Tina Kang at Natural Cleaners
225 S 17th St.
(215) 732-3880
According to Tina Kang, everyone else is an impersonator -- and a lousy one at that. "They all copy me," Tina says matter-of-factly about her seamstress colleagues. "If you send [your clothes] to somebody else, you're making a mistake."
Known to many Philadelphians as the endearingly blunt proprietor of Natural Cleaners in Center City, Tina is referring to her trademark "special hem," the denim repair so good that Philadelphia Magazine noticed, heralding Tina the "tailor to seamlessly shorten your Diesel jeans" in its 2005 Best of Philly issue. And don't think the honor has gone unnoticed -- Tina displays five photo-copies of the magazine clipping on two separate walls of her pint-sized store. "You get the 'Best of Philly' in the picture?" she asks our photographer in her broken, Korean-inflected English. It's hard to miss.
When Tina modifies pants, she cuts the fabric on the cuff of the leg and reattaches it meticulously, so that any trace of the cosmetic procedure disappears. The Center City Diesel store has adopted Tina as its official tailor, referring customers to her services after they buy jeans. Tina does not limit herself to the famous special hem, though. "I do 'waisting' jeans [tailoring the waistline], tapering, fancy dress, shirt, jacket, dry-cleaning, everything -- whatever you need," she says. The hottest denim trend of the moment, Tina explains, is "patching" different textures and washes of denim onto jeans both to reinforce the fabric and to accent the style.
Tina started her business five years ago after she closed down her sewing factory in West Philadelphia. "At the time, other people didn't know how to do [special hem]. Some people go to other stores and get it messed up and bring it here, and let me fix it up," she explains.
And Tina is certainly not afraid to toot her own horn. "Some people ... bring a whole bunch of alterations from New York on the train. They're scared to give them to someone else," she laughs. Even President Gutmann and her husband (who indeed comes from New York!) swear by Tina. "So busy lady, but every time she comes, she asks, 'how's your kids?' So sweet!" Tina gushes.
The only thing that Tina values more than her "Best of" stature is her always-faithful partner and lucky recipient of home-sewn clothing for every season -- her beloved chihuahua, Bambi. "Bambi is the famous one. Bambi should have been 'Best of Philly,'" Tina croons in a rarely heard baby-talk tone. And maybe she's right, maybe Bambi's the world's best-dressed dog. But he's surely not the innovator of the world's best "special hem"
