I had a mixed experience. I called for a quote on a simple bridesmaid dress but was told to come in. After giving them my dress, they quoted $300 for hem, waist, and bust alterations. The hem (2-3 layers) alone was $250, with the rest $50. When I asked, they said hems start at $150. Why not say that over the phone, then? Other bridesmaids paid around $60 for hems, so that price felt excessive. After a 10% discount and scaling back the work to bust, waist, and only one hem layer, I paid $211. The finished dress fit very well, and the seamstress actually hemmed all layers at no extra charge, which I appreciated. Turnaround was also fast (about 1-2 weeks). However, when I picked it up I noticed a large snag in the chiffon. The front desk said, "You already paid for it, so..." before taking it to the seamstress, which was concerning given their strict policies: full payment required BEFORE work begins, and NO fit adjustments without additional charges (unless a hem comes loose.) The seamstress fixed the snag, though. They were vague in their texts and commitment to providing a good result. I wanted to protect myself, so I asked "If I gain or lose 0 weight, it'll fit as pinned, correct?" And only then, did they give me an explicit "Yes." The policies are not customer friendly, their room for accountability was very limited, and the pricing was high compared to other shops, though the final workmanship and turnaround were good. The business might a fit for convenience/people who have money to lose. OR they are a small business that's been burned before and has now adopted broad policies and protections. read more

An 'in back, over there', business allows this establishment to be humble. Don't let that deter you from trying these professionals out. There is no doubt they have been doing alterations for decades! Took in two pairs of trousers for alterations! Hemmed perfect, competitive pricing! My 'of course I go there...duh...place! read more

This guy wants to charge 50.00 for a simple boot heel replacement that costs 20.00 in Chicago because he's the only repair guy in Asheville and is gouging customers as a result. I'd rather ship my boots to Chicago and pay 10.00 less, including shipping than be robbed by this guy! read more

Quick response, friendly service, hemmed trousers were perfect, texted when complete and very inexpensive and

I had my good leather boots re-heeled and they were beautifully repaired. The people at Inara's are so polite and kind, too.

AVOID THEM! I have been going to Inara for years and always had great experiences with service and quality until this Fall. The quality of tailoring has gone down substantially, even on very basic things but the price is still high. Recently, I brought two identical linen shirt dresses to be hemmed with the original hem and a snap added to each. Very basic. One dress was done as promised with original hem and snap that was strong and appropriate for chest placement. The second dress did not have original hem, which is a major problem on a linen dress for keeping it flat and in place, and the snap was weak and not able to stay closed at chest. I asked if they could fix the error somehow and return original hem. They did refund me for the tailoring, but were unable to fix their error, and the dress now will not lie flat and is meaningfully compromised for its intended use. They have always promptly responded to my emails and messages until I asked for them to compensate me the cost for replacement of the item, DO Dwhich is the proper remedy under the curcumstances. They have ghosted and essentially refuse. read more

The girl that works behind the counter is absolutely delightful. The cost of $50 for simple heel cap replacement is ridiculous. Two years ago it was $35 which I thought was very high considering I've had it done at other shops for as little as $18. Shoe repair here is way overpriced. read more

I needed a sole replaced on a work shoe. I use these shoes almost daily. I was told that it would take 2-3 months for this simple repair. The shoe is in good condition. I cannot wait for that period of time for this repair. Sadly. I was told this was the only shoe repair business in Asheville. Unless you do not need shoes in a shorter time, do not go here. read more

Please do not be fooled by the positive reviews on here, as I know I was. I am unsure if a recent change in ownership accounts for the horrible experience my sister and I had or what, but I strongly caution against using this shop. My sister and I were co-maids of honors for our older sister's wedding, and we paid $820 collectively for our dresses to be altered. This was more than the cost of the dress (about 3 x what other bridesmaids paid at different shops) and more than our sister paid for her wedding dress and mother of the bride dress to be altered at a prestigious seamstress. However, we were willing to pay the price for such an important day and were relying on the reviews for it to be worth it. We couldn't have been more wrong. When the dresses were first pinned, very few pins were placed in a matter of minutes and no measurements were taken. This may have been where things went wrong, but when we picked up the dresses and tried them on at home, they were both incredibly ill-fitting. Both were too short so that we had to buy new shoes despite the fact that the dresses were pinned while we wore the original height heels. My sister's toes were showing even in flats. The sleeves were so tight we could not lift our arms despite this being a specific request during the consultation. When I brought my dress in it was far too big, and it was altered to be so tight I feared it would rip while wearing it and could not bend over or sit without it being painful. We went back to the shop to have corrections made, and at that point, the only option was to add a panel in the back of my dress making it look different than the rest in the party. The same situation occurred with the sleeves having to look different to fix mistakes. We ended up having to go and back and forth to the shop multiple times (causing missed work and rearranged schedules), and at every request to meet with/speak with a manger or owner, we were given the run around, which was highly suspicious to us. Ultimately, my dress was not finished until the afternoon before we had to travel to the wedding, which was incredibly stressful. While the product of the alterations was not satisfactory due to having to fix mistakes they made in ways we would have never chosen, the treatment from the manager/owner (unclear which), Preston, was the most disrespectful. We were unable to speak with him until after the event due to refusal to schedule a time to speak with us sooner. He refused to accept any responsibility on the shop's end, and insinuated my measurements changed from the consultation to original pickup (which implies weight gain, ect), which is impossible given the time difference was only a few weeks, and I weighed myself to ensure of this. Overall, he attempted to gaslight us and maintain nothing wrong had occurred despite being sent videos by the front end employee of where the dress would not close in the back, being too short, and the arms being incredibly tight. The shop has promised to refund the rush fee (only $47 of the total) due to not finishing until so late, but at the time of this review, this has not been done either. However, Preston maintained nothing else would be done to rectify the very poor experience we had. When told it would have to be on his conscious for not being ethical or fair, he responded, "I accept that." Our seamstress was kind and skilled, and the front end employee we primarily communicated did her best to help the mistakes get fixed, but overall this experience was so stressful and upsetting. Please seek another shop for your alteration needs. read more

