Italian Tailor Watches the Industry, Chinatown Transform

By Stephanie Rubenstein

CHINATOWN – Customers call him a local legend, but the tailor insists the fame exists only in his own mind. Fifty-year-old sewing machines and hundreds of spools of thread in every color line the tables. His name is Nicholas Giurleo, but to everyone else in the neighborhood, he is known as "Nick the Tailor."

Giurleo learned the trade from his father, who came to the United States from Italy in 1958. Tailoring has always been a part of his life. His father established a store in the Garment District of Boston, which was later engulfed by Chinatown.

Giurleo, 67, has watched the area transform over the years, yet his business has endured.

"This used to be combat zone, a very rough area," he said. "The times have improved. It used to be like a playground for gangsters."

Giurleo said his business was never affected. His wife, Doris, said her husband has always loved going to work.

"He enjoys meeting people," she said. "He just enjoys his work."

After the death of his father 20 years ago, Giurleo took over the store. The family's tailoring business has moved around to different locations in Chinatown, but it has remained in the same spot for the past 35 years.

"Everyone around here knows me," he said. "People in the area have always accepted me. The Italians and Chinese have a lot in common in our culture. Family is a very important structure."

One of Giurleo's sons works on Lafayette Street, just a few blocks away from the store, and comes to visit during his lunch hours. The two catch up on each other's days.

"[My dad] has been working here since I was a kid," his son said. "I used to work here at this very [sewing] machine. I got $1 for every cuff I made."

The business has always been family owned, but Giurleo recalls when he used to have 10 tailors who worked for him. Now, the working stations are bare and he works alone.

"No more tailors are coming over from Europe," he said. "Ninety percent of the Italian population is educated and don't pick up trade skills. Tailoring was a poor man's trade, so with a booming economy, this is now a dying trade."

Fellow Italian tailor Jerry Pastore has noticed the trend. He said tailoring is no longer an appreciated trade, adding that people will soon have to learn the skills themselves "for their own sakes."

Designer Kim Pham, 56, who owns clothing and alternation stores in Chinatown and Copley Place, said fewer people are becoming tailors.

Pham immigrated to Boston from Vietnam 21 years ago. Her entire family knew how to sew, and her sister taught her tailoring skills.

"This job is not easy," she said. "You have to work every minute. Everything has to fit perfectly and that's difficult."

Despite long hours and the uncertain future of his business, Giurleo said he still has hope for the tailoring trade.

“I have my whole life around here and in this store,” he said. “I love it.”