Tello\'s Tailors & Menswear Available

Ariel Tello began working with cloth and shears under the guidance of his father, Alonso Tello, at thirteen years of age. After relocating to Southern California in 1972, he honed his bench skills at regional clothiers including Lang’s Menswear and Silverwoods at the Inland Center mall. Together with his wife, Felipa, he founded Tello’s Tailors & Menswear in 1983, establishing its permanent storefront along East Highland Avenue in San Bernardino in 1994. The workshop operates with an emphasis on foundational drafting methods and structural garment alterations, catering to clients seeking both off-the-rack restructuring and made-to-order menswear.

Garment alterations at the workshop follow a technical sequence designed to retain the balance and proportion of original pieces. Adjustments to suits, blazers, and dress trousers begin with an evaluation of natural posture, shoulder balance, and fabric drape. Jacket alterations frequently involve resetting collars, reshaping chest canvases, and tapering sleeves while preserving functional buttonholes and inner linings. For trousers, technicians re-cut seats, adjust rises, and taper leg seams before finishing cuffs with traditional blind stitches or reinforced heel guards. The shop also constructs custom suits and dress shirts engineered around exact anatomical proportions, providing practical solutions for hard-to-fit body types that cannot comfortably wear standard factory sizing.

Beyond classic tailoring, the service floor handles practical repairs and formal wear adjustments. Work benches routinely replace split metal zippers, reinforce stressed pocket bags, patch worn trouser crotches, and mend torn coat linings. When adjusting formal dresses, evening wear, and bridesmaid gowns, tailors work closely with layered fabrics, delicate seam finishes, and internal boning, shortening hem sweeps and taking in bodices without puckering the outer material. Each garment passes through a series of physical checkpoints before pressing, ensuring seam tension remains even, thread matches the factory tint, and structural integrity matches the original manufacturer.

To maintain consistent production schedules, fittings at the East Highland Avenue shop take place by appointment during standard operating hours from Wednesday through Saturday. Complex structural overhauls and custom shirt orders generally require several weeks to account for preliminary bench assembly and intermediate basted fittings, while standard trouser hemming moves through a shorter queue. For any fitting consultation, clients must bring the exact shoes intended for the finished outfit—such as low-profile dress shoes, work boots, or formal heels—along with relevant undergarments or foundation layers to ensure hem lengths and torso lines drape accurately.