Very responsive and replied to my request and did a wonderful job. Restored a blanket that was 30 years old and my wife loved it

This place has long wait times but does really excellent repair on leather goods and shoes. It is well worth the weight.

I was under a short deadline to have a shoe repaired. Not only did Asheville Shoe Repair ( which does business out of Inara's Alterations) meet my deadline and get my shoe ready for a wedding, they delivered it to my house when the shoe hadn't yet arrived at Inara's when I went to pick it up. Truly remarkable service! read more

I brought in two items kind of cute contemporary stuff I bought at the second hand store I had already pinned it so they knew exactly how to tailor the arms of the top and the waist of the sweater. It was an astronomical price $125 for playware It wasn't a dress or suit for an occasions so when I went back to pick up the items they had taken out my personal pins that I did to show them where to alter it and we wrote that on the invoice. So it was a tit for tat They spent a lot of time pulling out the pins I had placed in there . Not impressed. I took it to the Taylor on tunnel road called sew to sew customs cost me $40. She didn't excellent job, what can I say? read more

Brought in my pair of Asolo (Gore Tex) boots to fix an unglued sole and they did a wonderful job at repairing it at a very affordable cost. Also bought a very good looking cv mask there that the lady makes on the side. An all around good business to support. read more

I called last minute for a shoe repair and they got me in right away. Fixed the problem and it was a great value. They were super responsive and also very pleasant to talk to. Highly recommend! read more

Service was great. Staff was amazing. Yelp has times wrong- they open at noon on Fridays

I arrived from Australia 5 days out from my friends wedding with a very poorly fitting suit. The staff work ethic was extremely high and 2 days later they had made the alterations to make this suit pop. I would recommend Inaras Alterations and shoe repair to everyone. Welcoming and homely feel. 10/10 read more

Inara turns all my off the rack shirts into tailored custom fits very inexpensively. I have very broad shoulders but not a big mid section. She also added a whole new satin liner in a very old sentimental leather jacket making it like new again, and has turned two blazers into perfect fits. Very nice lady too. read more

This is a great place for all kinds of alterations and shoe repair, too. Tatiana is very professional and knowledgeable. I've been very happy with everything I've taken there. read more

I've used her services over the past 2 years and have always been pleased. Sadly, I will not be going back. She lost my fiancee's brand new pants 3 days before my wedding! My finacee brought in his khaki linen pants to be hemmed for our wedding. When I drove to Inara's to pick up the pants (3 days before our wedding), she said they had already been picked up. My fiancee had not picked them up (he works during the day) and I definitely had not picked them up. I politely asked her to check in the back room to be sure. She checked and still no pants. She asked me to call my finacee to be sure, and to check at home. I called him, and went home to double check. No pants. I did not have the tailor ticket with me, as my fiancee had thrown out the ticket by mistake (in the past I have picked up orders without ticket, as she recognized me, I guess). When I asked her WHEN the pants were picked up and WHO picked them up, she could not give me any date or person's name. She could only say the pants had been picked up. Not sure how she came to that conclusion, as she does not keep records that indicate date picked up. And she does not match up tailor ticket with order. I explained, in a nice way, my frustration with this situation, as my wedding was 3 days away and my finance had no pants! Not to mention the pants were brand new and cost $ 68.00. She basically insinuated we had the pants at our house, never apologized, and never offered to replace cost of pants, or offer anything in the way of compensation. So apparently some other person with or without a ticket picked up my fiancee's lovely brand new linen pants. Buyer beware. read more

She did an awesome job and bent over backwards to rush a suit I needed for a huge job interview!