacement, button work, pocket repair, relining, and wedding dress fitting.
Turnaround depends on the job. Simple work such as hemming or a button replacement is often completed within two to three days. More detailed work — a full jacket relining or a wedding dress fitting — takes longer. We give you a clear timeline when you bring the garment in.
Yes. We work with suits from all sources — high street, mid-market, and bespoke. Construction varies between brands. A fused jacket is handled differently from a canvassed one, and we assess each suit before deciding on the right approach.
Yes. We replace zips on jeans, trousers, skirts, and dresses, including invisible zips and the metal jeans button. Most zip replacements take two to three days to complete.
Our workshop is on Arlington Way in Angel — a short walk from Angel tube station on the Northern Line. We are open six days a week.
Explore our Tailoring services in Angel: Wedding Dress Fitting, Suit Tailoring, Jacket Relining, Zip Replacement, Jeans Tailoring. Or browse our full services list.
Guides & Advice: Can a Tailor Fix a Suit That Is Too Big? · How Long Do Suit Alterations Take? · How Many Sizes Can a Tailor Take In a Suit? · How Much Does It Cost to Alter a Suit in the UK? · Is It Cheaper to Alter a Suit or Buy a New One? · Is It Worth Altering a Suit? · Should a Tailored Suit Be Tight? · Why Are Suit Alterations So Expensive?
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